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Microfabricated albedo insensitive sun position sensor system in silicon carbide with integrated 3D optics and CMOS electronics

Journal Article (2023)
Author(s)

Joost Romijn (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Sten Vollebregt (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Vincent G. de Bie (Eindhoven University of Technology)

Luke M. Middelburg (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Brahim El Mansouri (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Henk W. van Zeijl (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Alexander May (Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Devices Technology IISB)

Tobias Erlbacher (Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Devices Technology IISB)

Johan Leijtens (Lens R&D)

Guoqi Zhang (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Pasqualina M. Sarro (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Research Group
Electronic Components, Technology and Materials
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2023.114268 Final published version
More Info
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Publication Year
2023
Language
English
Research Group
Electronic Components, Technology and Materials
Volume number
354
Article number
114268
Downloads counter
341
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Abstract

The next generation of satellites will need to tackle tomorrow's challenges for communication, navigation and observation. In order to do so, it is expected that the amount of satellites in orbit will keep increasing, form smart constellations and miniaturize individual satellites to make access to space cost effective. To enable this next generation of activities in space, it is vital to ensure the ability of these satellites to properly navigate themselves. This control starts with attitude measurement by the dedicated sensors on the satellite, commonly performed by sun position sensors. The state-of-the art is confronted by large signal distortions caused by light reflected by the Earth's albedo as well as keeping up with the satellite miniaturization trend. This work aims to address both these issues, by presenting a microfabricated albedo insensitive sun position sensor in silicon carbide with wafer-level integrated optics. The presented 10 mm×10 mm×1 mm system reaches a mean angular accuracy of 5.7° in a ±37° field-of-view and integrates an on-chip temperature sensor with a -3.9 mV K−1 sensitivity in the 20 °C to 200 °C range.