Dynamic control of diode bias voltage (photon-caused avalanche)
US9048370B1 · kind B1 · utility
88Cited by
14References
20Claims
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Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 14, 2013 |
| Grant date | Jun 2, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 17, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F77/959
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Methods and devices are provided for determining an operating bias voltage of a photodiode. One example method includes (i) varying a bias voltage of a photodiode; (ii) detecting spurious signals generated by the photodiode while varying the bias voltage of the photodiode; (iii) determining a threshold bias voltage at which a frequency of occurrence of the spurious signals reaches a threshold frequency; (iv) determining an operating bias voltage for the photodiode based on at least the threshold bias voltage; and (v) operating the photodiode with the operating bias voltage in a light-detection and ranging (LIDAR) system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.