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. 02, 2006
Filed:
Feb. 28, 2001
Paul J. Vande Voorde, San Mateo, CA (US);
Frederick A. Perner, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Dietrich W. Vook, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Min Cao, Mountain View, CA (US);
Paul J. Vande Voorde, San Mateo, CA (US);
Frederick A. Perner, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Dietrich W. Vook, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Min Cao, Mountain View, CA (US);
Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An array of light-sensitive sensors utilizes bipolar phototransistors that are formed of multiple amorphous semiconductor layers, such as silicon. In the preferred embodiment, the bipolar transistors are open base devices. In this preferred embodiment, the holes that are generated by reception of incoming photons to a particular open base phototransistor provide current injection to the base region of the phototransistor. The collector region is preferably an intrinsic amorphous silicon layer. The phototransistors may be operated in either an integrating mode in which bipolar current is integrated or a static mode in which a light-responsive voltage is monitored.