Apparatus and method for a vision system having a borderless chip design

An optical device comprising:

• a semiconductor chip having a first surface that receives direct-view light and transmits the direct-view light through transparent regions;
• and
• a plurality of electro-optical circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, the plurality of electro-optical circuits comprising light emitters spanning an active area that extends to one or more edges of the semiconductor chip, the light emitters configured to output display light, and the transparent regions being arranged between respective light emitters,
• wherein the plurality of data-handling circuits formed on the semiconductor chip is configured to route signals to and/or from the plurality of electro-optical circuits, and
• wherein a plurality of display-control circuits is formed in a first fabrication layer of the semiconductor chip, the plurality of display-control circuits being formed within the active area, and the first fabrication layer being below a plurality of emitters, when observed from a top-down view.

An optical device comprising:

• a semiconductor chip having a first surface that receives direct-view light and transmits the direct-view light through transparent regions;
• a plurality of electro-optical circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, the plurality of electro-optical circuits comprising light emitters spanning an active area that extends to one or more edges of the semiconductor chip, the light emitters configured to output display light, and the transparent regions being arranged between respective light emitters;
• and
• a direct-view imager that generates the direct-view light image, the direct-view light image representing an intensified image, wherein
• the semiconductor chip superimposes a display image over the intensified image, the semiconductor chip partially overlapping a cross-sectional area of an optical path of the intensified image, the display image being superimposed only on a part of the intensified image, and the active area extending to an edge of the semiconductor chip that passes through an interior of the cross-sectional area of the optical path of the intensified image.

A method of processing light in an intensifier module of an optical device, the method comprising:

• receiving, at an intensifier, the light from an environment and generating intensified light representing an intensified image of the environment;
• transmitting the intensified light through a transparent overlay display;
• and
• emitting display light from the transparent overlay display, the display light superimposing a display image over the intensified image, the transparent overlay display comprising:
• a semiconductor chip having a first surface that receives intensified light and transmits the intensified light through transparent regions of the optical device,
• a plurality of electro-optical circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, the plurality of electro-optical circuits comprising light emitters spanning an active area that extends to one or more edges of the semiconductor chip, the light emitters configured to output the display light, and the transparent regions being arranged between respective light emitters of the light emitters, and
• a plurality of data-handling circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, wherein at least one of the plurality of data-handling circuits comprises an edge adjacent to an edge of the active area permitting the at least one of the plurality of data-handling circuits to communicate/route signals from within the active area to outside of the active area.

A method of processing light in an intensifier module of an optical device, the method comprising:

• receiving, at an intensifier, the light from an environment and generating intensified light representing an intensified image of the environment;
• transmitting the intensified light through a transparent overlay display;
• emitting display light from the transparent overlay display, the display light superimposing a display image over the intensified image, the transparent overlay display comprising:
• a semiconductor chip having a first surface that receives intensified light and transmits the intensified light through transparent regions of the optical device, and
• a plurality of electro-optical circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, the plurality of electro-optical circuits comprising light emitters spanning an active area that extends to one or more edges of the semiconductor chip, the light emitters configured to output the display light, and the transparent regions being arranged between respective light emitters of the light emitters;
• routing signals to and/or from pixels of the transparent overlay display using the plurality of data-handling circuits formed on the semiconductor chip;
• and
• controlling an intensity of the display light using a plurality of display-control circuits formed in a first fabrication layer of the semiconductor chip, wherein the plurality of display-control circuits is formed within the active area, and the first fabrication layer is below a plurality of emitters, when observed from a top-down view.

A method comprisingof processing light in an intensifier module of an optical device, the method comprising:

• receiving, at an intensifier, the light from an environment and generating intensified light representing an intensified image of the environment;
• transmitting the intensified light through a transparent overlay display;
• emitting display light from the transparent overlay display, the display light superimposing a display image over the intensified image, the transparent overlay display comprising:
• a semiconductor chip having a first surface that receives intensified light and transmits the intensified light through transparent regions of the optical device, and
• a plurality of electro-optical circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, the plurality of electro-optical circuits comprising light emitters spanning an active area that extends to one or more edges of the semiconductor chip, the light emitters configured to output the display light, and the transparent regions being arranged between respective light emitters of the light emitters;
• routing signals to and/or from pixels of the transparent overlay display using a plurality of data-handling circuits formed on the semiconductor chip;
• and
• detecting an intensity of the intensified light using photodetectors, the plurality of electro-optical circuits including the photodetectors and the plurality of data-handling circuits is configured to readout signals from the photodetectors.

A method of processing light in an intensifier module of an optical device, the method comprising:

• receiving, at an intensifier, the light from an environment and generating intensified light representing an intensified image of the environment;
• transmitting the intensified light through a transparent overlay display;
• and
• emitting display light from the transparent overlay display, the display light superimposing a display image over the intensified image, the transparent overlay display comprising:
• a semiconductor chip having a first surface that receives intensified light and transmits the intensified light through transparent regions of the optical device, and
• a plurality of electro-optical circuits formed on the semiconductor chip, the plurality of electro-optical circuits comprising light emitters spanning an active area that extends to one or more edges of the semiconductor chip, the light emitters configured to output the display light, and the transparent regions being arranged between respective light emitters of the light emitters,
• wherein the emitting the display light from the transparent overlay display further comprises that the transparent overlay display superimposes the display image over a part of the intensified image, the semiconductor chip partially overlapping a cross-sectional area of an optical path of the intensified image, the display image being superimposed only on the part of the intensified image, and the active area extending to an edge of the semiconductor chip that passes through an interior of the cross-sectional area of the optical path of the intensified image.