摘要:
Imaging devices including a novel imaging system wherein a 2-dimensional pixel array has a diagonal dimension larger than the diameter measurement of the image circle, thereby being capable of handling rectangular images with multiple aspect ratios. These new imaging devices can be used in various electronic imaging apparatus with or without a lens system.
摘要:
A method in which thin-film p-i-n heterojunction photodiodes are formed by selective epitaxial growth/deposition on pre-designated active-area regions of standard CMOS devices. The thin-film p-i-n photodiodes are formed on active areas (for example n+-doped), and these are contacted at the bottom (substrate) side by the “well contact” corresponding to that particular active area. There is no actual potential well since that particular active area has only one type of doping. The top of each photodiode has a separate contact formed thereon. The selective epitaxial growth of the p-i-n photodiodes is modular, in the sense that there is no need to change any of the steps developed for the “pure” CMOS process flow. Since the active region is epitaxially deposited, there is the possibility of forming sharp doping profiles and band-gap engineering during the epitaxial process, thereby optimizing several device parameters for higher performance. This new type of light sensor architecture, monolithically integrated with CMOS, decouples the photo-absorption active region from the MOSFETs, hence the bias applied to the photodiode can be independent from the bias between the source, drain, gate and substrate (well) of the MOSFETs.
摘要:
A method is described which makes it possible to use VLSI-quality crystalline semiconductor substrates for the fabrication of the active devices of Active Matrix Flat Panels (AMFPD). The VLSI substrates are provided by arranging a layer of light transparent material in those areas of a semiconductor wafer in which no active device has to be provided, eliminating the semiconductor wafer whereby a transparent wafer is obtained with crystalline semiconductor regions therein and then shaping the transparent wafer into a sized module unit. Several module units can be bonded to a glass substrate and a conductive material is then deposited to make electrical interconnections between the module units. The bonding operation can be performed either at room temperature using a light-transparent glue or at higher temperature using a wafer bonding technique known in the art of Silicon-On-Insulator technology.
摘要:
Photonic passive structure to couple and guide light between photonic active devices (101), such as photo-diodes, light emitting devices and light-valves, which may be arranged into 2D arrays, and the top of the metallization layer stack (110,111,112) interconnecting said devices, with said photonic passive structure comprising a hole (116) between the near surface of said photonic active Ndevices and the top of said metallization stack, said hole being filled with a dielectric (113) having embedded metal films (117) and in which the embedded metal thin films are connected to a planar perforated metal film (123,124) formed on top of the metallization stack.
摘要:
An analog-to-digital converter apparatus for analog source signals of one polarity, includes one comparator formed from transistors, a block of digitally addressable voltage sources to set a reference voltage of the comparator, an asynchronous n-bit digital counter, a block of digitally addressable voltage sources to set the potential to be applied to the signal source, a digital control unit, a block storing the calibration data for an input capacitor of the comparator, and a base-2 multiplier block, being interconnected by lines, including a line connecting the input analog signal to the drain of a pass transistor, a line connecting the block of voltage sources to be connected to the signal source, a line connecting the digital control unit to transistor gates, and a line carrying the signal Vref from the block of digitally addressed voltage sources to the comparator.
摘要:
A new methodology is disclosed to convert analog electric signals into digital data. The method provides a serial scheme without pre-definition of the number of bits (dynamic range). It allows digital processing of the input signal without sampling and holding of the input signal. Processing of the input signal is clock-less and asynchronously dependent on the time-evolution of the input signal itself. Thereby, a programmable, dynamic adjustment of bandwidth (product of dynamic range and speed of conversion) of the analog-to-digital conversion process can be achieved depending on the characteristics of the input signal. Dynamic adjustment of the bandwidth is accomplished by digitally controlling a “threshold” value at the input capacitor of the comparator, which when met by the input signal, triggers a transition at the output of the comparator.
摘要:
Imaging devices including a novel imaging system wherein a 2-dimensional pixel array has a diagonal dimension larger than the diameter measurement of the image circle, thereby being capable of handling rectangular images with multiple aspect ratios. These new imaging devices can be used in various electronic imaging apparatus with or without a lens system.
摘要:
Several detailed layout designs are disclosed, for the monolithic integration of avalanche devices in large arrays, that can be operated as Avalanche Photo-Diodes (APDs) or Avalanche Light Emitting Diodes (ALEDs) depending only on the applied bias conditions, which can be software-controlled from peripheral circuitry. If the deposited films have direct bandgaps, then the devices can emit light even in the absence of avalanche operation. In particular, the layouts according to the invention comprise a sensor/emitter matrix achieved through the replication of basic Pixel/Lixel cells.
摘要:
A method of fabricating multi-spectral photo-sensors including photo-diodes incorporating stacked epitaxial superlattices monolithically integrated with CMOS devices on a common semiconductor substrate.
摘要:
An analog-to-digital converter apparatus for analog source signals of one polarity, includes one comparator formed from transistors, a block of digitally addressable voltage sources to set a reference voltage of the comparator, an asynchronous n-bit digital counter, a block of digitally addressable voltage sources to set the potential to be applied to the signal source, a digital control unit, a block storing the calibration data for an input capacitor of the comparator, and a base-2 multiplier block, being interconnected by lines, including a line connecting the input analog signal to the drain of a pass transistor, a line connecting the block of voltage sources to be connected to the signal source, a line connecting the digital control unit to transistor gates, and a line carrying the signal Vref from the block of digitally addressed voltage sources to the comparator.