Ams Ag

Thomas Stockmeier

Martin Schrems

Richard Forsyth

Thomas Troxler

The system-on-chip camera comprises a semiconductor body with an integrated circuit, a sensor substrate, sensor elements arranged in the sensor substrate according to an array of pixels, a light sensor in the sensor substrate apart from the sensor elements, and a lens or an array of lenses on a surface of incidence. Filter elements, which may especially be interference filters for red, green or blue, are arranged between the sensor elements and the surface of incidence.

System-on-chip camera with integrated light sensor(s) and method of producing a system-on-chip camera

The system-on-chip camera comprises a semiconductor body () with an integrated circuit (), a sensor substrate (), sensor elements () arranged in the sensor substrate according to an array of pixels, a light sensor () in the sensor substrate apart from the sensor elements, and a lens or an array of lenses () on a surface of incidence (). Filter elements (), which may especially be interference filters for red, green or blue, are arranged between the sensor elements and the surface of incidence.

At least one of the pixels of the image sensor is heated using at least one heater, and the temperature of this pixel is thus increased by a larger degree than the temperature of at least a further one of the pixels.

Method of operating a semiconductor image sensor with integrated pixel heating

The semiconductor image sensor comprises a plurality of pixels () with photo sensors (). At least one heater () is integrated with the photo sensors and is arranged in at least one of the pixels or in the vicinity of at least one of the pixels. An appropriate operation of the heater will increase the temperature of the relevant pixel. Thus it is possible to achieve a local compensation of a temperature difference that may be due to the operation of an integrated readout circuit () or any other integrated component generating heat.

Growing community of inventors

Unterpremstaetten, Austria

Thomas Stockmeier