Wide band sensor
OwnerKristy A. Campbellinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensor and method of sensing is disclosed. The sensor is designed with a number of layers that are each able to sense a range of electromagnetic radiation. The sensor has two terminals for measuring the output signal of the sensor. The output signal of the sensor can be separated to identify the contributions to the output signal from each layer in order to determine the layer(s) that detected electromagnetic radiation. An array of sensors may be fabricated to increase the number of samples taken.
Claims20
An electromagnetic radiation sensing system having a signal separation module connected to a sensor, the sensor comprising:
- a first terminal;
- a second terminal;
- and
- a plurality of layers formed on a substrate, having at least a first layer and a last layer, the first layer being connected to the first terminal and the last layer being connected to the second terminal,
- wherein each layer is coupled to at least one other layer to form an interface, each layer is sensitive to a distinct range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and each layer has a distinct carrier recombination rate,
- wherein the sensor is configured to generate an output signal at the first and second terminals in response to electro-magnetic radiation incident upon a surface of the sensor, and
- wherein the signal separation module is configured to determine the individual contribution from each of the plurality of layers to the output signal.
A sensor comprising:
- a first terminal;
- a second terminal;
- and
- a plurality of layers formed on a substrate, having at least a first layer, a second layer, and a last layer, the first layer being connected to the first terminal and the last layer being connected to the second terminal,
- wherein each layer is coupled to at least one other layer to form an interface, each layer is sensitive to a distinct range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and each layer has a distinct carrier recombination rate.
A sensor array comprising:
- a plurality of sensors arranged in an array across a substrate, each of the plurality of sensors being connected to one or more characteristic measurement circuits and comprising:
- a first terminal,
- a second terminal, and
- a plurality of layers, having at least a first layer and a last layer, each layer being coupled to at least one other layer forming an interface, each layer being sensitive to a distinct range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and having a distinct carrier recombination rate, the first layer being connected to the first terminal and the last layer being connected to the second terminal.
A method of detecting a range of wavelengths of electro-magnetic radiation, the range having a plurality of distinct sub-ranges, the method comprising:
- exposing a sensor to electro-magnetic radiation, the sensor having a plurality of layers, each layer being coupled to at least one other layer to form an interface and being sensitive to a distinct sub-range of wavelengths of electro-magnetic radiation, the sensor having a first terminal connected to a first layer and a second terminal connected to a last layer;
- measuring one or more characteristics of the sensor over time to generate an output signal at the first terminal and the second terminal;
- determining the individual contribution to the output signal from each of the plurality of layers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.