Sensor window with a set of layers configured to a particular color and associated with a threshold opacity in a visible spectral range wherein the color is a color-matched to a surface adjacent to the sensor window

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10948640-B2
Application number	US-201816103625-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2018
Priority date	Mar 13, 2018
Publication date	Mar 16, 2021
Grant date	Mar 16, 2021

Abstract

A sensor window may include a substrate and a set of layers disposed onto the substrate. The set of layers may include a first subset of layers of a first refractive index and a second set of layers of a second refractive index different from the first refractive index. The set of layers may be associated with a threshold transmissivity in a sensing spectral range. The set of layers may be configured to a particular color in a visible spectral range and may be associated with a threshold opacity in the visible spectral range.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sensor window, comprising:
a substrate; and
a set of layers disposed onto the substrate,
wherein the set of layers includes a first subset of layers of a first refractive index and a second set of layers of a second refractive index different from the first refractive index,
wherein the set of layers is associated with a threshold transmissivity in a sensing spectral range,
wherein the set of layers is configured to a particular color in a visible spectral range and is associated with a threshold opacity in the visible spectral range, and
wherein the particular color is color-matched to a surface adjacent to the sensor window.

2. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the set of layers is configured such that a color shift of the particular color is less than 12 ΔE for angles of incidence between approximately 0 degrees and approximately 30 degrees.

3. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the threshold transmissivity is greater than 80% in the sensing spectral range.

4. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the sensing spectral range is from approximately 600 nanometers to approximately 2500 nanometers.

5. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the sensing spectral range is from approximately 800 nanometers to approximately 1600 nanometers.

6. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the threshold opacity is greater than 80% in the visible spectral range.

7. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the set of layers is associated with greater than 80% reflectance for at least a portion of the visible spectral range.

8. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the set of layers includes at least one of:
a germanium layer,
a silicon-germanium layer,
a hydrogenated silicon layer,
a hydrogenated germanium layer,
a hydrogenated silicon-germanium layer
a silicon layer,
a silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) layer,
an aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) layer,
a titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) layer,
a niobium pentoxide (Nb 2 O 5 ) layer,
a tantalum pentoxide (Ta 2 O 5 ) layer, or
a magnesium fluoride (MgF 2 ) layer.

9. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the first refractive index is greater than approximately 3.5.

10. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the second refractive index is less than approximately 2.0.

11. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the set of layers includes a third subset of layers with a third refractive index that is different from the first refractive index and the second refractive index.

12. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is chemically strengthened glass.

13. The sensor window of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one of:
a hydrophobic layer,
an oleophobic layer,
a protective layer,
an anti-reflectance layer,
a heat generating layer,
an anti-icing layer, or
an out of band blocker layer.

14. The sensor window of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one intermediate layer disposed between a first one or more layers of the set of layers and a second one or more layers of the set of layers.

15. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the particular color is color-matched within 5 ΔE to the surface adjacent to the sensor window.

16. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the set of layers form a plurality of channels to direct a plurality of wavelengths of light.

17. The sensor window of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of channels include at least 64 channels.

18. The sensor window of claim 1 , wherein the sensor window is deposited in an optical path of set of optical sensors.

19. A sensor window, comprising:
a substrate; and
a plurality of layers disposed onto the substrate,
wherein one or more layers of the plurality of layers are associated with a threshold transmissivity in a sensing spectral range,
wherein the one or more layers are configured to a particular color in a visible spectral range and is associated with a threshold opacity in the visible spectral range, and
wherein the particular color is color-matched to a surface adjacent to the sensor window.

20. The sensor window of claim 19 ,
wherein the sensor window is included in a vehicle,
wherein the surface is a body of the vehicle, and
wherein the particular color is color-matched to within 5 ΔE of a body color of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Viavi Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Ockenfuss Georg J
• Rowlands Scott
• Bilger Markus

Classifications

• G01J2003/2826

  Multispectral imaging, e.g. filter imaging · CPC title

• G01J2003/1226

  Interference filters · CPC title

• G01J2003/123

  Indexed discrete filters · CPC title

• G01J1/0488

  with spectral filtering · CPC title

• G01J1/4228

  arrangements with two or more detectors, e.g. for sensitivity compensation · CPC title