Patents by Inventor Wilhelm Leneke

Wilhelm Leneke has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11988561
    Abstract: A method for producing a thermal infrared sensor array in a vacuum-filled wafer-level housing with particularly small dimensions, consisting of at least two wafers, a cover wafer and a central wafer comprising multiple infrared-sensitive sensor pixels on a respective thin slotted membrane over a heat-insulating cavity is disclosed. A method for producing a high-resolution monolithic silicon micromechanical thermopile array sensor using wafer level packaging technology, wherein the sensor achieves a particularly high spatial resolution capability and a very high filling degree with very small housing dimensions, in particular a very low overall thickness, and can be inexpensively produced using standard CMOS processes. This is achieved in that the cover wafer is first rigidly mechanically connected to the provided central wafer comprising the sensor pixels with the infrared-sensitive pixels by means of wafer bonding, and the central wafer is then thinned out from the wafer rear face to a specified thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Frank Herrmann, Christian Schmidt, Wilhelm Leneke, Bodo Forg, Marion Simon, Michael Schnorr
  • Publication number: 20220283034
    Abstract: A method for producing a thermal infrared sensor array in a vacuum-filled wafer-level housing with particularly small dimensions, consisting of at least two wafers, a cover wafer and a central wafer comprising multiple infrared-sensitive sensor pixels on a respective thin slotted membrane over a heat-insulating cavity is disclosed. A method for producing a high-resolution monolithic silicon micromechanical thermopile array sensor using wafer level packaging technology, wherein the sensor achieves a particularly high spatial resolution capability and a very high filling degree with very small housing dimensions, in particular a very low overall thickness, and can be inexpensively produced using standard CMOS processes. This is achieved in that the cover wafer is first rigidly mechanically connected to the provided central wafer comprising the sensor pixels with the infrared-sensitive pixels by means of wafer bonding, and the central wafer is then thinned out from the wafer rear face to a specified thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Publication date: September 8, 2022
    Applicant: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg SCHIEFERDECKER, Frank HERRMANN, Christian SCHMIDT, Wilhelm LENEKE, Bodo FORG, Marion SIMON, Michael SCHNORR
  • Patent number: 11268861
    Abstract: An SMD-enabled infrared thermopile sensor has at least one miniaturized thermopile pixel on a monolithically integrated sensor chip accommodated in a hermetically sealed housing which consists of an at least partially non-metallic housing substrate and a housing cover. A gas or a gas mixture is contained in the housing. The sensor has a particularly low overall height, in particular in the z direction. This is achieved by virtue of an aperture opening being introduced in the housing cover opposite the thermopile pixel(s), which aperture opening is closed with a focusing lens which focuses the radiation from objects onto the thermopile pixel(s) on the housing substrate, and by virtue of a signal processing unit being integrated on the same sensor chip next to the thermopile pixels, wherein the total housing height and the housing cover are at most 3 mm or less than 2.5 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Frank Herrmann, Christian Schmidt, Wilhelm Leneke, Marion Simon, Karlheinz Storck, Mischa Schulze
  • Patent number: 11187589
    Abstract: High-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals of a sensor array and a digital port for serially emitting the signals. Each signal processing channel comprises at least one analog to digital converter and is assigned a memory for storing the results of the analog to digital converters. Power consumption of the infrared sensor array is reduced in the case of a sensor array with at least 16 rows and at least 16 columns, in that no more than 8 or 16 pixels are connected to a signal processing channel. The number of signal processing channels corresponds to at least 4 times the number of rows. Some of the signal processing channels are disposed in the intermediate space between the pixels and others are disposed in an outer edge region of the sensor chip surrounding the sensor array along with other electronics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Bodo Forg, Michael Schnorr, Karlheinz Storck, Wilhelm Leneke, Marion Simon
  • Patent number: 10948355
    Abstract: A high-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having monolithically integrated signal processing and a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals from pixels of a sensor array, and a digital port for the serial output of the pixel signals are provided, wherein the sensor array is located on one or more sensor chips. The thermal piled infrared sensor array possesses low power loss, high integration density and high thermal and geometric resolution. Each signal processing channel (K1 . . . KN) has at least one analogue/digital converter (ADC), and is assigned a memory region in a memory (RAM) for storing the signals from the pixels (SE).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignee: HEIMANN SENSOR GMBH
    Inventors: Bodo Forg, Michael Schnorr, Jörg Schieferdecker, Karlheinz Storck, Marion Simon, Wilhelm Leneke
  • Publication number: 20200370963
    Abstract: A thermopile infrared individual sensor includes a housing filled with a gaseous medium. It has optics and one or more sensor chips with individual sensor cells with infrared sensor structures with reticulated membranes, infrared-sensitive regions of which are each spanned by at least one beam over a cavity in a carrier body. The thermopile infrared sensor uses monolithic Si-micromechanics technology for contactless temperature measurements. In the case of a sufficiently large receiver surface, this outputs a high signal with a high response speed. A plurality of individual adjacent sensor cells are combined with respectively one infrared-sensitive region with thermopile structures on the membrane on a common carrier body of an individual chip to a single thermopile sensor structure with a signal output in the housing, consisting of a cap sealed with a base plate with a common gaseous medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Applicant: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Marion Simon, Mischa SCHULZE, Wilhelm Leneke, Karlheinz Storck, Frank HERRMANN, Christian SCHMIDT, Jörg Schieferdecker
  • Publication number: 20200333190
    Abstract: High-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals of a sensor array and a digital port for serially emitting the signals. Each signal processing channel comprises at least one analog to digital converter and is assigned a memory for storing the results of the analog to digital converters. Power consumption of the infrared sensor array is reduced in the case of a sensor array with at least 16 rows and at least 16 columns, in that no more than 8 or 16 pixels are connected to a signal processing channel. The number of signal processing channels corresponds to at least 4 times the number of rows. Some of the signal processing channels are disposed in the intermediate space between the pixels and others are disposed in an outer edge region of the sensor chip surrounding the sensor array along with other electronics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Applicant: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Bodo Forg, Michael Schnorr, Karlheinz Storck, Wilhelm Leneke, Marion Simon
  • Patent number: 10794768
    Abstract: The invention relates to a thermopile infrared individual sensor in a housing that is filled with a gaseous medium having optics and one or more sensor chips with individual sensor cells with infrared sensor structures with reticulated membranes, the infrared-sensitive regions of which are spanned by, in each case, at least one beam over a cavity in a carrier body with good thermal conduction. The object of the invention consists of specifying a thermopile infrared sensor using monolithic Si-micromechanics technology for contactless temperature measurements, which, in the case of a sufficiently large receiver surface, outputs a high signal with a high response speed and which can operated in a gaseous medium with normal pressure or reduced pressure and which is producible in mass produced numbers without complicated technology for sealing the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Marion Simon, Mischa Schulze, Wilhelm Leneke, Karlheinz Storck, Frank Herrmann, Christian Schmidt, Jörg Schieferdecker
  • Patent number: 10788370
    Abstract: A thermal infrared sensor array in a wafer-level package includes at least one infrared-sensitive pixel produced using silicon micro mechanics, comprising a heat-isolating cavity in a silicon substrate surrounded by a silicon edge, and a thin membrane connected to the silicone edge by of thin beams. The cavity extends through the silicon substrate to the membrane, and there are slots between the membrane, the beams and the silicon edge. A plurality of infrared-sensitive individual pixels are arranged in lines or arrays and are designed in a CMOS stack in a dielectric layer, forming the membrane, and are arranged between at least one cover wafer which is designed in the form of a cap and has a cavity and a base wafer. The cover wafer, the silicon substrate and the base wafer are connected to one another in a vacuum-tight manner and enclosing a gas vacuum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: HEIMANN SENSOR GMBH
    Inventors: Frank Herrmann, Christian Schmidt, Jörg Schieferdecker, Wilhelm Leneke, Bodo Forg, Marion Simon, Michael Schnorr
  • Patent number: 10739201
    Abstract: High-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals of a sensor array and a digital port for serially emitting the signals. Each signal processing channel comprises at least one analog to digital converter and is assigned a memory for storing the results of the analog to digital converters. Power consumption of the infrared sensor array is reduced in the case of a sensor array with at least 16 rows and at least 16 columns, in that no more than 8 or 16 pixels are connected to a signal processing channel. The number of signal processing channels corresponds to at least 4 times the number of rows. Some of the signal processing channels are disposed in the intermediate space between the pixels and others are disposed in an outer edge region of the sensor chip surrounding the sensor array along with other electronics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Bodo Forg, Michael Schnorr, Karlheinz Storck, Wilhelm Leneke, Marion Simon
  • Publication number: 20200124481
    Abstract: A high-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having monolithically integrated signal processing and a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals from pixels of a sensor array, and a digital port for the serial output of the pixel signals are provided, wherein the sensor array is located on one or more sensor chips. The thermal piled infrared sensor array possesses low power loss, high integration density and high thermal and geometric resolution. Each signal processing channel (K1 . . . KN) has at least one analogue/digital converter (ADC), and is assigned a memory region in a memory (RAM) for storing the signals from the pixels (SE).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Publication date: April 23, 2020
    Applicant: HEIMANN SENSOR GMBH
    Inventors: Bodo FORG, Michael SCHNORR, Jörg SCHIEFERDECKER, Karlheinz STORCK, Marion SIMON, Wilhelm LENEKE
  • Patent number: 10578493
    Abstract: A high-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having monolithically integrated signal processing and a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals from pixels of a sensor array, and a digital port for the serial output of the pixel signals are provided, wherein the sensor array is located on one or more sensor chips. The thermal piled infrared sensor array possesses low power loss, high integration density and high thermal and geometric resolution. Each signal processing channel (K1 . . . KN) has at least one analogue/digital converter (ADC), and is assigned a memory region in a memory (RAM) for storing the signals from the pixels (SE).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: HEIMANN SENSOR GMBH
    Inventors: Bodo Forg, Michael Schnorr, Jörg Schieferdecker, Karlheinz Storck, Marion Simon, Wilhelm Leneke
  • Publication number: 20200033195
    Abstract: High-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals of a sensor array and a digital port for serially emitting the signals. Each signal processing channel comprises at least one analog to digital converter and is assigned a memory for storing the results of the analog to digital converters. Power consumption of the infrared sensor array is reduced in the case of a sensor array with at least 16 rows and at least 16 columns, in that no more than 8 or 16 pixels are connected to a signal processing channel. The number of signal processing channels corresponds to at least 4 times the number of rows. Some of the signal processing channels are disposed in the intermediate space between the pixels and others are disposed in an outer edge region of the sensor chip surrounding the sensor array along with other electronics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2018
    Publication date: January 30, 2020
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Bodo Forg, Michael Schnorr, Karlheinz Storck, Wilhelm Leneke, Marion Simon
  • Publication number: 20190316967
    Abstract: An SMD-enabled infrared thermopile sensor has at least one miniaturized thermopile pixel on a monolithically integrated sensor chip accommodated in a hermetically sealed housing which consists of an at least partially non-metallic housing substrate and a housing cover. A gas or a gas mixture is contained in the housing. The sensor has a particularly low overall height, in particular in the z direction. This is achieved by virtue of an aperture opening being introduced in the housing cover opposite the thermopile pixel(s), which aperture opening is closed with a focusing lens which focuses the radiation from objects onto the thermopile pixel(s) on the housing substrate, and by virtue of a signal processing unit being integrated on the same sensor chip next to the thermopile pixels, wherein the total housing height and the housing cover are at most 3 mm or less than 2.5 mm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventors: Jörg Schieferdecker, Frank HERRMANN, Christian SCHMIDT, Wilhelm Leneke, Marion Simon, Karlheinz Storck, Mischa SCHULZE
  • Publication number: 20190265105
    Abstract: The invention relates to a thermopile infrared individual sensor in a housing that is filled with a gaseous medium having optics and one or more sensor chips with individual sensor cells with infrared sensor structures with reticulated membranes, the infrared-sensitive regions of which are spanned by, in each case, at least one beam over a cavity in a carrier body with good thermal conduction. The object of the invention consists of specifying a thermopile infrared sensor using monolithic Si-micromechanics technology for contactless temperature measurements, which, in the case of a sufficiently large receiver surface, outputs a high signal with a high response speed and which can operated in a gaseous medium with normal pressure or reduced pressure and which is producible in mass produced numbers without complicated technology for sealing the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Applicant: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Marion SIMON, Mischa SCHULZE, Wilhelm LENEKE, Karlheinz STORCK, Frank HERRMANN, Christian SCHMIDT, Jörg SCHIEFERDECKER
  • Publication number: 20180335347
    Abstract: A thermal infrared sensor array in a wafer-level package includes at least one infrared-sensitive pixel produced using silicon micro mechanics, comprising a heat-isolating cavity in a silicon substrate surrounded by a silicon edge, and a thin membrane connected to the silicone edge by of thin beams. The cavity extends through the silicon substrate to the membrane, and there are slots between the membrane, the beams and the silicon edge. A plurality of infrared-sensitive individual pixels are arranged in lines or arrays and are designed in a CMOS stack in a dielectric layer, forming the membrane, and are arranged between at least one cover wafer which is designed in the form of a cap and has a cavity and a base wafer. The cover wafer, the silicon substrate and the base wafer are connected to one another in a vacuum-tight manner and enclosing a gas vacuum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2016
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Applicant: HEIMANN SENSOR GMBH
    Inventors: Frank HERRMANN, Christian SCHMIDT, Jörg SCHIEFERDECKER, Wilhelm LENEKE, Bodo FORG, Marion SIMON, Michael SCHNORR
  • Publication number: 20180283958
    Abstract: A high-resolution thermopile infrared sensor array having monolithically integrated signal processing and a plurality of parallel signal processing channels for the signals from pixels of a sensor array, and a digital port for the serial output of the pixel signals are provided, wherein the sensor array is located on one or more sensor chips. The thermal piled infrared sensor array possesses low power loss, high integration density and high thermal and geometric resolution. Each signal processing channel (K1 . . . KN) has at least one analogue/digital converter (ADC), and is assigned a memory region in a memory (RAM) for storing the signals from the pixels (SE).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Applicant: HEIMANN SENSOR GMBH
    Inventors: Bodo FORG, Michael SCHNORR, Jörg SCHIEFERDECKER, Karlheinz STORCK, Marion SIMON, Wilhelm LENEKE
  • Patent number: 9945725
    Abstract: Thermopile infrared sensor structure with a high filling level in a housing filled with a medium (15), consisting of a carrier substrate (11) which has electrical connections (28, 28?) to the outside and is closed with an optical assembly (13), wherein a sensor chip (14) is applied to the carrier substrate (11) in the housing, which chip has a plurality of thermoelectric sensor element structures (16), the so-called “hot contacts” (10) of which are located on individual diaphragms (3) which are stretched across a respective cavity (9) in a silicon carrying body (24) with good thermal conductivity, wherein the “cold contacts” (25) are located on or in the vicinity of the silicon carrying body (24). The problem addressed by the invention is that of specifying a thermopile infrared array sensor (sensor cell) which, with a small chip size, has a high thermal resolution and a particularly high filling level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Heimann Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Frank Herrmann, Marion Simon, Wilhelm Leneke, Bodo Forg, Karlheinz Storck, Michael Müller, Jörg Schieferdecker
  • Publication number: 20160025571
    Abstract: Thermopile infrared sensor structure with a high filling level in a housing filled with a medium (15), consisting of a carrier substrate (11) which has electrical connections (28, 28?) to the outside and is closed with an optical assembly (13), wherein a sensor chip (14) is applied to the carrier substrate (11) in the housing, which chip has a plurality of thermoelectric sensor element structures (16), the so-called “hot contacts” (10) of which are located on individual diaphragms (3) which are stretched across a respective cavity (9) in a silicon carrying body (24) with good thermal conductivity, wherein the “cold contacts” (25) are located on or in the vicinity of the silicon carrying body (24). The problem addressed by the invention is that of specifying a thermopile infrared array sensor (sensor cell) which, with a small chip size, has a high thermal resolution and a particularly high filling level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2013
    Publication date: January 28, 2016
    Inventors: Frank Herrmann, Marion Simon, Wilhelm Leneke, Bodo Forg, Karlheinz Storck, Michael Mueller, Joerg Schieferdecker
  • Patent number: 8592765
    Abstract: A thermal infrared sensor is provided in a housing with optics and a chip with thermoelements on a membrane. The membrane spans a frame-shaped support body that is a good heat conductor, and the support body has vertical or approximately vertical walls. The thermopile sensor structure consists of a few long thermoelements per sensor cell. The thermoelements being arranged on connecting webs that connect together hot contacts on an absorber layer to cold contacts of the thermoelements. The membrane is suspended by one or more connecting webs and has, on both sides of the long thermoelements, narrow slits that separate the connecting webs from both the central region and also the support body. At least the central region is covered by the absorber layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: HEIMANN Sensor GmbH
    Inventors: Bodo Forg, Frank Herrmann, Wilhelm Leneke, Joerg Schieferdecker, Marion Simon, Karlheinz Storck, Mischa Schulze