Photodetector with high dynamic range and increased operating temperature
US6921891B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 15, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jul 26, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 5, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F39/103
Abstract
A photodiode (1) in a conventional photodetector-pixel architecture is supplied with a shunt diode (2) connected to a control voltage (V0). Suitable selection of the constant or time-varying control voltage (Vc) allows a combination of linear and non-linear, preferably logarithmic illumination response of the photodiode (1), resulting in a high dynamic photodetecting range of more than five orders of magnitude. The properties of the shunt diode (2) and the control voltage (Vc) can be chosen such that the resulting dark current matches the dark current of the photodiode (1), which becomes independent of voltage for high temperatures. This enables photodetecting with a sufficient dynamic range at higher temperatures than possible with conventional photodetectors.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.