Photodetector with controllable spectral response
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorThoralf Kautzsch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photodetector includes a semiconductor substrate having an irradiation zone configured to generate charge carriers having opposite charge carrier types in response to an irradiation of the semiconductor substrate. The photodetector further includes an inversion zone generator configured to operate in at least two operating states to generate different inversion zones within the substrate, wherein a first inversion zone generated in a first operating state differs from a second inversion zone generated in a second operating state, and wherein the first inversion zone and the second inversion zone have different extensions in the semiconductor substrate. A corresponding method for manufacturing a photodetector and a method for determining a spectral characteristic of an irradiation are also described.
Claims20
A photodetector, comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having an irradiation zone configured for generating charge carriers having opposite charge carrier types in response to an irradiation of the semiconductor substrate;
- and
- an inversion zone generator configured to operate in at least two operating states to generate different inversion zones within the substrate, wherein a first inversion zone generated in a first operating state differs from a second inversion zone generated in a second operating state, and wherein the first inversion zone and the second inversion zone have different extensions in the semiconductor substrate;
- wherein the inversion zone generator comprises an electrode arrangement configured to create an electrical field within the semiconductor substrate in order to generate the inversion zone, and an insulator arrangement configured to insulate the electrode arrangement against the semiconductor substrate;
- and
- wherein the electrode arrangement and the insulator arrangement extend along a direction substantially lateral to a main surface of the semiconductor substrate.
A photodetector, comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having an irradiation zone configured for generating charge carriers having opposite charge carrier types in response to an irradiation of the semiconductor substrate;
- an inversion zone generator configured to operate in a plurality of different operating states to generate a plurality of different inversion zones within the semiconductor substrate, wherein the different extensions of the different inversion zones are continuously tunable in the semiconductor substrate
- wherein the inversion zone generator comprises an electrode arrangement configured to create an electrical field within the semiconductor substrate in order to generate the inversion zone, and an insulator arrangement configured to insulate the electrode arrangement against the semiconductor substrate;
- and
- wherein the electrode arrangement and the insulator arrangement extend along a direction substantially lateral to a main surface of the semiconductor substrate.
A method for determining a spectral characteristic of an irradiation in an irradiation zone of a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising:
- generating a first inversion zone in the semiconductor substrate having a first extension in the semiconductor substrate laterally to a main surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein a first portion of the photogenerated charge carriers of a first charge carrier type is selectively conducted via the first inversion zone to a contact zone for providing a first photosignal;
- generating a second inversion zone in the semiconductor substrate having a second extension in the semiconductor substrate laterally to the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein a second portion of the photogenerated charge carriers of the first charge carrier type are selectively conducted via the second inversion zone to the contact zone for providing a second photosignal;
- and
- evaluating the first and second photosignals for achieving an information of the spectral characteristic of the irradiation in the irradiation zone of the semiconductor substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.