Patent ID: 8796936

Claim:
A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) comprising: a compact fluorescent radiation source; a infrared radiation sensor; and a controller coupled to said infrared radiation sensor and configured to switch said compact fluorescent radiation source on and off based upon said infrared radiation sensor; said infrared radiation sensor comprising a radiation receiving module comprising a photodiode and an infrared filter coupled thereto and configured to filter infrared radiation to obtain an infrared radiation level value, said photodiode comprising a substrate having a very heavily doped bulk portion of a first conductivity type, a lightly doped upper layer of the first conductivity type carried by said substrate, a heavily doped region of the first conductivity type carried by said lightly doped upper layer, a lightly doped region of a second conductivity type also carried by said lightly doped upper layer, and a heavily doped region of the second conductivity type carried within said lightly doped region, and an electronic module coupled to said radiation receiving module and configured to cooperate with said controller to switch said compact fluorescent radiation source based upon comparing the infrared radiation level value to a threshold.