Photoelectric converter, method for driving photoelectric converter and system having photoelectric converter

• US 20050156115A1
• Filed: 01/10/2005
• Published: 07/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Kaifu, Noriyuki, Kobayashi, Isao
• Granted Patent: US 7,009,164 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/370.110
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14658 X-ray, gamma-ray or corpuscular radiation imagers measuring X-, gamma- or corpuscular radiation G01T1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14663 Indirect radiation imagers, e.g. using luminescent members
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14676 X-ray, gamma-ray or corpuscular radiation imagers measuring X-, gamma- or corpuscular radiation G01T1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/101 Devices sensitive to infrared, visible or ultraviolet radiation

Abstract

There is provided a photoelectric converter comprising a photoelectric conversion element of a laminated structure comprising a first electrode layer, an insulation layer for blocking the passage of a first carrier and a second carrier, a photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer, an injection blocking layer for blocking the injection of the first carrier to the photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer, and a second electrode layer, wherein a switching means is provided for operating the converter by switching the following three operation modes a) through c) for applying an electric field to each layer of the photoelectric conversion element; a) an idling mode for emitting the second carrier from the photoelectric conversion element, b) a refreshment mode for refreshing the first carrier accumulated in the photoelectric conversion element, and c) a photoelectric conversion mode for generating pairs of the first carrier and the second carrier in accordance with an amount of incident light to accumulate the first carrier. The photoelectric converter has a sufficiently high SN ratio and can be produced at low cost.

Claims

1-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A method for obtaining an image using a radiation projection imaging system including a radiation source and a converter, said converter having a plurality of conversion elements one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally arranged and switching elements connected to the respective conversion elements, the method comprising:

a first step of applying an electric field to the conversion elements for discharging an electric charge from the conversion elements;

a second step of discharging the electric charge by operating the switching elements after the first step;

a third step of providing the conversion elements with a negative potential;

a fourth step of irradiating the converter with radiation from the radiation source after the third step; and

a fifth step of outputting a signal from the converter having image information converted from the radiation.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the electric field is weaker than and has the same direction as an electric field of the output of the conversion element in the fifth step.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first step to the fifth step are repeated plural times.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the conversion elements are photoelectric conversion elements, the switching elements are a thin film transistors, and the converter is a photoelectric conversion device.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the photoelectric conversion device comprises the photoelectric conversion elements each comprising a stack of a first electrode layer;

an insulating layer for blocking passage of both of a first type carrier and a second type carrier different from the first carrier;

a photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer;

an injection blocking layer for blocking injection of the first type carrier to the photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer; and

a second electrode layer.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the photoelectric conversion device further comprises a phosphor for converting radiation into light which can be perceived by the photoelectric conversion element.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the photoelectric conversion elements and the thin film transistors comprise amorphous silicon.