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:
May. 10, 1994
Filed:
Nov. 04, 1992
Arnold H Silver, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Hugo W Chan, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Bruce J Dalrymple, Redondo Beach, CA (US);
Szutsun S Ou, Manhattan Beach, CA (US);
Eugene L Dines, Lawndale, CA (US);
Susanne L Thomasson, Redondo Beach, CA (US);
TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, CA (US);
Abstract
A monolithically-integrated semiconductor/ superconductor infrared detector and readout circuit providing sensitive, low-noise detection of infrared radiation for high-performance focal plane array applications. The infrared detector and readout circuit includes a semiconductor infrared detector and a semiconductor/superconductor transimpedance readout amplifier fabricated directly on the infrared detector using thin-film, integrated-circuit processing techniques. A superconducting analog-to-digital (A/D) converter digitizes the detector signals in the cryogenically cooled environment of the detector before coupling the signals to the much warmer and electromagnetically noisier environment of the back-end signal processing electronics, thus reducing noise contamination.