Pyroelectric detection device, comprising at least: a suspended membrane; a pyroelectric detection element located on the suspended membrane and comprising at least one portion of pyroelectric material located between first and second electrodes, the first electrode being located between said at least one portion of pyroelectric material and the suspended membrane; and in which the membrane and the pyroelectric detection element are subjected to a higher compression stress than a limiting buckling stress of the suspended membrane and the pyroelectric detection element and together form a bistable structure.

A semiconductor device capable of retaining a signal sensed by a sensor element is provided. The semiconductor device includes a sensor element, a first transistor, a second transistor, and a third transistor. One electrode of the sensor element is electrically connected to a first gate. The first gate is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the third transistor. One of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the second transistor. A semiconductor layer includes a metal oxide.

A method of making an electrocaloric element includes providing an electrocaloric material, forming a first electrode at a first surface of the electrocaloric material, and forming a second electrode at a second surface of the electrocaloric material. The forming of the first electrode includes, or the forming of the second electrode includes, or the forming of each of the first and second electrodes independently includes modifying the respective first and/or second surface of the electrocaloric material with an electrically conductive surface modification.

A method of making an electrocaloric article is disclosed. The method includes mounting a supported electrocaloric film to a frame. The supported electrocaloric film includes an electrocaloric film and a first support film disposed on a first side of the electrocaloric film. An active area of the electrocaloric film is provided, which is not covered by the first support film on the first side of the electrocaloric film. Electrical connections are provided to electrodes disposed on opposing sides of the electrocaloric film in the active area.

A papillary print sensor is provided, including a light emitting device configured to emit light radiation towards the sensor; and a matrix photodetector configured to be sensitive to at least part of an emission spectrum of the light emitting device, the light emitting device and the matrix photodetector being distributed together in and/or above a same semiconducting substrate, the light emitting device being composed of at least one gallium nitride light emitting diode (LED) with a series of through openings.

A transceiver device for receiving an interrogation signal at a first carrier frequency and for transmitting a response signal at a second carrier frequency is disclosed. The interrogation signal comprises the first carrier frequency modulated at the second carrier frequency. The communication device includes a sensor coupled to a demodulator. The sensor receives a low frequency input used to further modulate the interrogation signal. The demodulator demodulates the low frequency input from the first carrier frequency to thereby generate the response signal comprising the second carrier frequency and the low frequency input. The demodulator preferably includes a pyroelectric demodulator, a piezoelectric demodulator, or a detector diode. The demodulator preferably has a frequency response less than the first carrier frequency but greater than the second carrier frequency.

A pyroelectric generator may be included in the same semiconductor device as a radio frequency (RF) switch (e.g., a phase-change material (PCM) RF switch and/or other types of RF switch). The pyroelectric generator includes a pyroelectric material layer between two electrodes. The pyroelectric generator is configured to scavenge thermal energy that is generated during the operation of the RF switch, and to convert the thermal energy into electrical energy that may be stored and reused.

An example power generation system includes two capacitors and an electric load. A first capacitor includes a dielectric material that is configured to transition from a ferroelectric phase to a paraelectric or antiferroelectric phase when heated above a first transition temperature, and to transition from the paraelectric or antiferroelectric phase to the ferroelectric phase when cooled below a second transition temperature. A second capacitor is electrically coupled in parallel to the first capacitor. The electric load is electrically coupled to the first capacitor and the second capacitor. The system is configured to cyclically cool the dielectric material below the second transition temperature to draw a charge from the second capacitor to the first capacitors through the electric load, and heat the dielectric material beyond the first transition temperature to draw a charge from the first capacitor to the second capacitors through the electric load.

The invention relates to a manufacturing process of a pixel array of a thermal pattern sensor comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; depositing a first layer of electrically conductive material, including depositing electrically conductive tracks, depositing of connector pins and depositing a ground strip; depositing of second layer of pyroelectric material covering the tracks and leaving at least part of the connector pins free; depositing of third layer of electrically conductive material; depositing of fourth layer of dielectric material in contact with the third layer; depositing of a fifth layer including electrically conductive heating tracks; depositing of a sixth protective layer,
wherein the step of depositing the second and/or third and/or fourth and/or sixth layer is carried out by slot-die coating.

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.