Abstract: A device for the sensitive detection of X-rays comprises a structured scintillator screen optically coupled to a semiconductor image sensor. The scintillator screen comprises individual columnar elements covered with material showing high optical reflection. Each columnar element represents a pixel, and light flashes created by an X-ray photon in a scintillating event exit through a short surface of the columnar element for detection with a semiconductor image sensor. The semiconductor image sensor comprises a multitude of photosensor elements, and one or more of these photosensor elements receives light from a scintillator screen pixel.

Abstract: Method for determining the position and/or displacement of a mobile element with respect to a fixed frame, including using a fixed light source emitting a light beam, arranging the source with respect to the mobile element and a sensor to induce an interaction between the beam and sensor, includes using a concave mirror, integral in movement with the mobile element, for reflecting the beam in direction to the sensor, arranging on the path of the beam a fixed optical mask which presents a two dimensional regular pattern interlaced with an absolute code, detecting and processing the image casted by the mask on the sensor, computing the displacement value of the image on the sensor and using the computed displacement value for computing and providing the position and/or the displacement in at least one direction of the mobile element in dependence of the image's displacement.

Abstract: A blazed grating is disclosed as well as mode hop-free tunable lasers and a process for fabricating gratings of this type. The grating lies in a general plane and includes a plurality of elongate beams carrying mutually parallel respective reflection surfaces spaced apart from one another with a predefined pitch, each of these reflection surfaces having a normal direction inclined at a grating angle ? to the normal direction of the general plane. The grating includes a plurality of resilient suspension arms connected to the beams and intended to be fastened to a grating support. A first pair of comb electrodes is provided for applying a mechanical force to this assembly, being placed on a first side of the grating, along an axis transverse to the beams, and designed so as to allow the pitch of the grating to be modified in response to the application of the mechanical force.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a balance spring intended to equip a balance of a mechanical timepiece, formed by a spiral bar resulting from machining a fused quartz plate, which has a positive thermal coefficient of rigidity, the bar constituting a core at least locally covered by at least one outer layer having a different structure to modify the thermal coefficient of rigidity.

Abstract: The effective photosensitive area of a solid-state photosensor is controlled with a multitude of electrodes (E1, . . . , Ei, . . . , En) on top of an insulator layer (O) covering a semiconductor substrate (S). Photogenerated charge carriers move laterally under the influence of the voltage distribution on the various electrodes (E1, . . . , Ei, . . . , En), and they are collected at the two ends of the photosensor in diffusions (D1, D2). The voltage distribution on the electrodes (E1, . . . , Ei, . . . , En) is such that the voltage at the two furthermost electrodes (E1, En) is maximum (if photoelectrons are collected), minimum at an interior electrode (Ei), and monotonously decreasing in between. The lateral position of the electrode (Ei) with minimum voltage defines the effective photosensitive area of the photosensor.

Abstract: A digital vision sensor includes a pixel array (10) for receiving a light beam representing a visual scene. The sensor includes: a reference voltage Vref generator; in each pixel, an element for generating, during an integration phase, a voltage Vp that is proportional to the received lighting and a comparator (30) for determining the moment when the voltage Vp thereof reaches the reference voltage; a logarithmic period generator for generating a clock having a period that increases proportionally to the time elapsed from the beginning of the integration; a device for counting the number of clock periods elapsed from the beginning of the integration and providing a result in the form of a binary code; a static RAM memory word (50) per pixel; and, in each pixel, an element (40) for writing the code present at the moment into the memory.

Abstract: A clamping insert for cell culture includes: a lower support having: i. a hollow member sized to be engaged in a well of a microplate, the hollow member being open at both its ends and including a support surface at one of its ends, ii. first tightening elements, an inner holder sized to be fitted inside the hollow member, and including second tightening elements arranged to cooperate with the first tightening elements of the hollow member to tighten reversibly between the inner holder and the support surface of the lower support a porous substrate, the inner holder including an opened channel keeping free the porous substrate; retaining elements intended to cooperate with the well of the microplate to allow the clamping insert to be suspended in the well, sealing elements to hermetically seal the contact area between the clamping insert and the porous substrate.

Abstract: A method for working out the angular position of a rotating element, by using at least one fixed light source emitting a light beam in the direction of a fixed sensor, arranging the light source with respect to the rotating element and sensor to induce an interaction between the beam and sensor, and providing a value of the angular position dependent of the sensor's output signal. The method including: arranging on the path of the beam a code-disc presenting a two-dimensional pattern of transparent and opaque areas and an absolute code integral with the rotating element, using the image casted by the code-disc on the sensor for determining the eccentricity of the code-disc in dependence of the angular position of the rotating element, using the eccentricity for compensating the value of the computed angular position, and computing a corrected angular position of the rotating element.

Abstract: Method for working out the angular position of a rotating element, using at least one light source emitting a light beam in the direction of a fixed sensor and computing elements for processing an output signal of the sensor, includes: arranging the light source with respect to the rotating element and the sensor so as to induce an interaction between the light beam and the sensor which depends on the angular position of the rotating shaft, arranging on the path of the light beam, in a fixed position with respect to the sensor, a perforated mask which presents a repetitive pattern of perforations, detecting shadows generated by the mask on the sensor, processing the output signal of the sensor for determining the position of the shadows on the sensor, and computing the angular position of the rotating element using the position of the shadows.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for producing a microfabricated atomic vapor cell, including a step of forming at least one cavity in a substrate and closing the cavity at one side. The method further includes: a step of depositing a solution including an alkali metal azide dissolved in at least one of its solvents, a step of evaporating such solvent for forming a recrystallized alkali metal azide, a step of decomposing the recrystallized alkali metal azide in an alkali metal and nitrogen, such alkali metal depositing in the cavity of the substrate.

Abstract: The present invention discloses an adhesion rotary disc pump comprising a housing embedding therein at least one adhesion-propelling disc mounted on a rotatable shaft that is drivable by a drive, wherein fluids engaging with said at least one adhesion-propelling disc are transportable from at least one inlet to at least one outlet. In embodiments, the pump employs a scraping unit operative to scrape off fluid adherent on both sides of each of the at least one rotatable adhesion-propelling disc and that the scraped-off fluid is being channeled directly or indirectly to the at least one outlet.

Abstract: A device for compensating for the frequency of a resonator includes (a) a temperature sensor, (b) a sequencer determining a second compensation signal on the basis of the temperature and corresponding to a positive value N, and a third compensation signal on the basis of the temperature corresponding to a ratio between a positive integer S and N, S being lower than or equal to N, and (c) a variable counter receiving the compensation signals and generating a fourth output signal every N periods of a clock signal from the resonator and generating a fifth signal for modifying the charge capacity of the resonator.

Abstract: A color image sensor has a plurality of pixels. On the pixels zero-order diffractive color filters (DCFs) (1) are arranged. Different zero-order DCFs (1), e.g., DCFs (1) transmitting red, green and blue light, respectively, are allocated to the pixels of the color image sensor. The use of DCFs (1) for color imaging devices brings better defined band-pass or notch filters than the presently used lacquers. The DCFs (1) are more stable with respect to time, temperature and any environmental aggression. The manufacture of the DCF pattern is simpler and cheaper than that of a conventional dye-filter pattern, since the different types of DCFs can be manufactured simultaneously.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a pixelated optical filter comprising high-index refraction material positioned between low-index-refraction matter. At least some of the high-index refraction material has a grated structure and lateral and vertical dimensions with respect to the low-index-refraction matter such that the high-index refraction material is operative to act as a leaky waveguide for light incident on the pixelated optical filter. The grated structure comprises a plurality of at least one grating pattern that is planarly bounded. Each of the plurality of at least one grating pattern constitutes a subpixel. A plurality of subpixels is operative to diffract incident light to at least one zero-order wavelength spectrum respective of the at least one grating pattern. Additional and alternative embodiments are disclosed and claimed.

Abstract: The present invention discloses an isotropic optical filter comprising high-index refraction material positioned between low-index-refraction matter. At least some of the high-index refraction material has a grated structure and lateral and vertical dimensions with respect to the low-index-refraction matter such that the high-index refraction material is operative to act as a leaky waveguide for light incident on the ZOF. The grated structure comprises at least two different grating patterns. Each of the at least two grating patterns constitutes a subpixel. A plurality of subpixels is operative to diffract incident light to at least two zero-order wavelength spectra respective of the at least two grating patterns such to exhibit an isotropic colour effect with respect to the rotational orientation of the isotropic optical filter.

Abstract: The invention relates to the sampling of temporally changing amounts of charge (102) by receiving varying amounts of charge (102) varying as a function of time, transforming the varying amounts of charge received into a linear distribution pattern, sampling the linear distribution pattern at a plurality of discretely spaced sampling locations (104), and collecting the amounts of charge (102) located between two adjacent scanning locations, and further detecting the collected amounts of charges (102).

Abstract: An improved concentrated solar power collector, includes a frame intended to be mounted rotatable to a stand surface, according to a first axis perpendicular to the stand surface, at least one solar concentrator fixed on the frame at a desired angle determined so that the solar concentrator is oriented at between 20 and 70° with reference to the stand surface and reflect or direct sunlight upwardly toward a heat pipe, connected to a steam network including a steam tank carried by the frame, wherein the frame is able to rotate automatically to provide an azimuth-tracking of the solar concentrator following the azimuth of the sun, wherein the steam tank works with a diffusion absorption cooling machine or a hot water heating arrangement, feeding a warm-water tank and an ice/cold-water tank, the warm-water and ice/cold-water tanks being directly connected to a house.

Abstract: The present invention refers, inter alia, to pixel circuits. The pixel circuit according to embodiments of the invention may include a photo-sensitive device having charge storage capability connected to a sense node. The pixel circuit may further include an inverting amplifier which is able to amplify a voltage from the sense node to a voltage on an output node of the amplifier, when being operated in open-loop configuration; and a reset switch being able to connect the input and output nodes of the inverting amplifier and thus to reset the inverting amplifier to an operating point providing high open loop gain by temporarily establishing negative feedback. Moreover, the pixel circuit may include a low-pass filter at the output node of the inverting amplifier for limiting the signal frequencies passing to the readout node to those frequencies that contain useful signal information. Additional and alternative embodiments are specified and claimed.

Abstract: The invention relates to a silicon resonator (10) of the tuning-fork type in which the linear frequency drift depending on the temperature is compensated. The resonator includes a silicon base (14), a plurality of parallel arms (11, 12, 13) capable of vibrating and actuator (18, 21, 22), wherein the arms include a silicon layer provided between two layers of silicon oxide having a thickness, relative to that of the silicon layer, such that it ensures the first-order compensation of the resonator thermal drift.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device (1) for calibrating a pipette or a dispensing system comprising a plate (2), said plate (2) comprising at least one channel (3) with a loading port (4) for receiving a test volume of a fluid at one end of the at least one channel and an opening (5) at the other end of the at least one channel, wherein the at least one channel (3) is constructed as a capillary.