Ambient temperature measurement sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016178443-A1
Application number	US-201514970656-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 16, 2015
Priority date	Dec 17, 2014
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a sensor package having a reference thermopile sensor, and a reference temperature sensor disposed therein to determine an ambient temperature. In one or more implementations, the sensor package includes a substrate having a substrate surface, a reference thermopile sensor disposed over the substrate surface, a reference temperature sensor disposed over the substrate surface, and a lid assembly disposed over the thermopile sensor and the reference thermopile sensor. The lid assembly includes a structure having a transparent portion that passes electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths. The reference thermopile sensor generates a reference thermopile sensor signal representing a difference between a temperature of the substrate surface and a temperature of a lid assembly surface. An external ambient temperature can be determined based upon the reference thermopile sensor signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A sensor package comprising:
a substrate having a substrate surface; a thermopile sensor disposed over the substrate surface; a reference thermopile sensor disposed over the substrate surface; a reference temperature sensor disposed over the substrate surface; and a lid assembly having a lid assembly surface, the lid assembly disposed over the thermopile sensor, the reference thermopile sensor, and the reference temperature sensor, the lid assembly comprising a transparent portion that passes electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths, wherein the reference thermopile sensor is configured to generate a reference thermopile sensor signal representing a temperature difference between a temperature associated with the substrate surface and a temperature associated with the lid assembly surface, wherein an external ambient temperature is determined based upon the reference thermopile sensor signal.

2 . The sensor package as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a first heating element disposed over the substrate surface for heating the substrate surface and a second heating element disposed over the lid assembly surface for heating the lid assembly surface.

3 . The sensor package as recited in claim 1 , the lid assembly further comprising an electromagnetic blocker, wherein at least a portion of the electromagnetic blocker is positioned over the reference thermopile sensor, the electromagnetic blocker configured to at least substantially block the electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths.

4 . The sensor package as recited in claim 3 , wherein the electromagnetic blocker comprises a metallic material.

5 . The sensor package as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a first wall structure and a second wall structure disposed adjacent to the substrate.

6 . The sensor package as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a berm structure disposed between the aperture and the reference thermopile sensor to at least substantially prevent transmission of the electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths that passes through the aperture to the reference thermopile sensor.

7 . The sensor package as recited in claim 1 , wherein the thermopile sensor and the reference thermopile sensor are integrated within the same integrated circuit die.

8 . The sensor package as recited in claim 6 , wherein the reference temperature sensor is integrated within the integrated circuit die.

9 . A system comprising:
sensor package, the sensor package comprising:
a substrate having a substrate surface;
a thermopile sensor disposed over the substrate surface, the thermopile sensor configured to generate a first electrical signal based upon detected electromagnetic radiation;
a reference thermopile sensor disposed over the substrate surface, the reference thermopile sensor configured to generate a second electrical signal based upon detected electromagnetic radiation;
a reference temperature sensor disposed over the substrate surface, the reference temperature sensor configured to generate a signal representing a temperature associated with the thermopile sensor and the reference thermopile sensor;
a lid assembly having a lid assembly surface, the lid assembly disposed over the thermopile sensor and the reference thermopile sensor, the lid assembly comprising a structure including a transparent portion that passes electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths,
wherein the reference thermopile sensor is configured to generate a reference thermopile sensor signal representing a temperature difference between a temperature associated with the substrate surface and a temperature associated with the lid assembly surface; and
a temperature sensor in electrical communication with the sensor package, the temperature sensor configured to generate an ambient temperature signal based upon the reference thermopile sensor signal, the ambient temperature signal representing an ambient temperature.

10 . The system as recited in claim 9 , further comprising a first heating element disposed over the substrate surface for heating the substrate surface and a second heating element disposed over the lid assembly surface for heating the lid assembly surface.

11 . The system as recited in claim 9 , the lid assembly further comprising an electromagnetic blocker, wherein the electromagnetic blocker comprises a metallic material.

12 . The system as recited in claim 9 , further comprising a first wall structure and a second wall structure disposed adjacent to the substrate.

13 . The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the temperature sensor is configured to determine an ambient temperature of an enclosed interior area based upon the detected electromagnetic radiation, the detected electromagnetic radiation comprising a temperature associated with a surface within the enclosed interior area.

14 . The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the external ambient temperature is modeled by T ambient =T package _ bottom1 (T package bottom2 −T package bottom1 )/(V TP-dark1 −V TP-dark2 )×V TP-dark1 .

15 . A method comprising:
receiving temperature measurement data pertaining a sensor package, the sensor package comprising a thermopile sensor, a reference thermopile sensor, a reference temperature sensor, and a lid assembly the lid assembly disposed over the thermopile sensor, the reference thermopile sensor, and the reference temperature sensor, the lid assembly comprising a transparent portion that passes electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths, the temperature measurement data representing a temperature difference between a temperature associated with the substrate surface and a temperature associated with the lid assembly surface; and determining an external ambient temperature based upon the temperature measurement data.

16 . The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the external ambient temperature is modeled by T ambient =T package _ bottom1 (T package bottom2 −T package bottom1 )/(V TP-dark1 −V TP-dark2 )×V TP-dark1 .

17 . The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the lid assembly further comprises an electromagnetic blocker, wherein at least a portion of the electromagnetic blocker is positioned over the reference thermopile sensor, the electromagnetic blocker configured to at least substantially block the electromagnetic radiation occurring in a limited spectrum of wavelengths.

18 . The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein the electromagnetic blocker comprises a metallic material.

19 . The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the thermopile sensor and the reference thermopile sensor are integrated within the same integrated circuit die.

20 . The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein the reference temperature sensor is integrated within the integrated circuit die.

Assignees

• Maxim Integrated Products

Inventors

• Emadi Arvin
• Sahasrabudhe Abhishek
• Pei Cheng-Wei
• Parvarandeh Pirooz

Classifications

• G01J5/16 Primary

  Arrangements with respect to the cold junction; Compensating influence of ambient temperature or other variables · CPC title

• G01J5/12 Primary

  using thermoelectric elements, e.g. thermocouples · CPC title

• G01J5/0816

  using attenuators · CPC title