A semiconductor device for measuring IR radiation is disclosed. It comprises a substrate and a cap enclosing a cavity, a sensor pixel in the cavity, comprising a first absorber for receiving said IR radiation, a first heater, first temperature measurement means for measuring a first temperature; a reference pixel in the same cavity, comprising a second absorber shielded from said IR radiation, a second heater, and second temperature measurement means for measuring a second temperature; a control circuit for applying a first/second power to the first/second heater such that the first temperature equals the second temperature; and an output circuit for generating an output signal indicative of the IR radiation based on a difference between the first and second power.

An infrared sensor assembly for sensing infrared radiation from an object is disclosed. The infrared sensor assembly comprises a sensor array comprising a plurality of sensing elements, provided on or embedded in a substrate extending in a substrate plane. The sensor array comprises at least two infrared sensing elements, each infrared sensing element having a radiation responsive element providing a proportionate electrical signal in response to infrared radiation incident thereto and at least two blind sensing elements, at least one blind sensing element being interspersed among the at least two sensing elements, each blind sensing element being shielded from incident infrared radiation from the object and providing a proportionate electrical signal in response to parasitic thermal fluxes. The output of the sensor array is a function of the infrared sensing elements and of the blind sensing elements such that parasitic thermal fluxes are at least partly compensated for.

A pyroelectric infrared sensor device comprising: a pyroelectric infrared sensor part (2); and a cover member (3). The pyroelectric infrared sensor part comprises: a pyroelectric element (21); a housing (24) that the pyroelectric element is placed inside of and comprises an opening at a position facing a light receiving surface of the pyroelectric element; and an infrared transmission filter (25) that is located to cover the opening of the housing. The cover member covers at least a top surface of the pyroelectric infrared sensor part. The infrared transmission filter transmits light equal to or greater than a wavelength of 1 m. The cover member has a property that a transmittance of infrared light having a wavelength of from 3 m to 5.5 m is equal to or greater than 10% and has a uniform material quality in an area corresponding to the top surface of the pyroelectric infrared sensor part.

Some aspects of the technology described herein are directed to a thermal sensor and corresponding systems and methods for mitigating errors arising from non-radiative heat flow. The thermal sensor system, comprising: a thermal sensor comprising and a housing. The thermal sensor comprising: a thermal detection region of a sensor substrate; a thermal reference region of the sensor substrate; and an array of thermocouples configured to detect a thermal differential between the thermal detection region and the thermal reference region. The housing configured to support the thermal sensor within the housing and beneath a windowed aperture of the housing, wherein the windowed aperture is configured such that radiative energy may transmit through the windowed aperture and be received by the thermal sensor.

A temperature sensor includes a first infrared measuring means, a second infrared measuring means, and a calculating unit. The first infrared measuring means measures infrared rays emitted from an object and outputs a first voltage. The second infrared measuring means measures infrared rays emitted from around the object and outputs a second voltage. The calculating unit calculates the output temperature of the object from the first voltage, calculates the ambient temperature of the object from the second voltage, and corrects the output temperature based on the ambient temperature to calculate the temperature of the object.

An optical sensor device for object detection includes a light-emitting element configured to emit light to the object, a light-receiving element configured to sense reflected light from the object, a temperature sensor configured to provide a temperature signal in response to an ambient temperature, a temperature compensation unit coupled to the temperature sensor to read the temperature signal and perform a temperature compensation process to generate a compensated signal strength, and an analyzer coupled to the temperature compensation unit and configured to receive the compensated signal strength and generate a detection result. The temperature compensation process includes receiving a first signal strength when the light-emitting element is turned off, receiving a second signal strength when the light-emitting element is activated, obtaining a compensation factor according to the temperature signal, and generating the compensated signal strength based on the first signal strength, the second signal strength, and the compensation factor.

An infrared sensor assembly for sensing infrared radiation from an object is disclosed. The infrared sensor assembly comprises a sensor array comprising a plurality of sensing elements, provided on or embedded in a substrate extending in a substrate plane. The sensor array comprises at least two infrared sensing elements, each infrared sensing element having a radiation responsive element providing a proportionate electrical signal in response to infrared radiation incident thereto and at least two blind sensing elements, at least one blind sensing element being interspersed among the at least two sensing elements, each blind sensing element being shielded from incident infrared radiation from the object and providing a proportionate electrical signal in response to parasitic thermal fluxes. The output of the sensor array is a function of the infrared sensing elements and of the blind sensing elements such that parasitic thermal fluxes are at least partly compensated for.

An infrared sensor includes a substrate, an active pixel array, a reference pixel array, a light absorbing layer, a sidewall spacer, and a shading layer. The active pixel array is over the substrate. The reference pixel is over the substrate, adjacent to the active pixel array, and having a reference pixel. The reference pixel includes a platform, a resistor, and an infrared sensing material layer. The resistor is on the platform. The infrared sensing material layer is over the resistor. The light absorbing layer is over the reference pixel. The sidewall spacer is over the reference pixel and extends along a sidewall of the light absorbing layer. The shading layer is conformally formed over the light absorbing layer and the sidewall spacer.