Optical CMOS sensor for angular measurements with readout electronics

Abstract

This paper presents an optical sensor for angular measurements to perform precise tracking of the sun's incident angle in a photovoltaic system. This microdevice was designed using a 0.18μm CMOS technology from TSMC. The microdevice is composed by a matrix of photodiodes and their respective readout electronics. A set of microstructures were used to resolve the angles of rotation by measuring the angle of incident light in the microdevice. These microstructures were fabricated on top of the photodiodes using the same CMOS process. Simulations and experimental setup showed the possibility of taking measurements from the angles between-60 to 60 degrees.