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. 07, 2013
Filed:
Jul. 27, 2005
Peter Seitz, Urdorf, CH;
Peter Seitz, Urdorf, CH;
CSEM Centre Suisse D'Electronique et de Microtechnique SA, Neuchatel, CH;
Abstract
The effective photosensitive area of a solid-state photosensor is controlled with a multitude of electrodes (E, . . . , E, . . . , E) on top of an insulator layer (O) covering a semiconductor substrate (S). Photogenerated charge carriers move laterally under the influence of the voltage distribution on the various electrodes (E, . . . , E, . . . , E), and they are collected at the two ends of the photosensor in diffusions (D, D). The voltage distribution on the electrodes (E, . . . , Ei, . . . , E) is such that the voltage at the two furthermost electrodes (E, E) is maximum (if photoelectrons are collected), minimum at an interior electrode (E), and monotonously decreasing in between. The lateral position of the electrode (E) with minimum voltage defines the effective photosensitive area of the photosensor. This photosensor can be used as pixel device in image sensors, either for dynamic exposure control, for optoelectronic mixing or for demodulation, such as required in optical time-of-flight range cameras.