Thin film magnetic field vector sensor
AssigneesGuvernment of the United States of America, AS Represented By the Secretary of Commerce, Theiss Research
InventorsEmily Geraldine Bittle, David James Gundlach, Sebastian Engmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A novel magnetic field sensor (MFS) may be created with an organic light emitting diode (OLED) made from an organic semiconductor material and an organic photodetector (OPD) built directly on top (or below) of the OLED, wherein at least one layer is made from an oriented molecular or polymer organic semiconductor material with strong magnetic anisotropy, and which material has a magneto-resistive or magneto-electroluminescent signal that varies with the magnitude and direction of a magnetic field to allow for measuring the vector of the external magnetic field.
Claims13
A magnetic field sensor, the magnetic field sensor comprising:
- a substrate which supports the components of the magnetic field sensor;
- an organic photodetector;
- and
- an organic light emitting diode;
- wherein the organic photodetector and the organic light emitting diode are arranged in layers;
- wherein the organic light emitting diode is oriented to emit photons towards the organic photodetector;
- wherein the organic photodetector further comprises an insulating dielectric layer and a metal gate electrode;
- wherein the organic light emitting diode further comprises a hole injection/electron blocking layer and an electron injecting/hole blocking layer;
- and
- wherein at least one of the organic photodetector and the organic light emitting diode is a magnetic field sensitive semiconductor comprised of materials including but not limited to:
- single crystal semiconductors, aligned polymer films, and aligned small molecule films.
A method for detecting a magnitude of an external magnetic field, the method comprising:
- exposing a magnetic field sensor comprising an organic light emitting diode and an organic photodetector to an external magnetic field;
- applying current through a first set of electrical contacts to the organic light emitting diode, producing photons;
- and
- detecting the photons with the organic photodetector;
- wherein the organic photodetector and the organic light emitting diode are arranged in layers;
- wherein the organic light emitting diode is oriented to emit photons towards the organic photodetector;
- wherein the organic photodetector on detection of the photons produces a current which is extracted through a second set of electrical contacts;
- wherein at least one of the organic photodetector and the organic light emitting diode is a magnetic field sensitive semiconductor comprised of materials including but not limited to:
- single crystal semiconductors, aligned polymer films, and aligned small molecule films;
- wherein number of photons produced by the organic light emitting diode is modulated by the magnitude of the external magnetic field;
- wherein magnitude of the current output from the second set of electrical contacts is reflective of the magnitude of the external magnetic field;
- and
- wherein the current output from the second set of electrical contacts is sensitive to an orientation of the magnetic field sensor within the external magnetic field.
A method for detecting a vector of an external magnetic field, the method comprising:
- exposing a magnetic field sensor comprising an organic light emitting diode and an organic photodetector to an external magnetic field;
- applying current through a first set of electrical contacts to the organic light emitting diode, producing photons;
- and
- detecting the photons with the organic photodetector;
- wherein the organic photodetector and the organic light emitting diode are arranged in layers;
- wherein the organic light emitting diode is oriented to emit photons towards the organic photodetector:
- wherein the organic photodetector on detection of the photons produces a current which is extracted through a second set of electrical contacts;
- wherein at least one of the organic photodetector and the organic light emitting diode is a magnetic field sensitive semiconductor comprised of materials including but not limited to:
- single crystal semiconductors, aligned polymer films, and aligned small molecule films;
- wherein number of photons produced by the organic light emitting diode is modulated by a magnitude of the external magnetic field;
- wherein magnitude of the current output from the second set of electrical contacts is reflective of the magnitude of the external magnetic field;
- wherein the current output from the second set of electrical contacts is sensitive to an orientation of the magnetic field sensor within the external magnetic field;
- and
- wherein the direction and the magnitude of the external magnetic field is determined by reference to a calibration curve for a known current input to the first set of electrical contacts and a known voltage applied to the metal gate electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.