Abstract: An integrated thermoelectric generator of out-of-plane heat flux configuration can be fabricated with a process fully compatible with standard front-end CMOS or BiCMOS technologies, if portions of the planar electrically non conductive cover layer suspended over the valleys have sufficiently large through holes to let isotropic etching solutions or etching plasma pass therethrough, across the thickness of the non conductive cover layer, so as to realize void spaces. The generator has a top capping layer deposited onto a free surface, oriented in an opposite direction in respect to the void spaces, of the planar electrically non conductive cover layer so as to occlude the through holes of the non conductive cover layer. A method of fabricating an integrated thermoelectric generator of out-of-plane heat flux configuration is also disclosed.

Abstract: An optical sensor based on CMOS technology including a semiconductor substrate; an array of photocells, each of which includes a respective photodetector active area that is formed in and exposed on a given planar surface of said semiconductor substrate; a multilayer structure that includes metal and dielectric layers and is formed on the given planar surface; and light shielding means formed in or on the multilayer structure; wherein each photodetector active area is associated with a corresponding optical path extending through the light shielding means and directed towards said photodetector active area. All the photocells are connected in parallel to provide an overall output electrical signal related to incident light impinging on the photodetector active areas. All the optical paths are parallel to a given direction thereby causing all the photodetector active areas to be reached by incident light with incident direction parallel to said given direction.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical sensor that is formed in an integrated circuit based on CMOS technology and that comprises: one or more photocells including one or more photodetector active areas and an optical stack formed on the photodetector active area(s); and light shielding means, that are formed in or on the optical stack, and are configured, for each photocell, to define an angular range around a given incident direction with respect to said photocell, block incident light with incidence angle outside the defined angular range, and allow incident light with incidence angle within the defined angular range to propagate through the optical stack down to a respective photodetector active area; whereby the light shielding means limit angular response of the optical sensor.