DETECTOR FOR OPTICALLY DETECTING AT LEAST ONE OBJECT

Abstract

A detector for determining a position of at least one object, in particular for 3D-sensing concepts, is disclosed. The detector comprises a longitudinal optical sensor (110) for determining a longitudinal position of an object by a light beam traveling from the object to the detector and a transversal optical detector (112) which may be designed as an imaging device or a position sensitive detector. The longitudinal sensor (110) has at least two PN structures or PIN structures (138, 140). Each of the PN structures or PIN structures is located between two electrode layers (144), thereby forming photodiodes (146) having a longitudinal sensor region (148) each. Longitudinal sensor signals from the photodiodes (146) are, given the same total power of illumination, are dependent on a beam cross-section of the light beam in the longitudinal sensor regions (148). As an alternative, instead of the transversal optical detector (112) the photodiodes (146) of the longitudinal optical sensor (110) may be adapted to operate as one-dimensional position sensitive detectors each, for determining a transversal x-coordinate and a transversal y-coordinate, respectively.

Claims

1: A detector for determining a position of at least one object, the detector comprising: a longitudinal optical sensor for determining a longitudinal position of at least one light beam traveling from the at least one object to the detector, the longitudinal optical sensor having a layer setup, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor comprises at least two p-type semiconductor layers, at least two n-type semiconductor layers, and at least three individual electrode layers, wherein the at least two p-type semiconductor layers and the at least two n-type semiconductor layers form at least two individual PN structures, wherein each of the at least two individual PN structures is located between at least two of the at least three electrode layers, thereby forming at least two photodiodes, wherein each of the at least two photodiodes has at least one longitudinal sensor region, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor generates at least two longitudinal sensor signals in a manner dependent on an illumination of the at least one longitudinal sensor region by the at least one light beam, and wherein the at least two longitudinal sensor signals, given the same total power of the illumination, are dependent on a beam cross-section of the at least one light beam in the at least one longitudinal sensor regions; and an evaluation device for determining at least one longitudinal coordinate of the at least one object by evaluating the at least two longitudinal sensor signals.

2: The detector of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor comprises an intrinsic semiconductor layer, and wherein the intrinsic semiconductor layer is located between one of the at least two p-type semiconductor layers and one of the at least two n-type semiconductor layers, thereby forming at least one PIN structure.

3: The detector of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor comprises at least two intrinsic semiconductor layers, and wherein each of the at least two intrinsic semiconductor layers is located between one of the at least two p-type semiconductor layers and one of the at least two n-type semiconductor layers, thereby forming at least two individual PIN structures.

4: The detector of claim 2, wherein one or more of the intrinsic semiconductor layer, the at least two p-type semiconductor layers and the at least two n-type semiconductor layers comprise at least one selected from the group consisting of amorphous silicon, an alloy comprising amorphous silicon, microcrystalline silicon, germanium, copper indium sulfide, copper indium gallium selenide, copper zinc tin sulfide, copper zinc tin selenide, copper-zinc-tin sulfur-selenium chalcogenide, cadmium telluride, mercury cadmium telluride, indium arsenide, indium gallium arsenide, indium antimonide, an organic-inorganic halide perovskite, and solid solutions and/or doped variants thereof.

5: The detector of claim 4, wherein one or more of the intrinsic semiconductor layer, the at least two p-type semiconductor layers and the at least two n-type semiconductor layers comprise the alloy comprising amorphous silicon, and the alloy comprising amorphous silicon is an amorphous alloy comprising silicon and carbon or an amorphous alloy comprising silicon and germanium.

6: The detector of claim 4, wherein one or more of the intrinsic semiconductor layer, the at least two p-type semiconductor layers and the at least two n-type semiconductor layers comprise the amorphous silicon, and the amorphous silicon is passivated with hydrogen.

7: The detector of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor comprises an intrinsic semiconductor layer; and the intrinsic semiconductor layers have a thickness of from 100 nm to 300 nm.

8: The detector of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor is at least partially transparent.

9. (canceled)

10: The detector of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two p-type semiconductor layers, the at least two n-type semiconductor layers, and the at least three individual electrode layers in the layer setup is at least partially transparent or translucent.

11. (canceled)

12: The detector of claim 1, wherein two adjacent PN structures of the at least two individual PN structures share one of the at least three electrode layers as a common electrode layer.

13: The detector of claim 1, wherein two adjacent layers of the at least three electrode layers having the same polarity are separated from each other by an insulating layer, and wherein the insulating layer comprises a layer of one of glass, quartz, or a transparent organic polymer.

14. (canceled)

15: The detector of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two photodiodes is addressed individually.

16: The detector of claim 1, wherein the at least two photodiode comprises a first photodiode and a second photodiode; the first photodiode generates at least a first longitudinal sensor signal the second photodiode generates at least a second longitudinal sensor signal, and the evaluation device determines the first longitudinal optical sensor signal and the second longitudinal sensor signal simultaneously.

17: The detector of claim 1, wherein the at least three electrode layers comprise electrically conductive material, wherein the at least three electrode layers are at least partially transparent, and wherein the at least three electrode layers comprise transparent conductive oxide.

18: The detector of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor comprises a spacer layer, and wherein the spacer layer separates a first photodiode and a second photodiode.

19: The detector of claim 1, wherein the detector further comprises a transversal optical sensor for determining at least one transversal position of the at least one light beam traveling from the at least one object to the detector, wherein the transversal optical sensor generates at least one transversal sensor signal, and wherein the evaluation device further determines at least one transversal coordinate of the at least one object by evaluating the at least one transversal sensor signal.

20: The detector of claim 1, wherein the layer setup comprises at least one layer acting as a transversal optical sensor, and the longitudinal optical sensor and the transversal optical sensor are arranged in a monolithic device.

21. (canceled)

22: The detector of claim 20, wherein the layer acting as a transversal optical sensor is intransparent and arranged as a last layer in the layer setup to be traversed by the at least one light beam, which is an incident light beam.

23: The detector of claim 20, wherein the layer acting as a transversal optical sensor is at least partially transparent or translucent.

24: The detector of claim 20, wherein the layer acting as transversal optical sensor is arranged as a first layer in the layer setup to be traversed by the at least one light beam, which is an incident light beam.

25-29. (canceled)

30: A method for determining a position of at least one object with the detector of claim 1, the method comprising: generating the at least two longitudinal sensor signals with the longitudinal optical sensor and evaluating the at least two longitudinal sensor signals with the evaluation device and generating at least one item of information on a longitudinal position of the at least one object.

31-34. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0306] Further optional details and features of the invention are evident from the description of preferred exemplary embodiments which follows in conjunction with the dependent claims. In this context, the particular features may be implemented alone or with several in combination. The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments. The exemplary embodiments are shown schematically in the figures. Identical reference numerals in the individual figures refer to identical elements or elements with identical function, or elements which correspond to one another with regard to their functions.

[0307] Specifically, in the figures:

[0308] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a longitudinal optical sensor and a transversal optical sensor of a detector according to the present invention, in a sectional view;

[0309] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the detector according to the present invention;

[0310] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of the longitudinal optical sensor and the transversal optical sensor of the detector according to the present invention;

[0311] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of the longitudinal optical sensor of the detector according to the present invention; and

[0312] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a detector, a detector system, a human-machine interface, an entertainment device and a tracking system according to the present invention.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0313] FIG. 1 shows, in a highly schematic illustration, an exemplary embodiment of a longitudinal optical sensor 110 and a transversal optical sensor 112 of a detector 114 according to the present invention. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 has a layer setup. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 may comprise at least two intrinsic semiconductor layers 118, for example a first intrinsic semiconductor layer 120 and a second intrinsic semiconductor layer 122. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 comprises at least two p-type semiconductor layers 124, for example, a first p-type semiconductor layer 126 and a second p-type semiconductor layer 128. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 comprises at least two n-type semiconductor layers 130, for example, a first n-type semiconductor layer 132 and a second n-type semiconductor layer 134. Each of the intrinsic semiconductor layers 118 may be located between one of the p-type semiconductor layers 124 and one of the n-type semiconductor layers 130, thereby forming at least two individual PIN structures 136, for example, a first PIN structure 138 and s second PIN structure 140.

[0314] The intrinsic semiconductor layers 118, the p-type semiconductor layer 124 and the n-type semiconductor layers 130 may comprise one or more of amorphous silicon, also abbreviated as a-Si, an alloy comprising amorphous silicon (a-Si), an alloy comprising amorphous silicon (a-Si), microcrystalline silicon (c-Si), germanium (Ge), copper indium sulfide (CIS), copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS), copper zinc tin selenide (CZTSe), copper-zinc-tin sulfur-selenium chalcogenide (CZTSSe), cadmium telluride (CdTe), mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe), indium arsenide (InAs), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), indium antimonide (InSb), an organic-inorganic halide perovskite, and solid solutions and/or doped variants thereof. The alloy comprising amorphous silicon may be an amorphous alloy comprising silicon and carbon or an amorphous alloy comprising silicon and germanium. The amorphous silicon may be passivated by using hydrogen, by which application a number of dangling bonds within the amorphous silicon may be reduced by several orders of magnitude. As a result, hydrogenated amorphous silicon, usually abbreviated to a-Si:H, may exhibit a low amount of defects, thus, allow using it for optical devices. The p-type semiconductor layers 124, the intrinsic semiconductor layers 118 and the n-type semiconductor layers 130 may be based on a-Si:H. The thickness of the intrinsic semiconductor layers 118 may be from 100 nm to 300 nm, in particular from 150 nm to 200 nm.

[0315] The longitudinal optical sensor 110 may be at least partially transparent, in particular transparent or semitransparent. The layer setup 116 may be adapted to be traversed by the incident light beam 142 in an order in which the layers are arranged within the layer setup 116. Each of the layers in the layer setup 116 may be at least partially transparent or translucent. Thus, the intrinsic semiconductor layer 118 may have a thickness as small as possible. In particular, the intrinsic semiconductor layers 118 may be thin film layers, with a thickness from 100 nm to 300 nm, in particular from 150 nm to 200 nm. The thickness of the intrinsic semiconductor layers 118 may be chosen similar to layer thickness as used in high performance tandem cells. Thus, using thin intrinsic semiconductor layers 118 may allow manufacturing at least partially transparent longitudinal optical sensors 110.

[0316] The longitudinal optical sensor 110 comprises at least three individual electrode layers 144. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the longitudinal optical sensor 110 comprises four electrode layers 144. The electrode layers 144 may comprise electrically conducting material. The electrode layers 144 may be at least partially transparent. The electrode layers may comprise transparent conductive oxide (TCO), in particular one or more of indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide (ZnO), Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), antimony tin oxide (ATO). Each of the PIN structures 136 is located between at least two of the electrode layers 144, thereby forming at least two photodiodes 146.

[0317] Each of the two photodiodes 146 has at least one longitudinal sensor region 148, wherein the longitudinal optical sensor 110 is designed to generate at least two longitudinal sensor signals in a manner dependent on an illumination of the longitudinal sensor region 148 by the light beam 142, wherein the longitudinal sensor signals, given the same total power of the illumination, are dependent on a beam cross-section of the light beam 142 in the longitudinal sensor region 148. Each of the photodiodes 146 may be configured to be addressed individually. Each of the electrode layers 144 may be connectable and separately addressable. Hence, a photocurrent generated by one of the photodiodes 146 may be determined separately from a photocurrent generated by another photodiode 146. A first photodiode 150 may be designed to generate at least a first longitudinal sensor signal, and a second photodiode 152 may be designed to generate at least a second longitudinal sensor signal. The detector 114 comprises at least one evaluation device 154, wherein the evaluation device 154 is configured to determine at least one longitudinal coordinate of the object 156 by evaluating the longitudinal sensor signals. As outlined above, the longitudinal coordinate z may be also derived, in particular by implementing the FiP effect explained in further detail in WO 2012/110924 A1 and/or in WO 2014/097181 A1. For this purpose, the at least one longitudinal sensor signal as provided by the FIP sensor is evaluated by using the evaluation device 154 and determining, therefrom, at least one longitudinal coordinate z of the object 156. The evaluation device 154 may be adapted to determine the first longitudinal optical sensor signal and the second longitudinal sensor signal simultaneously. The photodiodes 146 may be arranged such that the first longitudinal optical sensor signal may be independent from the second longitudinal optical sensor signal. Thus, it may be possible to determine the longitudinal coordinate of the object 156 unambiguously.

[0318] Two adjacent electrode layers 144 having the same polarity may be separated from each other by an insulating layer 158. The insulating layer 158 may be at least partially transparent or at least partially translucent. The insulating layer 158 may comprise a layer of one of glass, quartz, or a transparent organic polymer. The longitudinal optical sensor may comprise at least one spacer layer 160, in particular an optical spacer layer, wherein the spacer layer 160 is designed to separate the first photodiode 150 and a second photodiode 152. The spacer layer 160 may comprise a layer of one of glass, quartz, or a transparent organic polymer. Using an optical spacer layer 160 and/or at least one insulating layer 158 of an appropriate thickness may allow to set a distance between two PIN structures 136.

[0319] The layer setup 116 may further comprise at least one substrate layer 162 comprising a layer of an opaque or transparent substrate, for example glass or a transparent or intransparent organic polymer. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the layer setup may comprise two at least partially transparent substrate layers 162

[0320] The detector 114 may further comprise at least one transversal optical sensor 112. The transversal optical sensor 112 may be designed as at least one imaging device and/or at least one PSD. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 and the imaging device and/or the PSD may be arranged on a common optical axis 164. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 and the transversal optical sensor 112 may be arranged in a stack, as separated devices. The transversal optical sensor 112 may be situated in a direction of light propagating from the object 156 to the detector 114 behind the transparent longitudinal optical sensor 110. In this case, the PSD may be a standard quadrant detector or an opaque silicon based PSD. Additionally or alternatively, the imaging device may be based on intransparent inorganic materials, such as known CCD sensors and/or CMOS sensors.

[0321] FIG. 2 shows, highly schematic, an exemplary embodiment of the detector 114 according to the present invention. With respect to description of devices and elements, reference can be made to the description of FIG. 1, differences or specific features will be described in the following. Two adjacent PIN structures 136 may be separated by at least one electrode layer. Two adjacent PIN structures 136 may share one of the electrode layers 144 as a common electrode layer 166. Such an arrangement may allow miniaturizing the detector. As outlined above, each of the photodiodes 146 may be configured to be addressed individually. Each of the electrode layers 144 may be connectable and separately addressable. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, each of the two individual electrode layers 144 may be addressed by at least one current measuring device 168, in particular to at least one ampere meter, by at least one connector 170 in order to determine the first longitudinal sensor signal and the second longitudinal sensor signal independently. Hence, a photocurrent generated by one of the photodiodes 146 may be determined separately from a photocurrent generated by another photodiode 146. Thus, it may be possible to determine the longitudinal coordinate of the object 156 unambiguously.

[0322] In FIG. 2, the transversal optical sensor 112 and the longitudinal optical sensor 110 may be arranged in a monolithic device. The layer setup 116 may further comprise at least one layer adapted to act as a transversal optical sensor 112. The layer adapted to act as a transversal optical sensor 112 may be intransparent and may be arranged as the last layer in the layer setup 116 to be traversed by the incident light beam 142. Thus, the layer adapted to act as transversal optical sensor 112 may be opaque. The layer setup 116 may comprise at least one substrate layer 162, in particular comprising glass or opaque substrate, behind the transversal optical sensor 112. The layer setup 116 may comprise a further substrate layer 162, in particular a first layer of the layer setup 116 may be designed as substrate layer 162.

[0323] FIG. 3 shows, highly schematic, an exemplary embodiment of the longitudinal optical sensor 110 and the transversal optical sensor 112. With respect to description of devices and elements, reference can be made to the description of FIGS. 1 and 2, differences or specific features will be described in the following. The layer adapted to act as transversal optical sensor 112 may be arranged as first layer in the layer setup 116 to be traversed by the incident light beam 142. The layer adapted to act as a transversal optical sensor 112 maybe at least partially transparent or translucent. For example, the transversal optical sensor 112 may be a PSD. The PSD may be at least partially transparent or semitransparent. A semitransparent PSD may be realized by using a metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) layout. The PSD may comprise at least one photo sensitive area, in particular a photo-active layer. The photo-active layer may be silicon based, in particular the photoactive layer of the PSD may comprise one or more of a-Si:H, a-SiGe:H, a-Se:H and c-Si:H. The PSD may have a PIN structure. An intrinsic semiconductor layer of the PIN structure may be designed such that the PSD is at least partially transparent or semitransparent. In particular, a thickness of the intrinsic semiconductor layer may be from 100 nm to 2000 nm, in particular from 400 to 700 nm. The PSD may comprise at least four electrodes. The electrodes may be designed as extended parallel electrodes. The electrodes may comprise sputtered or atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposited transparent conductive oxide (TCO). In particular, the electrodes may comprise a low-conductivity layer, in particular indium tin oxide (ITO) or fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO). The PSD may have a square or quadrant detector. For example, the PSD may be a tetra-lateral type PSD having the four electrodes arranged along each side of the square or quadrant on a surface of the PSD. For example, the PSD may be a duo-lateral type PSD having a pair of the four electrodes on each of two surfaces of the PSD, in particular a pair of electrodes on a front surface and a pair of electrodes on a back surface of the PSD, wherein the pairs of electrodes are arranged at right angles.

[0324] The layer setup 116 may further comprise at least one at least partially transparent insulating layer 172, in particular comprising one or more of glass, quartz or a transparent organic polymer, positioned behind the transversal optical sensor 112.

[0325] FIG. 4 shows, highly schematic, an exemplary embodiment of the longitudinal optical sensor 110. With respect to description of devices and elements, reference can be made to the description of FIGS. 1 to 3, differences or specific features will be described in the following. In this embodiment, the longitudinal optical sensor 110 may be a stand-alone device which can be combined with further devices, e.g. with at least one transversal optical sensor. The electrode layers 144 may be at least partially transparent. The electrode layers may comprise transparent conductive oxide (TCO), in particular one or more of indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide (ZnO), Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), antimony tin oxide (ATO).

[0326] At least one of the electrode layers 144 may be designed as reflective electrode 174. The reflective electrode 174 may be arranged as last layer of the layer setup 116 to be traversed by the incident light beam 142. The layer setup 116 may comprise in a direction of propagation of the light beam in addition to the reflective electrode at least one additional layer, in particular the substrate layer 162, which may not be traversed by the incident light beam. Thus, the substrate layer 162 may be opaque. However, embodiments are feasible, wherein all electrode layers 144 and both substrate layers 162 are at least partially transparent.

[0327] The longitudinal optical sensor 110 may be adapted to operate as FiP-device and at the same time as PSD. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 may be adapted to operate as a FiP-device and at the same time as PSD adapted for one-dimensional position sensing. For example, the longitudinal optical sensor 110 may comprise two cells, wherein each cell may comprise at least one PIN structure 136 and/or PN structure and two electrode layers 144. The two cells may share one of the electrode layers 144 such that the two cells have a common electrode layer. The common electrode layer may be designed as common anode. Each cell may be configured as FiP-device and at the same time as 1D-PSD. Each cell may comprise a semi-transparent thin-film detector such as one or more of an a-Si:H thin-film detector, a c-Si:H, CdTe, a nanoparticle thin-film detector or an organic thin-film detector. The 1D-PSD may comprise at least two electrodes on the surface of the PSD. The two electrodes on the surface of the 1D-PSD may be designed as cathodes. The two cells may be rotated by 90 to each other such that one cell is adapted to determine the transversal coordinate x and the other cell the transversal coordinate y. Electrode contacts of the anode and cathode electrode layers may be arranged on two sides of a cell opposite to each other.

[0328] FIG. 5 shows, in a highly schematic illustration, an exemplary embodiment of a detector 114, comprising at least one longitudinal optical sensor 110 and at least one transversal optical sensor 112 arranged in a monolithic device. Within this regard it may be mentioned that the longitudinal sensors 110 and the transversal optical sensors 112 as presented in FIGS. 1 to 4, respectively, comprise an arrangement which is particularly suited for this purpose. The longitudinal optical sensor 110 is a FiP sensor which functions according to the above-described FiP effect. The detector 114 specifically may be embodied as a camera 176 or may be part of a camera 176. The camera 176 may be made for imaging, specifically for 3D imaging, and may be made for acquiring standstill images and/or image sequences such as digital video clips. Other embodiments are feasible.

[0329] FIG. 5 further shows an embodiment of a detector system 178, which, besides the at least one detector 114, comprises one or more beacon devices 160, which, in this exemplary embodiment, are attached and/or integrated into an object 156, the position of which shall be detected by using the detector 114. FIG. 5 further shows an exemplary embodiment of a human-machine interface 182, which comprises the at least one detector system 178, and, further, an entertainment device 184, which comprises the human-machine interface 182. The figure further shows an embodiment of a tracking system 186 for tracking a position of the object 156, which comprises the detector system 178. The components of the devices and systems shall be explained in further detail in the following.

[0330] FIG. 5 further shows an exemplary embodiment of a scanning system 188 for determining at least one position of the at least one object 156. The scanning system 188 comprises the at least one detector 114 and, further, at least one illumination source 190 adapted to emit at least one light beam 192 configured for an illumination of at least one dot (e.g. a dot located on one or more of the positions of the beacon devices 180) located at at least one surface of the at least one object 156. The scanning system 188 is designed to generate at least one item of information about the distance between the at least one dot and the scanning system 188, specifically the detector 114, by using the at least one detector 114.

[0331] As outlined above, the detector 114 may comprise, besides the one or more transversal optical sensors 112 and one or more longitudinal optical sensors 110, at least one evaluation device 154, having e.g. optionally at least one modulation device 194, as symbolically depicted in FIG. 5. Herein, the modulation device 194 may be employed for modulating the illumination, such as that the longitudinal sensor signal and/or the transversal sensor signal is dependent on a modulation frequency of a modulation of the illumination. The components of the evaluation device 154 may fully or partially be integrated into one or all of or even each of the optical sensors 110, 112 or may fully or partially be embodied as separate components independent from the optical sensors 110, 112.

[0332] Besides the above-mentioned possibility of fully or partially combining two or more components, one or more of one or more optical sensors 110, 112 and one or more of the components of the evaluation device 154 may be interconnected by one or more connectors 170 and/or one or more interfaces, as symbolically depicted in FIG. 5. Further, the optional at least one connector 170 may comprise one or more drivers and/or one or more devices for modifying or preprocessing sensor signals. Further, instead of using the at least one optional connector 170, the evaluation device 154 may fully or partially be integrated into the optical sensors 110, 112 and/or into a housing 196 of the detector 114. Additionally or alternatively, the evaluation device 154 may fully or partially be designed as a separate device.

[0333] In this exemplary embodiment, the object 156, the position of which may be detected, may be designed as an article of sports equipment and/or may form a control element or a control device 198, the position of which may be manipulated by a user 200. As an example, the object 156 may be or may comprise a bat, a racket, a club or any other article of sports equipment and/or fake sports equipment. Other types of objects 156 are possible. Further, the user 200 himself or herself may be considered as the object 156, the position of which shall be detected.

[0334] As outlined above, the detector 114 comprises one or more optical sensors 110, 112. The optical sensors 110,112 may be located inside the housing 196 of the detector 114. Further, at least one transfer device 202 may be comprised, such as one or more optical systems, preferably comprising one or more lenses 204.

[0335] An opening 206 inside the housing 196, which, preferably, is located concentrically with regard to an optical axis 164 of the detector 114, preferably defines a direction of view 208 of the detector 114. A coordinate system 210 may be defined, in which a direction parallel or antiparallel to the optical axis 164 is defined as a longitudinal direction, whereas directions perpendicular to the optical axis 164 may be defined as transversal directions. In the coordinate system 210, symbolically depicted in FIG. 5, a longitudinal direction is denoted by z, and transversal directions are denoted by x and y, respectively. Other types of coordinate systems 210 are feasible.

[0336] The one or more light beams 142 are propagating from the object 156 and/or from and/or one or more of the beacon devices 180 towards the detector 114. The detector 114 is adapted for determining a position of the at least one object 156. For this purpose, as explained above in the context of FIGS. 1-4, the evaluation device 154 is configured to evaluate sensor signals provided by the one or more optical sensors 110, 112. The detector 114 is adapted to determine a position of the object 156, and the optical sensors 110, 112 are adapted to detect the light beam 142 propagating from the object 156 towards the detector 114, specifically from one or more of the beacon devices 180. For example, the light beam 142 may be impinge directly and/or after being modified by the transfer device 202, such as being focused by the lens 204, on the longitudinal optical sensor 110 or the transversal optical sensor 112.

[0337] As outlined above, the determination of a position of the object 156 and/or a part thereof by using the detector 114 may be used for providing a human-machine interface 182, in order to provide at least one item of information to a machine 212. In the embodiment schematically depicted in FIG. 5, the machine 212 may be a computer and/or may comprise a computer. Other embodiments are feasible. The evaluation device 154 even may fully or partially be integrated into the machine 212, such as into the computer.

[0338] As outlined above, FIG. 5 also depicts an example of a tracking system 186, configured for tracking the position of the at least one object 156. The tracking system 186 comprises the detector 114 and at least one track controller 214. The track controller 214 may be adapted to track a series of positions of the object 156 at specific points in time. The track controller 214 may be an independent device and/or may fully or partially form part of the computer of the machine 212.

[0339] Similarly, as outlined above, the human-machine interface 182 may form part of an entertainment device 184. The machine 212, specifically the computer, may also form part of the entertainment device 184. Thus, by means of the user 200 functioning as the object 156 and/or by means of the user 200 handling a control device 198 functioning as the object 156, the user 200 may input at least one item of information, such as at least one control command, into the computer, thereby varying the entertainment function, such as controlling the course of a computer game.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0340] 110 longitudinal optical sensor [0341] 112 transversal optical sensor [0342] 114 detector [0343] 116 layer setup [0344] 118 intrinsic semiconductor layer [0345] 120 first intrinsic semiconductor layer [0346] 122 second intrinsic semiconductor layer [0347] 124 p-type semiconductor layer [0348] 126 first p-type semiconductor layer [0349] 128 second p-type semiconductor layer [0350] 130 n-type semiconductor layer [0351] 132 first n-type semiconductor layer [0352] 134 second n-type semiconductor layer [0353] 136 PIN structure [0354] 138 first PIN structure [0355] 140 second PIN structure [0356] 142 light beam [0357] 144 electrode layers [0358] 146 photodiodes [0359] 148 longitudinal sensor region [0360] 150 first photodiode [0361] 152 second photodiode [0362] 154 evaluation device [0363] 156 object [0364] 158 insulating layer [0365] 160 spacer layer [0366] 162 substrate layer [0367] 164 optical axis [0368] 166 common electrode layer [0369] 168 current measuring device [0370] 170 connector [0371] 172 insulating layer [0372] 174 reflective electrode [0373] 176 camera [0374] 178 detector system [0375] 180 beacon device [0376] 182 human-machine interface [0377] 184 entertainment device [0378] 186 trading system [0379] 188 scanning system [0380] 190 illumination source [0381] 192 light beam [0382] 194 modulation device [0383] 196 housing [0384] 198 control device [0385] 200 User [0386] 202 transfer device [0387] 204 Lens [0388] 206 opening [0389] 208 direction of view [0390] 210 coordinate system [0391] 212 machine [0392] 214 track controller