Sarnoff Corporation

Other

David Sarnoff Research Center, Inc.

Robert Amantea

Peter Alan Levine

Timothy Allen Pletcher

Donald J Sauer

Ramon Ubaldo Martinelli

Min-Sung Yang

Jae-Hong Joo

Francis Paul Pantuso

Taner Dosluoglu

Satyam Choudary Cherukuri

Heinz Hermann Busta

Leslie Ronald Avery

Joseph H Abeles

Sterling Eduard McBride

Lawrence A Goodman

Robert Richard Demers

David Arthur New

Pamela Kay York

Alan Michael Braun

Peter James Coyle

Vipulkumar K Patel

Robin Mark Adrian Dawson

Jae-Young Choi

Michael J Lurie

Joo-Dong Yu

Christina Marie Knoedler

Robert Raymond Michael

Jae-Hwan So

Heon-Kyu Kim

Bok-Man Kim

Richard Moroney

Donald Jones Channin

Paul L Brown

The present invention provides an enhanced THz electromagnetic source structure achieving a very high aspect ratio of 500 to 1 of electron beam width to electron beam thickness of the electron beam moving in the direction across the grating structure while maintaining its cross-section. The structure comprises a magnetic circuit providing a unique low magnetic field slot placed in a steel core for the placement of an electron gun, thus allowing the electron beam to be focused without the interaction of a magnetic field while still supporting a high magnetic field in the grating region. Additionally, the structure comprises an electrostatic shield preventing potential difference between the anode voltage and the grounded steel core from affecting the focusing of the electron beam.

Electron gun and magnetic circuit for an improved THz electromagnetic source

The present invention provides a solid state intra-cavity absorption spectrometer comprising a solid-state gain device interspersed in an array of oscillators in a chamber to produce a wide area coherent high power source of Terahertz radiation. The source is then partitioned into two separate regions, one having a gain medium and one having a sample chamber that can be held a different pressure and is chemically isolated from the gain region thereby forming an intra-cavity absorption spectrometer.

Solid state intra-cavity absorption spectrometer

A method and apparatus for generating charge from a light pulse. In one example, a light sensor includes an active region for generating an electric charge in response to a light pulse. A drift region is formed within a substrate and receives the electric charge from the light sensor. A spatial charge distribution is produced within the drift region in response to an electric field. The drift region includes an outer edge and an inner edge. The volume of the drift region decreases from the outer edge to the inner edge.

Method and apparatus for generating charge from a light pulse

One embodiment of the present invention is an exemplary wavelength selective optical coupling device. This exemplary device includes two waveguides, a ring or disc resonator, and resonator coupling elements. The waveguides are disposed on top of a substrate, not in contact with each other. The waveguides may transmit multiple wavelengths of light. The ring or disc resonator includes a dielectric member which extends parallel to the top of the substrate and overlaps, without contacting, the waveguides. The resonator is sized to resonate at a subset of resonant wavelengths. The resonator coupling elements couple the resonator to the substrate. The resonator coupling elements may include a bridge coupled to the top surface of the substrate and electrically coupled to control circuitry within the substrate. A waveguide coupling signal from the control circuitry causes the bridge to deform, translating the resonator up and down, thereby intermittently coupling and decoupling the waveguides.

Wavelength selective optical add/drop multiplexer and method of manufacture

A micromechanical optical switch structure, that may be integrated to form an array of optical switches, switches light between a main waveguide and a switched waveguide. The switched waveguide has a coupling portion and two flexible portions and is coupled to a movable cantilever arm. The cantilever arm is configured to move at least the coupling portion of the switched waveguide between first and second positions with respect to the main waveguide. In the first position, the switched waveguide is evanescently coupled to the main waveguide and in the second position, the switched waveguide is not evanescently coupled to the main waveguide. The movable cantilever arm may be formed with bimaterial arms that move the switched waveguide in response to heat or a piezoelectric potential being applied to the arm or they may be formed with an electrostatic plate that moves the arms in response to an electrostatic potential.

Optical switch using movable micromechanical cantilevers and evanescent coupling

An infrared imager includes an array of capacitance sensors that operate at room temperature. Each infrared capacitance sensor includes a deflectable first plate which expands due to absorbed thermal radiation relative to a non-deflectable second plate. In one embodiment each infrared capacitance sensor is composed of a bi-material strip which changes the position of one plate of a sensing capacitor in response to temperature changes due to absorbed incident thermal radiation. The bi-material strip is composed of two materials with a large difference in thermal expansion coefficients and an amorphans silicon a corbide layer.

Infrared imager using room temperature capacitance sensor

A power supply according to the principles of the inventions comprises two stages. The first stage is a power factor corrector stage. This stage provides the required line regulation, including greater than 95% power factor correction, and provides a range of outputs from approximately 5 volts to 200 volts with good load regulation at low voltages. The second stage is a soft switching power supply having good load regulation from approximately 40 to approximately 175 volts. An intermediate high voltage of the first stage supplies the input to the second stage, thereby achieving extremely good line regulation and low regulation.

Two stage architecture for a monitor power supply

An infrared radiation detector includes a bolometer or micro-cantilever detector device which functions as a null detector in conjunction with electronic circuitry. The electronic circuitry senses a change in an output signal of the detector as the detector responds to infrared radiation incident upon the detector and provides a signal to a control element which provides a stimulus to the detector device to maintain the detector output signal at the same level. The element may be a piezoelectric element, a heater or a pair of electrodes and the corresponding stimulus may be stress, heat, or electrostatic change. The stimulus compensates for the effect of the infrared radiation and maintains the chosen detector output level at the same level. The nulling circuitry improves the linearity and dynamic range of the detector device.

Optical detectors using nulling for high linearity and large dynamic range

A MicroOptoElectroMechanical (MOEM) IR detector utilizes a novel combination of integrated MEMS and photonics to achieve high responsivity with low noise. Increasing incident radiant energy bends a bimaterial arm that moves a coupling waveguide into the evanescent field of a principal optical waveguide. This, in turn, modulates the light in the principal waveguide. This device has high detection sensitivity to incident radiation due to the combination of the length of the lever arm and the sensitivity of the evanescent field. The device exhibits low noise because photons are being modulated instead of electrons.

Optomechanical radiant energy detector

A converter utilizing a multifilar transformer having its primary and auxiliary windings made simultaneously, a technique known as bifilar winding, provides high efficiency and low noise. The multifilar winding technique yields minimum leakage inductance between the windings and reduces the proximity effect to a minimum achievable using most well-known wires. The converter utilizes an improved soft-switcher topology which advantageously reduces the interwinding capacitance between the primary and auxiliary windings of the transformer. The topology includes a resonant LC circuit interposed in series with one leg of the auxiliary winding and the auxiliary switch. The other leg of the auxiliary winding is at ground. A controller is provided to control switch timing such that the converter optimizes switch loss and resonant pulse loss.

Soft-switching power supply with auxiliary resonator

An exemplary power supply provides low power dissipation in standby mode by disabling the start-up circuit and by implementing variable frequency operation independent of the feedback signal. A standby mode detection circuit automatically implements the variable frequency operation, and an under voltage lockout signal implements the start-up circuit disable. Once the start time expires or when feedback control enables, the start-up circuit is disabled so that it dissipates negligible power. A voltage controlled oscillator responsive to the rectified DC line voltage provides for variable frequency operation in standby mode. The frequency output of the VCO is inversely proportional to the line voltage&mdash;as line voltage increases the switching frequency decreases, which decreases the output power.

Low power dissipation power supply and controller

An infrared imager includes an array of capacitance sensors that operate at room temperature. Each infrared capacitance sensor includes a deflectable first plate which expands due to absorbed thermal radiation relative to a non-deflectable second plate. In one embodiment each infrared capacitance sensor is composed of a bi-material strip which changes the position of one plate of a sensing capacitor in response to temperature changes due to absorbed incident thermal radiation. The bi-material strip is composed of two materials with a large difference in thermal expansion coefficients.

An integrated circuit system includes a substrate of an electrical insulating material having a surface. Mounted on the surface of the substrate is an IC, a semiconductor piece having therein a circuit, such as a microprocessor, having a plurality of functional blocks. Also mounted on the substrate are a plurality of power supply chips. Each of the power supply chips is connected through conductors and vias in the substrate to a separate functional block on the IC semiconductor piece. Each of the power supply chips forms part of a circuit, such as a DC-DC converter, which is capable of reducing a voltage supplied thereto to a lower voltage suitable for the particular functional block to which the particular power supply chip is connected. Thus, a single relatively large voltage fed to the power supply chips through conductors on the substrate is reduced by each power supply chip to a lower voltage suitable for the particular functional block of the IC semiconductor piece.

Integrated circuit power supply

A dual mode converter is provided that may be operated as a variable-frequency, naturally-commutated controller in a Zero-Voltage-Switching mode and as a fixed-off-time controller in a Fixed-Off-Time mode. The converter includes four functional elements. A reference and biases element generates voltage references and biases utilized to determine various signal states. A Timing element generates a fixed off time signal and a voltage ramp signal utilized to create the dual modes of operation. A Catastrophic-Event element detects events that cause the converter output be inhibited and the controller to be restarted. A Mode Detection and Pulse Width Modulation element determines the mode of operation for the converter based on signal inputs from the other functional elements and modulates the output accordingly. In a primary mode, the controller utilizes variable frequency operation to deliver primary power. In a standby mode, the controller utilizes fixed frequency operation to provide low power (less than 5W).

Fixed off time and zero voltage switching dual mode power factor correcting converter

An apparatus and process for forming an infrared imager suitable for night vision surveillance systems. The infrared imager includes an array of field emissive devices formed within a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer. The field emissive devices each include silicon emitters formed within the silicon substrate and a micro-cantilever including a conductive gate plate suspended above the emitters. The micro-cantilever is formed of a bi-material and bends in response to absorbed infrared radiation, locally changing an electric field applied to the structure, and therefore, the emission current of the emitters. Electrons emitted from the emitters form a visible image on a phosphor plate.

Growing community of inventors

Manalapan, NJ, United States of America

Robert Amantea