A Novel CMOS-SOI High-Responsivity Thermopile for Thermal Sensing Applications

This paper presents a novel micromachined high-responsivity thermopile sensor, fully compatible with standard CMOS-SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) processes. The proposed thermopile features a versatile mosaic structure, based on 128 60 mu m x 60 mu m pixels connected in series and /or in parallel. Two versions of the proposed thermopile sensor, featuring a different number of equivalent pixels, are presented and fully characterized. The most performing of the two features 2.9.10(4) V/W- responsivity, outperforming other state-of-the-art thermopile sensors. The application of the most performing thermopile as proximity and motion detector was also verified through measurements.

Automated summary

This paper presents a novel micromachined high-responsivity thermopile sensor that is fully compatible with standard CMOS-SOI processes. The proposed sensor features a versatile mosaic structure with a series and/or parallel connection of 128 60μm x 60μm pixels. Two versions of the sensor are presented and characterized, with the most performing version surpassing other state-of-the-art thermopile sensors in responsivity. The application of the most performing sensor as a proximity and motion detector is also verified through measurements.