A Fabry-Perot interference filter includes: a substrate having a first surface and a second surface facing each other; a first layer structure disposed on the first surface; and a second layer structure disposed on the second surface, wherein the first layer structure is provided with a first mirror portion and a second mirror portion facing each other with an air gap therebetween, and a distance between the first mirror portion and the second mirror portion is varied, and the second layer structure is formed with a separation region separating at least a part of the second layer structure into one side and another side in a direction along the second surface.

A sensor configured to sense heat or infrared light including a substrate includes a plurality of recess portions; a cavity inside the substrate along a bottom surface and opposing side surfaces of the substrate; a lower reflective layer disposed on at least one of an upper surface of the bottom surface of the substrate, a lower surface of the bottom surface of the substrate, and a surface opposite to the lower surface of the bottom surface of the substrate; a first electrode and a second electrode disposed inside both side surfaces of the recess portion and facing each other; a pixel structure configured to sense heat or infrared light inside the recess portion and embedded in the substrate; and a planarization layer covering the entire upper portion of the substrate.

A radiation detector includes a substrate and a membrane suspended above the substrate by spacers, wherein the spacers electrically contact a radiation sensor formed in the membrane and thermally insulate the membrane from the substrate.

A device may include a filter array disposed on a substrate. The filter array may include a first mirror disposed on the substrate. The filter array may include a plurality of spacers disposed on the first mirror. A first spacer, of the plurality of spacers, may be associated with a first thickness. A second spacer, of the plurality of spacers, may be associated with a second thickness that is different from the first thickness. A first channel corresponding to the first spacer and a second channel corresponding to the second spacer may be associated with a separation width of less than approximately 10 micrometers (μm). The filter array may include a second mirror disposed on the plurality of spacers.

The invention refers to an electromagnetic radiation sensor micro device for detecting electromagnetic radiation, which device comprises a substrate and a cover at least in part consisting of an electromagnetic radiation transparent material, and comprising a reflection reducing coating and providing a hermetic sealed cavity and an electromagnetic radiation detecting unit arranged within the cavity. The reflection reducing coating is arranged in form of a multi-layer thin film stack, which comprises a first layer and a second layer arranged one upon the other. The first layer has a first refractive index and the second layer has a second refractive index different from the one of said first layer. First and second layer are of such layer thickness that for a certain wavelength there is destructive interference. The invention also refers to a wafer element as well as method for manufacturing such a device.

A wafer-level integrated thermal detector comprises a first wafer and a second wafer (W1, W2) bonded together. The first wafer (W1) includes a dielectric or semiconducting substrate (100), a dielectric sacrificial layer (102) deposited on the substrate, a support layer (104) deposited on the sacrificial layer or the substrate, a suspended active element (108) provided within an opening (106) in the support layer, a first vacuum-sealed cavity (110) and a second vacuum-sealed cavity (106) on opposite sides of the suspended active element. The first vacuum-sealed cavity (110) extends into the sacrificial layer (102) at the location of the suspended active element (108). The second vacuum-sealed cavity (106) comprises the opening of the support layer (104) closed by the bonded second wafer. The thermal detector further comprises front optics (120) for entrance of radiation from outside into one of the first and second vacuum-sealed cavities, aback reflector (112) arranged to reflect radiation back into the other one of the first and second vacuum-sealed cavities, and electrical connections (114) for connecting the suspended active element to a readout circuit (118).

A microelectromechanical infrared sensing device is provided, which includes a substrate, a sensing plate, a reflecting plate, a plurality of first supporting elements, a plurality of second supporting elements and a plurality of stoppers. The second supporting elements are connected to the sensing plate, such that the sensing plate is suspended above the substrate. The reflecting plate is disposed between the substrate and the sensing plate. The first supporting elements are connected to the reflecting plate, such that the reflecting plate is suspended between the substrate and the reflecting plate. When the reflecting plate moves toward the substrate and at least one of the stoppers contacts the substrate or the reflecting plate, the distance between the reflecting plate and the sensing plate increases.

A microelectromechanical infrared sensing apparatus includes a substrate, a sensing plate, a plurality of supporting elements and a plurality of stoppers. The substrate includes an infrared reflecting layer. The sensing plate includes an infrared absorbing layer. The supporting elements are disposed on the substrate, and each of the supporting elements is connected to the sensing plate, such that the sensing plate is suspended above the infrared reflecting layer. The stoppers are disposed between the substrate and the sensing plate. When the sensing plate moves toward the infrared reflecting layer and the stoppers contact both the substrate and the sensing plate, the distance between the sensing plate and the infrared reflecting layer is substantially equal to the height of at least one of the stoppers.

A tunable filter that may include a pair of optical components, wherein there is an optical gap between the pair of optical components; and a pair of actuating elements that are configured, once supplied with at least one actuating signal, to be positioned at an actuation gap from each other and to define the optical gap; and wherein the optical gap is substantially smaller than the actuation gap.

An interferometer includes a holding element having an actuation recess, a first mirror element arranged on the holding element opposite the actuation recess, and a second mirror element arranged opposite the first mirror element at a mirror distance, to form an optical slit. The first mirror element is arranged between the second mirror element and the holding element and the optical slit is spatially separated from the actuation recess by the first mirror element. The interferometer further includes an electrode pair including a first actuation electrode in one of the mirror elements and a second actuation electrode on a side of the actuation recess opposite the first actuation electrode. The mirror distance can be varied by applying an electrical voltage to the electrode pair.