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. 05, 2008
Filed:
Nov. 21, 2003
Heinz-peter Frerichs, St. Peter, DE;
Heinz-Peter Frerichs, St. Peter, DE;
Micronas GmbH, Freiburg, DE;
Abstract
A field-effect transistor used as a sensor for measuring a gas or ion concentration utilizes a surface structure such as rings along with surface profiling, for example elevations of the rings and depressions therebetween, to decrease the surface conductivity between a guard ring and the FET, to thereby increase the concentration rise per unit time of a gas signal and increase the time for a potential on a channel region of the FET to approximate the potential on a guard ring. The rings, which may be arranged around the FET structure, may be defined by a surface material different from the remaining surface material and thus having different surface conductivities. The surface profiling, together with the rings, can be utilized to increase an amount of time that may describe the equalization of the channel region potential to the guard ring potential. The elevations may have a surface conductivity different from, for example smaller than, that of the depressions. The surface profiling may be formed by forming the elevations on a thick oxide layer and spaced a distance apart. The annular structures arranged on the thick oxide layer and defined by a surface material different from the remaining surface material may have different surface conductivities and thus may form different, for example higher, contact resistances.