Composite photosensitive material
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorClayton W. Bates, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A composite photosensitive material of enhanced sensitivity to, and absorption of, incident radiation, wherein an array of particles of an electrically conducting material is embedded in and dispersed through a semiconducting matrix transparent to the wavelengths of interest, the particles having sizes of from about 1 to about 100 nanometers and having volume fractions of at least about 10 percent. The composite material is usable in photosensitive device applications such as detectors, photocells, photodiodes, and vidicons. Sensitivity to infrared radiation is particularly high where the matrix has a dielectric constant of at least about 10. The preferred particle material for enhanced infrared sensitivity is silver or gold, and the preferred matrix is silicon of CuInSe.sub.2.
Claims11
A photosensitive material of enhanced sensitivity to incident radiation of a selected wavelength, comprising:
- a semiconductor matrix transmissive to radiation of the selected wavelength, said matrix being selected from the group consisting of silicon and CuInSe.sub.2 ;
- and
- an array of particles of an electrically conducting material embedded in and dispersed through said matrix, said particles being selected from the group consisting of silver and gold, said particles having sizes of from about 1 to about 100 nanometers and having a volume fraction of at least about 10 percent of said material, there being no reactive phase present between said particles and said matrix that would interfere with the interaction of the incident radiation and the material.
A photosensitive material of enhanced sensitivity to infrared radiation having a wavelength of greater than about 800 nanometers, comprising:
- a semiconducting matrix transmissive to infrared radiation and having a dielectric constant of at least about 10;
- an array of particles of an electrically conducting material embedded in and dispersed through said matrix, said particles having sizes of from about 1 to about 100 nanometers and having a volume fraction of at least about 10 percent of the material, there being no reactive phase present between said particles and said matrix, whereby said material absorbs infrared radiation having wavelengths of greater than about 800 nanometers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.