US 12,140,532 B2
Spectrometer including an illumination channel that includes a light pipe
Elisa Parola, Zurich (CH); and Bassam Hallal, Thalwil (CH)
Assigned to ams Sensors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Singapore (SG)
Appl. No. 17/600,191
Filed by ams Sensors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Singapore (SG)
PCT Filed Apr. 23, 2020, PCT No. PCT/SG2020/050250
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 30, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/222702, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 5, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/840,764, filed on Apr. 30, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0178818 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. G01N 21/31 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 21/31 (2013.01) [G01N 2201/062 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a spectrometer including:
a substrate; and
a housing attached to the substrate and defining an illumination channel and a receiving channel,
wherein the illumination channel includes:
an illumination source mounted on the substrate and operable to produce light in a particular part of the spectrum; and
a light pipe disposed over the illumination source so as to direct light from the illumination source out of the illumination channel toward a target, wherein the light pipe is comprised of a solid block of transparent material;
wherein the apparatus further comprises a cover glass disposed over the illumination channel, wherein the light pipe is suspended from the cover glass; and
wherein the receiving channel includes:
a sensor chip mounted on the substrate and including a plurality of light sensitive elements, each of which is selectively sensitive to a respective region of the particular part of the spectrum, the sensor chip further including an electronic control unit operable to analyze signals from the light sensitive elements.