Spatially modulated detector for radiation
First Claim
1. A detector for radiation with a time-dependent amplitude, comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate wherein said radiation is being absorbed, the radiation being absorbed in said substrate being spatially modulated such that said radiation thereby creates at least a first signal and a second signal in said detector; and
a frequency-sensitive circuit for comparing the time behavior of said first and said second signal, to thereby define a detector output signal.
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Abstract
A novel radiation detector, a detection principle and an associated structure are provided for semiconductor substrate detectors in general and for CMOS based circuits in particular. For an optical detector, photons absorbed in the neutral zone of the substrate generate electron hole pairs that migrate by diffusion. A shadow mask gives a spatial modulation to the incident, and consequently, to the absorbed light in the semiconductor substrate. By measuring the magnitude of the spatial frequency component in the minority carrier distribution with a spatial frequency corresponding to that of the shadow mask, a fast detector is conceived. A shadow mask with higher spatial modulation frequency delivers a faster turn-off. The combination of a plurality of these detectors with an image fiber forms a basic system for constructing high-speed parallel optical interconnects between chips.
40 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A detector for radiation with a time-dependent amplitude, comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate wherein said radiation is being absorbed, the radiation being absorbed in said substrate being spatially modulated such that said radiation thereby creates at least a first signal and a second signal in said detector; and a frequency-sensitive circuit for comparing the time behavior of said first and said second signal, to thereby define a detector output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for detecting a high frequency radiation in a detector being integrated in a substrate having a first and a second region comprising the steps of:
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covering said second region with a mask substantially blocking said radiation; collecting in said first region charge carriers being generated in said first region and in said substrate by said radiation, thereby creating a first signal; collecting in said second region charge carriers being generated in said substrate by said radiation, said mask substantially blocking the generation of said charge carriers in said second region thereby the charge carriers being collected in said second region essentially being charge carriers having diffused to said second region, thereby creating a second signal; and subtracting in a frequency-sensitive circuit said first signal from said second signal.
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Specification