Fully integrated gas concentration sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10168211-B1
Application number	US-201715836219-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 8, 2017
Priority date	Nov 25, 2015
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

A gas concentration sensor is includes an integrated die-form electromagnetic radiation source and an integrated die-form infrared detector. In one or more implementations, the gas concentration sensor includes a package substrate defining at least one aperture, a gas permeable mesh coupled to the package substrate and covering at least a portion of the at least one aperture, a die-form electromagnetic radiation source positioned in an interior region of the package substrate, a die-form detector positioned in the interior region of the package substrate, and control circuitry operably coupled to the die-form detector and configured to detect and calibrate one or more signal outputs from the die-form detector to determine a gas concentration within the interior region of the package substrate. The gas concentration sensor can be configured for specific detection of various gases through control of the spectral wavelengths emitted by the electromagnetic radiation source(s) and/or detected by the detector(s).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A gas concentration sensor, comprising:
a package substrate defining at least one aperture;
an electromagnetic radiation source positioned in an interior region of the package substrate;
a detector positioned in the interior region of the package substrate and configured to receive at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation generated by the electromagnetic radiation source to generate one or more signal outputs;
a tunable filter positioned adjacent to the detector, the tunable filter configured to provide a plurality of spectral channels for detection by the detector; and
control circuitry coupled to the package substrate and operably coupled to the detector, the control circuitry configured to detect and calibrate the one or more signal outputs from the detector to determine a gas concentration within the interior region of the package substrate, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to control one or more filtering characteristics of the tunable filter;
the package substrate at least partially enclosing the electromagnetic radiation source, the detector, and the control circuitry.

2. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the detector includes a first detector sensitive to a first spectral absorption wavelength and a second detector sensitive to a second spectral absorption wavelength.

3. The gas concentration sensor of claim 2 , wherein the second spectral absorption wavelength is a reference channel.

4. The gas concentration sensor of claim 2 , where the detector includes a filter positioned adjacent the first detector to filter electromagnetic radiation detectable by the first detector and includes a second filter positioned adjacent the second detector to filter electromagnetic radiation detectable by the second detector.

5. The gas concentration sensor of claim 4 , further comprising a lid positioned above the first detector and the second detector.

6. The gas concentration sensor of claim 5 , wherein the first filter and the second filter are coupled to the lid.

7. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the detector is provided in a separate package within the interior region of the package substrate.

8. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation source and the detector are provided in a separate package within the interior region of the package substrate.

9. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation source includes a first electromagnetic radiation source configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having a first wavelength and a second electromagnetic radiation source configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having a second wavelength.

10. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation source is positioned substantially parallel to a base portion of the package substrate.

11. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation source is positioned substantially perpendicularly to a base portion of the package substrate.

12. The gas concentration sensor of claim 11 , wherein the substrate includes one or more curved surfaces defining the interior region for optical performance enhancement of the gas concentration sensor.

13. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation source is oriented to face towards the detector.

14. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation source is oriented to face away from the detector.

15. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein one or more surfaces of the substrate within the interior region are reflective of one or more wavelengths of interest of the electromagnetic radiation.

16. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , wherein the detector includes a tunable filter.

17. The gas concentration sensor of claim 16 , wherein the tunable filter includes a Faby-Perot filter.

18. The gas concentration sensor of claim 16 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to control one or more filtering characteristics of the tunable filter.

19. The gas concentration sensor of claim 1 , further comprising:
a gas permeable mesh coupled to the package substrate and covering at least a portion of the at least one aperture.

20. A gas concentration sensor, comprising:
a flexible substrate conforming to and coupled to a tubular structure having an interior region through which gas can flow;
an electromagnetic radiation source coupled to the tubular structure and configured to direct electromagnetic radiation to the interior region of the tubular structure;
a detector coupled to the tubular structure and positioned to receive at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation generated by the electromagnetic radiation source; and
control circuitry coupled to the tubular structure and operably coupled to the detector, the control circuitry configured to detect and calibrate one or more signal outputs from the detector to determine a gas concentration within the interior region of the tubular structure.

Assignees

• Maxim Integrated Products

Inventors

• Emadi Arvin
• Samoilov Arkadii V
• Kerness Nicole D

Classifications

• G01J3/108 Primary

  for measurement in the infrared range · CPC title

• G01N21/3504

  for analysing gases, e.g. multi-gas analysis · CPC title

• G01J3/26

  using multiple reflection, e.g. Fabry-Perot interferometer, variable interference filters · CPC title

• G01N2201/068

  Optics, miscellaneous · CPC title

• G01J3/42

  Absorption spectrometry; Double beam spectrometry; Flicker spectrometry; Reflection spectrometry (beam switching arrangements G01J3/08) · CPC title