Detector for electromagnetic radiation assisted by majority current
US6987268B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 30, 2004 |
| Grant date | Jan 17, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 30, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S17/894
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The present invention relates to a novel photo-detector structure and method whereby light is detected in a semiconductor substrate. Through the use of a small current of majority carriers an electrical field is created that directs photo-generated minority carriers towards a detection region. In this way, a large sensitive area 34 for a detector can be designed with a detection region having low junction area and low associated detector capacitance, thus enhancing output signal to noise ratio and/or speed of attached readout circuits. Simultaneously, the assistant majority current can sweep the minority carriers from deep within the substrate towards the detection region, thus improving the overall detector sensitivity. By making the majority current reconfigurable, a photonic mixer structure with two or more detection regions can be conceived, whereby the direction of the applied current will determine in an efficient way to which detection region the photo-generated minority carriers will be directed. In this way, incident modulated light can get demodulated, such that phase and amplitude of the modulated light can be measured for a.o. range-finding applications.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.