Granted Patent B2

US 12,382,747 · App. 17/438,714 · Granted Aug 5, 2025

Inventors: Wilfried Hermes (Ludwigshafen, DE); Sebastian Valouch (Ludwigshafen, DE); Sebastian Mueller (Ludwigshafen, DE); Regina Hoeh (Ludwigshafen, DE); Heidi Bechtel (Ludwigshafen, DE); Timo Altenbeck (Ludwigshafen, DE); Fabian Dittmann (Ludwigshafen, DE); Bertram Feuerstein (Ludwigshafen, DE); Thomas Hupfauer (Ludwigshafen, DE); Anke Handreck (Ludwigshafen, DE); Robert Gust (Ludwigshafen, DE); Peter Paul Kaletta (Ludwigshafen, DE); Robert Send (Ludwigshafen, DE); Hubert Waindok (Ludwigshafen, DE); Ingolf Hennig (Ludwigshafen, DE); Svetlana Guriyanova (Ludwigshafen, DE)

Assignee: TRINAMIX GMBH

H10F77/127H01L22/12H10F30/10H10F71/125H10F77/30

Abstract

Claims (32)

1. A method of selecting an optical sensor ( 110 ) having an overall, long-term quality, the method comprising the following steps:

providing an optical sensor ( 110 ), comprising a stack ( 125 ), wherein the stack ( 125 ) has

a substrate ( 124 ),

a layer ( 112 ) of at least one photoconductive material ( 114 ) which is applied to the substrate ( 124 ), and

a cover ( 116 ) covering accessible surfaces of the photoconductive material ( 114 ),

and at least two individual electrical contacts ( 136 , 136 ′) which are adjacent to the stack ( 125 ) and contact the layer ( 112 ) of the photoconductive material ( 114 );

measuring Young's modulus and a hardness of the stack ( 125 ) in a quasi-static nanoindenter measurement; and

selecting the optical sensor ( 110 ) which exhibits static mechanical properties ( 145 ) in that, in a quasi-static nanoindenter measurement of the stack ( 125 ), Young's modulus

at a penetration depth of 100 nm is of 75 GPa to 107 GPa,

at the penetration depth of 300 nm is of 47 GPa to 127 GPa,

at the penetration depth of 1000 nm is of 49 GPa to 119 GPa, and a hardness

at the penetration depth of 100 nm is of 1.20 GPa to 4.70 GPa,

at the penetration depth of 300 nm is of 1.60 GPa to 4.60 GPa, and

at the penetration depth of 1000 nm is of 1.60 GPa to 8.00 GPa,

wherein the penetration depth is determined with respect to a surface of the stack ( 125 ), or

rejecting the optical sensor ( 110 ) in an event in which the Young's modulus and the hardness of the stack ( 125 ) deviate from the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ).

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that, in the quasi-static nanoindenter measurement of the stack ( 125 ), the Young's modulus

at the penetration depth of 100 nm is of 80 GPa to 102 GPa,

at the penetration depth of 300 nm is of 60 GPa to 114 GPa,

at the penetration depth of 1000 nm is of 61 GPa to 107 GPa, and the hardness

at the penetration depth of 100 nm is of 1.78 GPa to 4.12 GPa,

at the penetration depth of 300 nm is of 2.10 GPa to 4.10 GPa, and

at the penetration depth of 1000 nm is of 2.67 GPa to 6.93 GPa.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that, in a microwave reflectometry experiment at 75 GHz of the stack ( 125 ), a reflectivity factor S11 is of −6.70 dB to −1.30 dB.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that, in the microwave reflectometry experiment at 75 GHz of the stack ( 125 ), the reflectivity factor S11 is of −5.80 dB to −2.20 dB.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cover ( 116 ) comprises an aluminum-containing compound selected from the group consisting of an oxide, a hydroxide, and a combination thereof.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that, in a wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of the stack ( 125 ) using an electron beam micro analyzer ( 182 ) and an acceleration voltage of 20 kV, a ratio of net counts/s·nA measured in a peak maximum of an Al Kα1 line with the net counts/s·nA measured in the peak maximum of a Pb Mα1 line is of 0.113 to 0.279.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that in the wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of the stack ( 125 ) using the electron beam micro analyzer ( 182 ) and the acceleration voltage of 20 kV, the ratio of net counts/s·nA measured in the peak maximum of the Al Kα1 line with the net counts/s·nA measured in the peak maximum of the Pb Mα1 line is of 0.141 to 0.251.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the photoconductive material ( 114 ) is selected from the group consisting of lead sulfide (PbS), a solid solution and a doped variant thereof.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the photoconductive material ( 114 ) is selected from the group consisting of a lead chalcogenide, a solid solution and a doped variant thereof.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that, in the wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of the stack ( 125 ) using an electron beam micro analyzer ( 182 ) and an acceleration voltage of 20 kV, a further ratio of the net counts/s·nA measured in the peak maximum of the Al Kα1 line with a sum of the net counts/s·nA measured in the Pb Mα1 line and in an S Kα1 line is of 0.0841 to 0.1456.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the static mechanical properties ( 145 ) of the stack ( 125 ) comprise that in the wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of the stack ( 125 ) using the electron beam micro analyzer ( 182 ) and the acceleration voltage of 20 kV, the further ratio of the net counts/s·nA measured in the peak maximum of the Al Kα1 line with the sum of the net counts/s·nA measured in the Pb Mα1 line and in the S Kα1 line is of 0.0944 to 0.1354.

Assignments (3)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (12)