Thermal pattern sensor comprising several pixels located on a substrate, each pixel comprising a pyroelectric capacitance, the pyroelectric capacitance comprising, a layer of porous pyroelectric material located between a first electrically conducting electrode and a second electrically conducting electrode, particles made of a first material at least partially filling the pores of the layer of porous pyroelectric material, the first material being electrically insulating and having pyroelectric properties and a layer made of a second material being placed between the layer made of a pyroelectric material and the second electrode, the second material being electrically insulating and having pyroelectric properties.

A method and device which can receive and identify electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. The device has a combination of material and geometric parameters that are unique and tunable, enabling resonating frequencies for spectral selectivity in the THz range (0.1-15) with ultra-narrow channel widths (0.01-0.10 THz) full width at half maximum (FWHM). Dependent upon configuration, the device may be employed as a large area resonator to collect weak or diffuse signals or as a constituent of an array able to take pictures within the spectrum for which they are sensitive.

The present invention relates to a system for measuring the power of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) using piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) and pyroelectric transducers (PRTs). According to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a target cell has a mirrored surface that can partially reflect and partially absorb EMR. Each target cell can include or be coupled to PZTs and PRTs. When incident EMR reflects off of targets cells, the reflected portion creates radiation pressure and the non-reflected portions creates heat. The PZTs convert the pressure into a first electric current, and the PRTs convert the heat into a second electric current. Measuring the first and/or second currents allows a user to calculate the original power of an EMR source. By utilizing multiple target cells placed in specially designed arrays, a user can calculate fluctuations of EMR power by time and location across the target cells.

A pyroelectric presence identification system includes focal plane array and a processor coupled to the focal plane array. The focal plane array includes a first image sensor and a plurality of second image sensors configured to convert radiant energy into an electrical signal. The processor is configured to control the focal plane array in a sleep mode wherein the first image sensor is utilized to detect gross motion of at least one presence and the plurality of second image sensors are de-energized.

Thermal pattern sensor comprising several pixels located on a substrate, each pixel comprising a pyroelectric capacitor, the pyroelectric capacitor comprising a pyroelectric material located between two electrically conducting electrodes, the pyroelectric material comprising a sol-gel matrix in which first particles made of a first material and second particles made of a second material are dispersed. The first material being chosen from among calcium, lanthanum, tantalum, barium, lead and/or strontium oxides, the second material being chosen from among titanium, antimony, tin, zinc, gallium, vanadium and/or manganese oxides.

Method for capturing a thermal pattern by a sensor comprising a plurality of pixels each comprising a heat-sensitive measuring element, the method comprising, for each pixel: heating the measuring element; first reading of the electrical charges outputted by the pixel during a first measurement duration and giving a first measurement value x.sub.1; second reading of the electrical charges outputted by the pixel during a second measurement duration and giving a second measurement value x.sub.2; calculating a difference x.sub.1.Math.x.sub.2, where is a positive real number, and wherein more than half of the heating duration is implemented during the first measurement duration and less than half of the heating duration is implemented during the second measurement duration.

The invention relates to a pixel matrix of a thermal pattern sensor comprising several rows and several columns of pixels, said matrix comprising: an active thermal element formed by a thermosensitive material disposed between a lower layer and an upper layer, the lower layer being constituted by a plurality of first tracks made of electrically conductive material and extending along a first direction, said first tracks forming pixel columns; a heating element, disposed on the active thermal element and forming a serpentine path, said heating element being constituted by a plurality of second tracks (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6) made of electrically conductive material and connecting segments (w1, w2, w3, w4, w5, w6) made of electrically conductive material connected to the ends of the second tracks (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6), said second tracks (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6) extending in a second direction different from the first direction and forming lines of pixels, the second tracks being connected except for the first and last second tracks (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6), by their respective ends to one of the ends of a second preceding track and a second following track by way of said connecting segments (w1, w2, w3, w4, w5, w6), the first and last second tracks each having a free end connected to a connecting segment.

A flame detector includes a beam splitter to split mid-wave infrared radiation (MWIR) and long-wave infrared radiation (LWIR) into an MWIR component and an LWIR component. An MWIR detector detects the MWIR component and an LWIR detector detects the LWIR component. The flame detector analyzes the MWIR component to determine the presence of a flame and analyzes the LAIR component to determine whether the system is functioning properly.

The invention relates to a heat pattern sensor including a matrix of pyroelectric capacitances. The sensor further includes an electromagnetic shielding stage, electrically conducting, situated between a stage including a pyroelectric material and a contact surface of the sensor. The electromagnetic shielding stage includes a shielding layer which comprises nanowires and/or nanotubes lying in a surrounding medium. The nanowires and/or nanotubes have a thermal conductivity greater than that of the surrounding medium. A ratio between a distribution pitch of the pixels of the matrix of pixels and a thickness of the shielding layer is greater than or equal to 20. The invention makes it possible to obtain at the same time rapid heat transfers through the electromagnetic shielding stage and low lateral heat transfers, from one pixel to the other of the sensor.

A method produces a matrix of pixels of a thermal sensor, suitable for passive addressing. The matrix of pixels includes a layer including a first series of electrically conducting strips, forming charge collection macro-electrodes; a layer including a pyroelectric material; and a layer including a second series of electrically conducting strips, forming heating strips. The method includes a step of transfer of one on the other of a first and a second elementary stack, the first elementary stack including the first series of strips, and the second elementary stack including the second series of strips. This method makes it possible to relax the manufacturing constraints of the series of strips.