FILTER ASSEMBLY, DETECTOR, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF A FILTER ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A filter assembly includes comprises an incident medium, a spacer, at least one dielectric filter and an exit medium. The spacer is arranged between the incident medium and the at least one dielectric filter such that the incident medium and the at least one dielectric filter are spaced apart by a working distance and thereby enclose a medium of lower index of refraction than the incident medium. The at least one dielectric filter is arranged on the exit medium.

Claims

1. A filter assembly, comprising an incident medium, a spacer, at least one dielectric filter and an exit medium, wherein: the spacer is arranged between the incident medium and the at least one dielectric filter such that the incident medium (10) and the at least one dielectric filter are spaced apart by a working distance and thereby enclose a medium of lower index of refraction than the incident medium, and the at least one dielectric filter is arranged on the exit medium.

2. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is arranged to restrict spectral shift of light incident under changing angles of incidence.

3. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric filter placed within the working distance from the incident medium has a transmission characteristics, the working distance is arranged such that a spectral shift of the transmission characteristics of the dielectric filter is kept within given limits under changing angles of incidence.

4. The filter assembly according to claim 2, wherein the spectral shift is kept constant or within ±1 nm, ±2 nm, ±5 nm, etc. under angles of incidence from an interval smaller than ±30°, ±20°, ±10°, etc.

5. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the incident medium, medium of lower index of refraction and the dielectric filter form a hybrid stack having a mean index of refraction, the mean index of refraction depends on the spacer and the working distance, and spectral properties of the dielectric filter depend on the mean index of refraction.

6. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the incident medium is arranged to alter incident radiation such that altered radiation leaves the incident medium with a diffuse radiation distribution.

7. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the incident medium, the spacer and the at least one dielectric filter enclose a cavity, and the cavity comprises the medium of lower index of refraction than the incident medium.

8. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the incident medium has a refractive index greater than 1.

9. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the working distance has a value between 0.25 μm and 10 μm, the working distance has a value between 2 μm and 10 μm, and/or the working distance has a value of at least 2 μm.

10. The filter assembly according to claim 9, wherein the cavity is open to ambient environment, the cavity is open, filled with ambient air, and the working distance has a value of at least 2 m, or the cavity is closed to ambient environment.

11. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is arranged at an edge, edges, or frame of the at least one dielectric filter.

12. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the spacer comprises: a patterned adhesive, a patterned optical adhesive, and/or a metal layer.

13. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the exit medium comprises at least one active surface of a detector for electromagnetic radiation.

14. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein: the at least one dielectric filter comprises filter elements, and the filter elements have different transmission characteristics.

15. The filter assembly according to claim 14, wherein the filter elements are arranged for bi-color, multicolor, photopic and/or photopic application.

16. A method of manufacture of a filter assembly comprising: providing an incident medium, arranging a spacer between the incident medium and at least one dielectric filter such that the incident medium and the at least one dielectric filter are spaced apart by a working distance and enclose a medium of lower index of refraction than the incident medium, and arranging the at least one dielectric filter on an exit medium.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the spacer is arranged between the incident medium and at least one dielectric filter by patterning an adhesive and/or an optical adhesive, or the spacer is arranged between the incident medium and at least one dielectric filter by patterning a metal layer.

18. A detector, comprising: filter assembly according to claim 1, an optical sensor comprising one or more light sensitive areas, wherein the exit medium is comprised by the optical sensor.

19. The detector according to claim 18, wherein the dielectric filter comprises one or more filter elements, wherein the one or more filter elements have different transmission characteristics, respectively.

20. The detector according to claim 18, wherein the detector is a computed tomography detector.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] FIGS. 1A, 1B show an example embodiment of the filter assembly and spectral transmission curves,

[0050] FIGS. 2B, 2B show another example embodiment of the filter assembly and spectral transmission curves,

[0051] FIGS. 3A, 3B show simulation results of example embodiments of the filter assembly,

[0052] FIGS. 4A, 4B show an example embodiment of the filter assembly for a CT detector with scintillator and spectral transmission curves,

[0053] FIG. 5 shows an example spectral transmission curve for a photopic filter,

[0054] FIGS. 6A, 6B show a prior art filter assembly and spectral transmission curves,

[0055] FIGS. 7A, 7B show another prior art filter assembly and spectral transmission curves, and

[0056] FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C show another prior art filter assembly and spectral transmission curves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] FIG. 1A shows an example embodiment of the filter assembly. The filter assembly is arranged for an optical sensor. For example, the filter assembly comprises an incident medium 10, a spacer 30, a dielectric filter 50, and an exit medium 70. In this embodiment the exit medium 70 is implemented as part of an optical sensor 71.

[0058] The optical sensor 71 comprises a semiconductor substrate 72 having a main surface 73. An integrated circuit 75 is arranged in the semiconductor substrate 72 at or near the main surface 73. The integrated circuit 75 has a light sensitive area 74. During manufacture, the semiconductor substrate 72 may be a silicon wafer, or part of a silicon wafer. For example, the integrated circuit 75 comprises one or more photodiodes, for example, photodiodes sensitive in the visual, UV or (near) infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The photodiodes may be integrated using CMOS process technology.

[0059] The dielectric filter 50 is arranged on the main surface 73 of the optical sensor 71. The dielectric filter 50 can be arranged directly on the main surface 73 or there may be a dielectric layer in-between (not shown). Typically, the dielectric filter covers the light sensitive area 74 of the integrated circuit 75. The dielectric filter 50 comprises several layers which, in a wafer-level process, may be sputtered or deposited on top of the last layer of the CMOS process (e.g., a planarized oxide) by which the optical sensor 71, e.g., the light sensitive area 74 or the integrated circuit 75, have been manufactured.

[0060] For example, the dielectric filter 50 can be designed as an interference filter or as a plasmonic filter. In both cases, the dielectric filter comprises a stack of different partial layers. An interference filter, for example, comprises alternating layers of dielectric materials with different index of refraction in a target spectrum. The thicknesses of the individual layers are determined by a filter design, for example by means of a dedicated filter design software. The dielectric filter 50 has a transmission characteristic which is determined by its filter design. The transmission characteristic is a function of angle of incidence. In this sense the transmission of the dielectric filter is direction dependent. Examples of interference filters include cut-off filters, photopic filters, color filters, band pass filters and any combination thereof.

[0061] The spacer 30 is arranged on the dielectric filter 50. In fact, the spacer 30 is arranged between the incident medium 10 and the dielectric filter 50 such that the incident medium 10 and the dielectric filter 50 are spaced apart and enclose a cavity 31. The cavity 31 comprises a medium of lower index of refraction than the incident medium 10, e.g. ambient air. Thus, by means of the spacer 30 the incident medium 10 and the dielectric filter 50 are spaced apart by a working distance 32. In case of an open cavity 31 and air as medium of lower index of refraction the working distance 32 can be considered an air-gap.

[0062] The spacer 30 can be manufactured in different ways, e.g., implemented into the filter design in a manufacturing environment such as at wafer-level. The particular way depends on the material used for the spacer.

[0063] One way is to use an optical adhesive as spacer material and implement the spacer by patterning the spacer material onto the dielectric filter 50. This process can be implemented using screen printing or micro stencils, for example. The optical adhesive could either be heated or UV cured after patterning. The process can be adapted to establish a defined and uniform thickness after curing. An alternative approach is to use metal as spacer material. Sputtering can be used to deposit a thin metal layer as the spacer, and then use electroplating to increase the thickness to the required thickness. This may require a patterning step to define a metal seed layer. These are just but two examples of how the spacer 30 could be manufactured. The proposed invention should not be considered limited to these two options.

[0064] The spacer 30 can have different geometry. For example, the spacer 30 can be arranged at one or more edges of the dielectric filter 50. Furthermore, the spacer 30 may frame the dielectric filter 50. In this sense the spacer 30 may be comprised of one of more sections, e.g. at edges of the filter or by framing the filter. This way the spacer may only block a small amount of incident light. However, the spacer 30 could also be manufactured using optically transparent material, such as the optical adhesive mentioned above, to further reduce absorption or blocking of incident light. The spacer 30 is not a layer in the sense that would cover the incident medium or dielectric filter along its profile. Rather the spacer 30 is structured or patterned to allow light to pass through the medium of lower index of refraction.

[0065] The incident medium 10 comprises an optically transparent or translucent material. Furthermore, the incident medium 10 has an index of refraction N which is greater than 1, e.g. N=1.5. For example, the incident medium 10 can be implemented as a diffuser. If implemented as diffuser the incident medium 10 can be spun on or be arranged by means of molding on top of the spacer 30, for example. The incident medium 10 may be implemented using a transparent organic layer and light scattering particles can be added the medium. The light scattering particles typically have a size between 1 to 15 micrometers, for example. Generally, the size is chosen so that scattering within the diffuser follows the laws of geometric optics so that, essentially, scattering does not depend on wavelength. Furthermore, both the material of the diffuser and of the light scattering particles are chosen not to absorb in the target wavelength region. The diffuser thickness typically ranges within 20 to several 100 micrometers.

[0066] Incident light may strike the incident medium 10, e.g. the diffuser, from various angles of incidence (as indicated by the rays in the drawing), i.e. from within ±90° with respect to a surface normal which can be defined by any appropriate surface of the filter assembly. Light leaves the incident medium 10 with an angle having a diffusive distribution of angles. In other words, the incident medium, as diffuser, constitutes a Lambertian surface, i.e. the incident medium has an isotropic exit luminance, and the luminous intensity obeys Lambert's cosine law. Such Lambertian scattering is independent of angle such that there is equal luminance when viewed from all directions lying in the half-space adjacent to the surface.

[0067] Incident light eventually traverses through the incident medium 10 and leaves the incident medium at an exit surface 11 with a diffusive distribution of angles as discussed above. The incident light is refracted at a first boundary between the incident medium 10 with a given refractive index and the medium of lower index of refraction in the cavity 31. This medium of lower index of refraction, e.g. ambient air, is enclosed by the incident medium 10 and the dielectric filter 50. From the first boundary between the incident medium 10, i.e. the exit surface 11, the incident light traverses towards the dielectric filter 50 which is located downstream the medium of lower index of refraction in the cavity 31. A second boundary is located between the medium of lower index of refraction in cavity 31 and the dielectric filter 50. The incident light is refracted again and coupled into the dielectric filter 50. The incident medium 10, medium of lower index of refraction and the dielectric filter 50 can be considered a hybrid stack having a mean index of refraction. The mean index of refraction depends on the spacer 30 and, for example, the working distance 32.

[0068] Refraction at the first boundary is largely determined by the difference of index of refraction between the incident medium 10 and the medium of lower index of refraction in the enclosure, or cavity 31, e.g. ambient air. If placed within the working distance 32 a spectral shift of the transmission characteristics of the dielectric filter 50 (e.g. its center wavelength) can be kept within given limits under changing angles of incidence. For example, the spectral shift can be kept constant (or within ±1 nm, ±2 nm, ±5 nm, etc.) under angles of incidence from an interval smaller than ±30°, ±20°, ±10°, etc., for example. Thus, spectral shift can be restricted to a degree determined (among other parameters) by the properties of the spacer 30. The working distance 32 can be determined by means of a dedicated optical design and simulation software.

[0069] Finally, the light striking the dielectric filter 50 is filtered according to the transmission characteristics of the dielectric filter 50. The so filtered light can then be detected by means of the optical sensor 71 (acting as exit medium 70), for example, the light sensitive area 74 of the integrated circuit 75.

[0070] FIG. 1B shows spectral transmission curves of the example embodiment of the filter assembly of FIG. 1A. Simulations indicate that an appropriate value for the working distance 32 of the spacer 30, e.g. an air-gap between the incident medium 10 and the dielectric filter 50, or filters, can reduce spectral broadening and spectral shift as well as enhance the transmitted light resolution.

[0071] The curves show simulated transmission graphs (filter transmission T[%]) as a function of wavelength X[nm] with a non-zero working distance (dashed line) and with a zero working distance (solid line). These results indicate that the presence of the non-zero working distance significantly improves the shape of the transmission graph, showing more of a peak shape with less leakage at the lower and higher wavelengths. The simulation assumed the embodiment of FIG. 1A. For that various angles of incidence within ±90° and an incident medium of N=1.5 have been considered. The cavity 31 is open and, thus, filled with ambient air with an index of refraction of N=1.0.

[0072] In conclusion, the embodiment of FIG. 1A shows a considerably reduced impact of spectral shift and spectral smearing. Furthermore, spectral leakage in the infrared is reduced as well. This is mainly due to the spacer 30 arranged in the hybrid structure comprising the incident medium 10, the medium of lower index of refraction in cavity 31 and the dielectric filter 50. For example, the hybrid structure can be represented by a mean index of refraction defined by refraction of incident light at the first and second boundary. In fact, the difference in index of refraction between the incident medium and the medium of lower index of refraction in cavity 31 has been found to improve spectral properties of the dielectric filter 50.

[0073] FIG. 2A shows another example embodiment of the filter assembly. The embodiment is similar to the one shown in FIG. 1A, i.e. the filter assembly is arranged for an optical sensor 71. For example, the filter assembly comprises the incident medium 10 and the spacer 30. In this particular embodiment the incident medium has an index of refraction N=1.8. However, the dielectric filter 50 is a dual filter design and has a first filter 51 and a second filter 52. The first filter 51 and the second filter 52 have different transmission characteristics, e.g. short pass and long pass, respectively.

[0074] The first filter 51 and the second filter 52 may be separate or be arranged on a same carrier. The exit medium 70 is implemented as part of an optical sensor 71 but has two different light sensitive areas 76, 77. The exit medium 70 can be arranged in the same semiconductor substrate 72 and same integrated circuit 75. Alternatively, the optical sensor 71 can be arranged over separate semiconductor substrates and/or separate integrated circuits. In any case, each filter 51, 52 is associated with a dedicated one of the light sensitive areas 76, 77.

[0075] For example, the optical sensor is a bi-color sensor. The invention can be extended to multi-color sensors, e.g. by using multi-filter design wherein each filter element is associated with a dedicated light sensitive area.

[0076] FIG. 2B shows spectral transmission curves of the example embodiment of the filter assembly of FIG. 2A. The curves represent simulated transmission graphs (filter transmission T[%]) as a function of wavelength λ[nm] with a non-zero working distance (dashed line) and without a spacer no working distance arranged between the incident medium and dielectric filter (solid line). Two solid lines are shown representing the short pass and long pass transmission filters, respectively. The simulation assumed the embodiment of FIG. 2A. Various angles of incidence within ±90° and an incident medium of N=1.8 have been considered. The cavity 31 is open and, thus, filled with ambient air with an index of refraction of N=1.0.

[0077] The results compare the filter transmission in the case of a no spacer design with an open cavity or air gap design. The simulations show that engineering a spacer 30 into the filter design significantly improves the transmission profile, bringing it closer to an ideal transmission graph.

[0078] In conclusion, the findings discussed above with respect to the embodiment of FIG. 1A can be extended to bi-color or multicolor sensors and applications. Thus, spectral properties is improved for the individual filter elements comprised by the dielectric filter 50. For example, spectral overlap between the filter elements due to spectral smearing can be reduced. This allows for improved spectral selectivity in bi-color or multicolor sensors and applications.

[0079] FIGS. 3A and 3B show simulation results of example embodiment of the filter assembly of the example embodiment of the filter assembly of FIG. 2A. The curves represent simulated transmission graphs (filter transmission T[%]) as a function of wavelength λ[nm]. The simulation assumes the embodiment of FIG. 2A. The transmission graphs have been simulated for varying working distances 32, for example, 0.25 μm, 0.5 μm, 1.0 μm, 1.5 μm, and 2.0 μm (see legend of FIG. 3A), and 2.0 μm, 5.0 μm and 10.0 μm (see legend of FIG. 3B). The results indicate that for a working distance 32 of more than 2 μm the filter transmission is higher and there is improved spectral selectivity between the short pass and long pass filter 51, 52.

[0080] The proposed invention is not limited to a diffuser as incident medium, since it can be applied to any application which requires improved spectral resolution, e.g. in the presence of diffuse incoming light. The two example embodiments given below describe how the invention can be used to enhance the performance of (1) a Computer Tomography (CT) detector, and (2) a photopic filter.

[0081] FIG. 4A shows another example embodiment of the filter assembly. The filter assembly is arranged for a computed tomography detector 78 (CT detector). For example, the filter assembly comprises a scintillator 12 as the incident medium 10, the spacer 30, a dielectric filter 50, and an exit medium 70. In this embodiment the exit medium 70 is implemented as part of a CT detector as exit medium. The CT detector may have an index of refraction of about N=4.4. The CT detector 78 includes a plurality of detector elements or light sensitive areas (not shown). The detector elements can be implemented as photodiodes or silicon photomultipliers arranged in the exit medium. Furthermore, the CT detector 78 may include an integrated circuit similar to the optical detector discussed above.

[0082] The scintillator 12 is arranged as a scintillator layer. For example, consider that there are two scintillator layers, i.e. a first scintillator layer could be Gadolinium Oxysulphide (GOS), and a second scintillator layer could be Cerium doped Lutetium (LYSO). The scintillator has an index of refraction of about N=1.85, for example.

[0083] The spacer 30 is arranged on the dielectric filter 50 as in the previous embodiments. In fact, the spacer 30 is arranged between the scintillator 12 and the dielectric filter 50 which thereby are spaced apart and enclose an open cavity 31. Thus, the cavity 31 is filled with ambient air and can be attributed a refractive index of N=1.0. The dielectric filter 50 comprises a plurality of filter elements, each of which may be attributed to the detector elements, respectively. For example, the dielectric filter 50 comprises two filter elements, e.g. a short pass and a long pass filter.

[0084] The CT detector 78 is arranged to detect X-rays generated by an X-ray source and that have passed through an object. The X-rays eventually strike the scintillator 12 and its scintillator layers which convert X-rays into light of a specific wavelength. The specific wavelength is largely determined by the material properties of the scintillator layers. For example, the two scintillator layers have different specific wavelengths. The first scintillator layer made from GOS converts the incoming x-rays into two different wavelengths, i.e. 670 nm (red light) and 520 nm (green light). The second scintillator layer made from LYSO converts the incoming x-rays to 420 nm wavelength (blue light).

[0085] The light generated within the scintillator layers is diffuse in nature and exits the scintillator 12 (as incident medium 10) at exit surface 11 with a diffusive distribution of angles as discussed above with respect to FIG. 1A. Finally, light striking the dielectric filters 50 is filtered according to the transmission characteristics of the dielectric filters 51, 52. The two filter elements, e.g. a short pass and a long pass filter, are used to pass the red and blue light to the photodetectors, and block the green light, for example.

[0086] FIG. 4B shows spectral transmission curves of the example embodiment of the filter assembly of FIG. 4A. The curves represent simulated transmission graphs (filter transmission T[%]) as a function of wavelength X[nm] with a non-zero working distance (dashed line) and without a spacer arranged between the incident medium and dielectric filter (solid line). The simulation assumed the embodiment of FIG. 4A.

[0087] It is apparent that the filter assembly without spacer 30 creates spectral smearing when light passed through the dielectric filters. The resulting transmission graph is far from ideal (see solid line). Approximately 50% transmission for the green light is shown. By applying the proposed filter design, i.e. by incorporating the spacer 30 and non-zero working distance, the resulting transmission curves can be significantly improved as shown in the drawing (dashed line). The transmission for the green light is reduced to below 10%.

[0088] In conclusion, the proposed filter assembly can also be applied to sensor types other than optical sensors. X-ray detectors such as CT detector 78 are based on scintillators which by nature introduce diffusive distribution of angles in light generated in the scintillator layers. Spectral properties is improved for the dielectric filter 50, e.g. spectral overlap between the filter elements due to spectral smearing can be reduced. This allows for improved spectral selectivity in X-ray sensors and applications such as CT detectors.

[0089] FIG. 5 shows simulated spectral transmission curves for a photopic filter. The simulation assumes a dielectric filter 50 which consists of a multilayer of Nb.sub.2O.sub.5 and SiO.sub.2 as the high and low index materials, respectively. This dielectric filter 50 can be used as filter in the embodiment of FIG. 1A, for example. For example, one objective may be to produce a photopic interference filter that passes light with 555 nm, full width−half maximum FWHM=100 nm.

[0090] The simulation results are depicted as simulated transmission graphs (filter transmission T[%]) as a function of wavelength λ with a spacer 30 (dashed line) and without a spacer 30 arranged between the incident medium 10 and dielectric filter 50 (solid line). If the photopic interference filter 50 is illuminated with parallel light at 0° AOI (nominal incidence) the peak position is centered at 555 nm. If the same filter 50 is illuminated with diffuse light having Lambertian distribution of AOI, then the peak position shifts, there is a broadening of the filter shape, and infrared leakage increases (see solid line). The spectral response of the photopic interference filter 50 can be enhanced by applying the spacer 30 and working distance 32 as proposed herein. In the case of a coating with air-gap (i.e. open cavity design) the stopband and transmittance performance of the filter 50 is appreciably better than in the case of coating without an air-gap (see dashed line).

[0091] In conclusion, the hybrid structure including the spacer allows for improving spectral properties in photopic filter design. The same principles may also be applied to scotopic filter design as well. These types of filters are specifically designed to resemble human vision at daylight and at night, respectively. Reducing the impact of spectral shift, smearing and leakage thus improves optical sensor performance in human vision applications, such as color sensors.

[0092] In another embodiment (not shown) the filter assembly is configured for the infrared (IR) part of the spectrum, e.g. the near infrared. The dielectric filter 50 has a transmission characteristic with spectral windows in the IR, e.g. between 700 nm-1 mm. For example, the spectral window or windows lie in the near infrared (NIR) between 0.75-1.4 μm. The embodiments shown above can be used together with the filter assembly also in the IR and NIR. Depending on the spectral windows, however, materials used for the indicent medium and exit medium may be adjusted to match in their optical properties. For example, a semiconductor such as silicon as material for the semiconductor substrate 72 shows transmission in the IR and may be exchanged with a material that does not feature significant transmission in the IR.

[0093] In general the filter assembly can be applied to improve the spectral performance of many interference filters, e.g. under diffuse light conditions, and is especially applicable when the refractive index of the incoming media is high. The filter assembly is not restricted to diffuse light conditions or visible wavelengths. In fact, the filter assembly can be applied to interference filters for other wavelength ranges, e.g. infrared or ultraviolet, UV.