The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 10, 2020
Filed:
Jun. 20, 2019
Semiconductor Components Industries, Llc, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Brian Patrick McGarvey, Templemartin, IE;
Stephen John Bellis, Cobh, IE;
SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Abstract
An imaging device may include an active silicon photomultiplier and associated temperature and non-uniformity compensation circuitry configured to mitigate temperature and process variations on the device. The compensation circuitry may include a reference silicon photomultiplier, a constant current source that supplies a fixed current into the reference silicon photomultiplier, a voltage sensor for detecting a voltage output from the reference silicon photomultiplier, a data converter for converting the voltage output from the voltage sensor, and a voltage controller for generating an adjustable voltage for biasing the active silicon photomultiplier depending on the signal output from the data converter. The active silicon photomultiplier may include multiple illuminated microcells covered by microlenses, whereas the reference silicon photomultiplier may include multiple dark microcells distributed among the illuminated microcells to help account for non-uniformities in microcell performance across the imaging device.