US-20260130037-A1 - SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE AND PHYSICAL-QUANTITY MEASUREMENT APPARATUS

US20260130037A1US 20260130037 A1US20260130037 A1US 20260130037A1US-20260130037-A1

Abstract

A semiconductor package may include: a pair of first input terminals arranged adjacent to each other, which is connected to a terminal pair of a first light-receiving element which outputs a first current signal as a function of a light reception amount of light emitted from a light source; a pair of second input terminals arranged adjacent to each other, which is connected to a terminal pair of a second light-receiving element which outputs a second current signal as a function of the light reception amount of light emitted from the light source; a third terminal arranged adjacent to one in the pair of first input terminals and to one in the pair of second input terminals; and a generation unit which generates a digital signal based on the first current signal and the second current signal.

Inventors

Yuji GODA

Assignees

ASAHI KASEI MICRODEVICES CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251029
Priority Date: 20241101

Claims (19)

1 . A semiconductor package comprising: a pair of first input terminals arranged adjacent to each other, which is connected to a terminal pair of a first light-receiving element which outputs a first current signal as a function of a light reception amount of light emitted from a light source; a pair of second input terminals arranged adjacent to each other, which is connected to a terminal pair of a second light-receiving element which outputs a second current signal as a function of the light reception amount of light emitted from the light source; a third terminal arranged adjacent to one in the pair of first input terminals and to one in the pair of second input terminals; and a generation unit which generates a digital signal based on the first current signal and the second current signal.
2 . The semiconductor package according to claim 1 , wherein the pair of first input terminals, the pair of second input terminals, and the third terminal are arranged along an outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from a mounting surface of the semiconductor package.
3 . The semiconductor package according to claim 1 , wherein the pair of first input terminals, the pair of second input terminals, and the third terminal are arranged along a first edge of an outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from a mounting surface of the semiconductor package.
4 . The semiconductor package according to claim 1 , wherein the pair of first input terminals, the pair of second input terminals, and the third terminal are arranged on a first edge of an outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from a mounting surface of the semiconductor package.
5 . The semiconductor package according to claim 1 , further comprising: a first output terminal which outputs current to a third element; and a fourth terminal which is provided between the first output terminal and another one in the pair of second input terminals, and which is arranged adjacent to the another one in the pair of second input terminals.
6 . The semiconductor package according to claim 5 , wherein the pair of first input terminals, the pair of second input terminals, the third terminal, the first output terminal, and the fourth terminal are arranged along an outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from a mounting surface of the semiconductor package.
7 . The semiconductor package according to claim 5 , wherein the pair of first input terminals, the pair of second input terminals, and the third terminal are arranged along a first edge of an outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from a mounting surface of the semiconductor package, and the first output terminal is arranged along a second edge, which is different from the first edge, of the outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from the mounting surface of the semiconductor package.
8 . The semiconductor package according to claim 5 , wherein the pair of first input terminals, the pair of second input terminals, and the third terminal are arranged on a first edge of an outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from a mounting surface of the semiconductor package, and the first output terminal is arranged on a second edge, which is different from the first edge, of the outer periphery of the semiconductor package when viewed from the mounting surface of the semiconductor package.
9 . The semiconductor package according to claim 5 , wherein the third element is the light source.
10 . The semiconductor package according to claim 1 , wherein the third terminal is a voltage output terminal which outputs a constant potential.
11 . The semiconductor package according to claim 5 , wherein the third terminal is a voltage output terminal which outputs a constant potential.
12 . The semiconductor package according to claim 1 , wherein the second light-receiving element is used for compensating for temperature change or temporal change in the first light-receiving element.
13 . The semiconductor package according to claim 5 , wherein the second light-receiving element is used for compensating for temperature change or temporal change in the first light-receiving element.
14 . A physical-quantity measurement apparatus comprising: the semiconductor package according to claim 1 , wherein the physical-quantity measurement apparatus measures a physical quantity based on the digital signal.
15 . The physical-quantity measurement apparatus according to claim 14 , further comprising the first light-receiving element and the second light-receiving element.
16 . A physical-quantity measurement apparatus comprising: the semiconductor package according to claim 5 ; and the first light-receiving element, the second light-receiving element, and the light source, which is the third element, wherein the physical-quantity measurement apparatus measures a physical quantity based on the digital signal.
17 . The physical-quantity measurement apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the third terminal is a voltage output terminal which outputs a constant potential.
18 . The physical-quantity measurement apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the second light-receiving element is used for compensating for temperature change or temporal change in the first light-receiving element.
19 . A semiconductor package comprising: a pair of first input terminals connected to a terminal pair of a first element which outputs a first current signal; a pair of second input terminals connected to a terminal pair of a second element which outputs a second current signal; and a third terminal arranged between the pair of first input terminals and the pair of second input terminals.

Description

The contents of the following patent application(s) are incorporated herein by reference: NO. 2024-192643 filed in JP on Nov. 1, 2024 NO. 2025-166214 filed in JP on Oct. 2, 2025. BACKGROUND 1. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a semiconductor package and a physical-quantity measurement apparatus. 2. RELATED ART Patent document 1 describes a gas sensor which performs A/D conversion on a measurement target gas signal which depends on a measurement target gas concentration and a reference signal which does not depend on the measurement target gas concentration, to estimate the measurement target gas concentration based on a ratio of these signals. RELATED ART DOCUMENT Patent Document Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-173896 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a gas sensor according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a pin arrangement of a circuit which constitutes the gas sensor according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a circuit configuration of a first light-receiving element and a signal processing IC. DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Further, not all of combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the solving means of the invention. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a gas sensor 10. The gas sensor 10 includes a first light-receiving element 20, a second light-receiving element 30, a light-emitting element 40, a gas cell 50, and a signal processing IC 100. The gas sensor 10 is an example of a physical-quantity measurement apparatus which measures a particular physical quantity. The gas sensor 10 may be, for example, a breath sensor and may be an NDIR (Non-Dispersive Infrared) sensor utilizing an absorption wavelength specific to carbon dioxide contained in breath or in the atmosphere. Further, the gas sensor 10 may be, for example, an NDIR (Non-Dispersive Infrared) sensor utilizing an absorption wavelength specific to an alcohol component contained in breath. Furthermore, the gas sensor 10 may be, for example, an NDIR (Non-Dispersive Infrared) sensor utilizing an absorption wavelength specific to methane gas contained in the atmosphere. The gas sensor in the present embodiment can be applied to various kinds of equipment. The gas sensor can be used, for example: for environmental measurement in a building; for being mounted as small portable measurement equipment on mobile communication equipment such as a smartphone; for gas detection within a compartment in a means of transportation such as a car, a train or an aircraft; or the like. According to the configuration of the gas sensor in the present embodiment, the gas sensor can be applied as a light-receiving/emitting apparatus for an application other than gas detection. That is, the contents of the disclosure derived by substituting the terms “optical concentration measurement apparatus”, “optical physical quantity measurement apparatus”, “light-receiving/emitting apparatus”, “optical apparatus”, and the like for the term “gas sensor” described above fall within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, these apparatuses make it possible to sense a state of an optical path space such as, as an example other than gas, presence/absence or a concentration of a certain component in a fluid. For example, these apparatuses can be used as, for example, a component sensing apparatus or a component concentration measurement apparatus for a substance, e.g., water or body fluid, that exists in an optical path space between a light-emitting element and a light-receiving unit. For example, when the substance that exists in the optical path space is blood, the component sensing apparatus or the component concentration measurement apparatus can be used for glucose concentration measurement in the blood or the like. The component sensing apparatus or the component concentration measurement apparatus can measure a glucose concentration in blood by measuring absorption of light having a wavelength of 1 to 10 μm. For the glucose concentration measurement in the blood, it is preferable to measure absorption of light having a wavelength of 1.6 μm, 2.0 to 2.3 μm, and 9.6 μm. It is possible to construct a small, precise, and reliable non-invasive glucose concentration meter. For example, the glucose concentration meter thus described enables self-checking of a blood sugar level by a patient without causing any damage to the patient's skin, as would be caused in an invasive method. Further, based on the blood sugar level thus checked, it is possible to achieve management of more accurate administration (e.g., of insulin). The gas cell 50 is co