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:
Jan. 08, 2013
Filed:
May. 26, 2010
Ketan Mukund Patel, Yardley, PA (US);
Mark Allen Itzler, Princeton, NJ (US);
Ketan Mukund Patel, Yardley, PA (US);
Mark Allen Itzler, Princeton, NJ (US);
Princeton Lightwave, Inc., Cranbury, NJ (US);
Abstract
The present invention enables the detection of light using an APD that has high gain and/or a wide range of operating temperature. A first APD is biased with a voltage bias that is controlled based on the breakdown voltage of a second APD, which is thermally coupled with the first APD. Changes in the breakdown voltage of the second APD due to aging, temperature chances, and the like, are reflective of changes in the breakdown voltage of the first APD. As a result, the first APD can be operated with greater stability and reliability at high gain and over larger temperature excursions than APDs known in the prior art.