Optoelectronic device
US5631489A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 15, 1995 |
| Grant date | May 20, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 15, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F77/14
Abstract
An optoelectronic device based on a conduction constriction through which charge carriers pass ballistically. The constriction has a cross-sectional area of 2 square microns or less and a thickness D and is made of doped semiconductor material with a carrier mobility .mu.. The thickness D is selected to be near to a characteristic path length D.sub.mes defined by D.sup.2.sub.mes =(h/2e)*.mu. where h is Planck's constant and e the elementary charge. The device can be used as a heterodyne radiation detector for detecting radiation in the frequency range between 3 GHz and 3 THz and is capable of detecting signals with a power of less than 10.sup.-14 watts in room temperature operation. The device can also be operated as the front end of a spectrometer. Other applications of the device include use as a high frequency AC current source or oscillator for microelectronics, for instance in the 100 to 500 GHz range.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.