Quantex Corporation

Solarex Corporation

Charles Y Wrigley

Joseph Lindmayer

George M Storti

Suganda Jutamulia

Peter K Soltani

Xiangyang Yang

Emeric I Podraczky

A three-dimensional optical memory based on stacked thin film electron trapping layers. Each thin film electron trapping layer is sandwiched between pairs of insulating layers and transparent electrodes. When an electric field is applied across the electron trapping layer via the electrodes, the electron trapping process is enhanced. In this way, electrical page addressing can be achieved for writing data to the memory. The data are read out by an IR light directed into the electron trapping film from the edge, again preferably with the application of an electric field across the addressed layer to enhance readout. The application of an electric field across an addressed layer during the writing and reading steps effectively eliminates inter-page crosstalk.

Optical storage medium utilizing electron trapping film layers

A fiber optic dosimeter in which an electron trapping material is coated onto a tip of an optical fiber. The tip is placed in a region where radiation is to be measured, and the opposite end of the optical fiber, from which radiation readings are measured, is placed in a location remote from the radiation source. When radiation impinges upon the electron trapping material, electrons in the material are raised to a higher state where they are trapped and stay indefinitely. When infrared light strikes the material, the stored electrons are released from their traps and, upon falling to a lower energy level, emit visible light which can be detected and measured. Thus, to measure the amount of ambient radiation, the electron trapping material is stimulated with infrared light from an infrared source at the opposite end of the optical fiber. This infrared stimulation releases trapped electrons and causes the emission of visible light, at least a portion of which is collected and directed back down the optical fiber to the visible light detector, where it is converted into an electrical signal and measured.

Fiber optic dosimeter system using electron trapping materials

An imaging screen for detecting and storing information corresponding to the pattern of emission from an electrophoresis gel containing radioactively labelled, dye-tagged or chemiluminescent labelled DNA, RNA, or protein fragments. The imaging screen is coated with an electron trapping material which releasably stores energy from the impingement of the emission from the electrophoresis gel in the form of energy corresponding the pattern and flux of the emission. When subjected to optical energy of a first wavelength, the electron trapping material releases the stored energy in the form of optical energy of a second wavelength corresponding the flux and pattern of the emission from the electrophoresis gel. The released optical energy of a second wavelength is then detected and coverted to electrical signals representative of the flux and pattern of emission from the electrophoresis gel.

Imaging screen for electrophoresis applications

A novel, high-speed spatial light modulator utilizing electron trapping materials. The electron trapping material is exposed to a pattern of modulating radiation, resulting in the excitation of electrons in the material at spatial locations corresponding to the pattern. When the light to be modulated (ordinarily coherent light) is simultaneously or subsequently passed through the material, it is absorbed in areas of the material where electrons have been excited. The unabsorbed light passes through the electron trapping material, producing a negative image of the pattern of modulating radiation. The electron trapping material also emits an image of incoherent visible light as the released electrons fall back to the ground state. This visible image can be filtered out if the device is only being used for modulating coherent light. Conversely, the device can be utilized by detecting only the incoherent visible emission from the electron trapping material, which constitutes a multiplicative product image of the electron exciting and electron releasing light incident on the electron trapping material.

Spatial light modulator using electron trapping materials

An improved method and apparatus for detecting and storing for later readout the impingement of certain nuclear particles utilizing a particle detector system having a large area particle detector including a thin or thick film of electron trapping material is disclosed, in which, upon impingement or detection of a nuclear particle, electrons contained in the electron trapping material jump to a higher energy level and a luminescence of a predetermined wavelength is given off by the large area particle detector. The detector may later be subjected to infrared or near-infrared pulsed radiation which will cause the release of photon luminescence of a predetermined wavelength at a position and intensity corresponding to the impinged particles, which can be detected by a suitable sensor and analyzed by a microcomputer. Particle detectors of area of at least 100 cm.sup.2 are disclosed.

Large area particle detector system

An efficient energy upconversion unit is optically coupled to a photocathode. The upconversion unit receives incident infrared electromagnetic energy of longer wavelengths and emits, in response, electromagnetic energy within a band of shorter wavelengths to which the photocathode is more responsive. Through such energy upconversion, the photoresponse of the cathode is extended to much longer infrared wavelengths.

Apparatus for extending the infrared response of photocathodes

In a preferred embodiment, a radioluminescent lamp having a glass face plate with a plurality of parallel planar light guides, each preferably having a transparent glass, sapphire or quartz base member, disposed perpendicularly with respect to the glass face plate and coated on both sides with a thin film of radioluminescent phosphor material. The plates are mounted in a sealed envelope filled with tritium gas, the radioactive decay of the tritium causing the phosphor to luminesce. The phosphor material and all but one of the edges of each light guide are overcoated with a reflective material, such as aluminum, to guide the generated light to a single edge of the light guide, which edge is adjacent the glass face plate. The phosphor is preferably a calcium sulfide-based material forming a continuous, binder-free layer on the transparent base member. The resulting structure has a high phosphor-surface-area to tritium-gas-volume ratio and directional light guiding, yielding a substantially higher output light density than conventional radioluminescent lamps.

High-luminance radioluminescent lamp

Disclosed is an integrated photovoltaic generator containing a plurality of photovoltaic cells, the generator capable of producing a voltage greater than that generated by a single photovoltaic cell of comparable chemical composition. The generator comprises a wafer of semiconductor material having two major surfaces, at least one of the major surfaces including a plurality of discrete areas containing an impurity of one type of conductivity, at least the portion of the remainder of the wafer contiguous to the areas containing an impurity of an opposite conductivity type, and electrical conductor means between at least one area and the portion of the wafer containing the impurity of the opposite conductivity type.

Growing community of inventors

Ijamsville, MD, United States of America

Charles Y Wrigley