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:
Feb. 08, 1994
Filed:
Feb. 25, 1991
Akira Shimizu, Inagi, JP;
Kazuhito Fujii, Atsugi, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A photo-detector for detecting a light having a predetermined photon energy, comprises: a semiconductor member having a source region, a gate region and a drain region; a first path for propagating an electron wave from the source region to the drain region through the gate region; a second path for propagating an electron wave from the source region to the drain region through the gate region; the second path being of quantum well structure or a quantum line structure and having a plurality of electron levels having an energy difference therebetween slightly smaller or slightly larger than the photon energy of the light to be detected; a wave function of the electron wave propagating through the second path being coupled with a wave function of the electron wave propagating through the first path in the source region and the drain region and separated from the wave function of the electron wave propagating through the first path in the gate region; means for applying a voltage across the source region and the drain region; means for detecting a current flowing across the source region and the drain region. When the light to be detected is applied to the second path, the electron levels are shifted by an optical Stark effect and phase difference is created between the electron wave propagating through the first path and the electron wave propagating through the second path so that the current changes.