1758 results about "Photodetection" patented technology

A device and method for spatially resolved photodetection and demodulation of temporally modulated electromagnetic waves makes it possible to measure phase, amplitude and offset of a temporally modulated, spatially coded radiation field. A micro-optical element (41) spatially averages a portion (30) of the scene and equally distributes the averaged intensity on two photo sites (51.1.51.2) close to each other. Adjacent to each of these photo sites (51.1) are two storage areas (54.1, 54.2) into which charge from the photo site can be moved quickly (with a speed of several MHz to several tens or even hundreds of MHz) and accumulated essentially free of noise. This is possible by employing the charge-coupled device (CCD) principle. The device combines a high optical fill factor, insensitivity to offset errors, high sensitivity even with little light, simultaneous data acquisition, small pixel size, and maximum efficiency in use of available signal photons for sinusoidal as well as pulsed radiation signals. The device and method may be used in a time-of-flight (TOF) range imaging system without moving parts, offering 2D or 3D range data.

A dental optical coherence tomography apparatus for measuring tissue in a stomatognathic region of a living body or an artificial composition in the stomatognathic region as a measured object includes: a variable wavelength light source (15); a light splitting portion (19) that splits light-source light emitted from the variable wavelength light source (15) into reference light (29) and measuring light (28); an interference portion (19) that causes the measuring light (28) and the reference light (29) to interfere with each other, thereby generating interference light; a photodetection portion (41) that measures the interference light; and an arithmetic portion (27b) that generates an image of a measured object (22) by Fourier transforming or inverse Fourier transforming the intensity of the interference light, whose wavelength changes with time, that has been detected by the photodetection portion for each of the wavelengths. Accordingly, an optical coherence tomography apparatus applicable to dental measurement can be provided.

An optical inspection device 1, comprising a light generation means 2, a light irradiation means 3 irradiating an object to be inspected 4 with light generated from the light generation means 2 and a photodetection means 6 photoelectrically converting signal light obtained from the object to be inspected 4 through irradiation of light by the light irradiation means 3, and inspecting the object to be inspected 4 based on output from the photodetection means 6, wherein a light amplification means 5 amplifying signal light obtained from the object to be inspected 4 is provided. There is thus provided an optical inspection device capable of photoelectrically converting signal light from the object to be inspected with high sensitivity and promptly with its inexpensive configuration without increasing the intensity of light with which the object to be inspected is irradiated and without using an expensive low-noise and high-sensitivity photodetector.

A novel method for fabrication of hybrid semiconductor-graphene nanostructures in large scale by floating graphene sheets on the surface of a solution is provided. Using this approach, crystalline ZnO nano/micro-rod bundles on graphene fabricated using chemical vapor deposition were prepared. UV detectors fabricated using the as-prepared hybrid ZnO-graphene nano-structure with graphene being one of the two electrodes show high sensitivity to ultraviolet light, suggesting the graphene remained intact during the ZnO growth. This growth process provides a low-cost and robust scheme for large-scale fabrication of semiconductor nanostructures on graphene and may be applied for synthesis of a variety of hybrid semiconductor-graphene nano-structures demanded for optoelectronic applications including photovoltaics, photodetection, and photocatalysis.

A photodetector used in, for example, an optical pickup device includes: a photodetection unit including a plurality of photodetection elements and provided on a semiconductor chip; a light transmitting unit formed on the upper surface of the photodetection unit; and a light shielding layer having an optical aperture and disposed on the upper surface of the light transmitting unit, with these components being formed integrally. The light transmitting unit is configured such that the distance between the optical aperture and the photodetection unit is maintained constant, and the optical aperture is formed such that the inner portion of an incident light beam passes therethrough. The positioning of the photodetector and the positioning of the optical aperture such as a pinhole or a slit for adjusting the light beam entering the photodetection elements of the photodetector can be made at the same time.

A distance-measuring system, which comprises a light source unit for emitting a distance-measuring light, a photodetection optical system having a photodetection optical axis, a projecting optical system having a projecting light optical axis and for projecting the distance-measuring light from the light source unit to an object to be measured and for guiding the distance-measuring light reflected from the object to be measured toward the photodetection optical system, and an internal reference optical system for guiding the distance-measuring light from the light source unit to the photodetection optical system as an internal reference light, wherein the light source unit can emit two distance-measuring lights with different spreading angles, and one of the light source unit and the projection optical system has a decentering member for decentering the distance-measuring light with respect to the projecting light optical axis.

By irradiating a detection beam from an irradiation system of a detection device to a scale used for measuring the position of a wafer stage, and detecting the detection beam via the scale by a photodetection system, a surface state (an existence state of foreign substance) of the scale is detected. With this operation, detection of the surface state can be performed contactlessly with respect to the scale. Moreover, movement control of the wafer stage can be performed with high precision by taking the surface state into consideration.

The present invention provides of a three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure, a method of producing same, and the application of this structure towards the realization of photodetecting and photovoltaic devices working in the visible and the near-infrared. The three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure includes two interpenetrating layers which are spatially continuous, they are include only protrusions or peninsulas, and no islands. The method of producing the three-dimensional biontinuous heterostructure relies on forming an essentially planar continuous bottom layer of a first material; forming a layer of this first material on top of the bottom layer which is textured to produce protrusions for subsequent interpenetration with a second material, coating this second material onto this structure; and forming a final coating with the second material that ensures that only the second material is contacted by subsequent layer. One of the materials includes visible and/or infrared-absorbing semiconducting quantum dot nanoparticles, and one of materials is a hole conductor and the other is an electron conductor.

A backside illumination semiconductor image sensor, wherein each photodetection cell includes a semiconductor body of a first conductivity type of a first doping level delimited by an insulation wall, electron-hole pairs being capable in said body after a backside illumination; on the front surface side of said body, a ring-shaped well of the second conductivity type, this well delimiting a substantially central region having its upper portion of the first conductivity type of a second doping level greater than the first doping level; and means for controlling the transfer of charge carriers from said body to said upper portion.

This disclosure provides methods to integrate heat generating nanoparticles to microelectromechanical (MEMs) and photonic devices such as microbolometers and thermopiles for better photodetection and electrical energy generation. Nanoparticles include noble metal and semiconductor nanocrystals of different shapes, as light sensing and heat generating materials.

The invention provides a bigrid optoelectronic thin film transistor capable of being used for indirect detecting type digital X-ray detectors. In pixel units for indirect X-ray detecting, optoelectronic detecting elements and thin film transistors for signal reading are integrated in the bigrid optoelectronic thin film transistor. The bigrid optoelectronic thin film transistor can achieve the on-off and signal amplification performance of the thin film transistors, and can also achieve the induction function of optoelectronic transistors and the storage function of signal charges. According to the scheme, the bigrid optoelectronic thin film transistor has the advantages of being high in signal to noise ratio and resolution ratio, simple in manufacturing technique and high in integrity degree, pixel areas can be utilized fully, and high-sensitivity detection can be achieved.

A SiGe surface-normal optical path photodetector structure and a method for forming the SiGe optical path normal structure are provided. The method comprises: forming a Si substrate with a surface; forming a Si feature, normal with respect to the Si substrate surface, such as a via, trench, or pillar; depositing SiGe overlying the Si normal feature to a thickness in the range of 5 to 1000 nanometers (nm); and, forming a SiGe optical path normal structure having an optical path length in the range of 0.1 to 10 microns. Typically, the SiGe has a Ge concentration in the range from 5 to 100%. The Ge concentration may be graded to increase with respect to the deposition thickness. For example, the SiGe may have a 20% concentration of Ge at the Si substrate interface, a 30% concentration of Ge at a SiGe film top surface, and a thickness of 400 nm.

The invention relates to a reflection-type confocal scanning retina imaging system based on adaptive optics, which can accurately obtain the high-resolution images of vital human eye retinae in real time and comprises a light source, a reflection-type beam shrinking and expanding system, a two-dimension scanning galvanometer, a Hartmann sensor, a deformable mirror, a photoelectric detection system, a data acquisition and processing system and a contraocular sighting target system. Lasers emitted from the light source are hit into human eye ground; light reflected from the eye ground returns along the original path, enters the photoelectric detection system and passes through the data acquisition and processing system to obtain the real-time images of the human eye ground. Simultaneously, an adaptive optics system comprising the Hartmann sensor and the deformable mirror can synchronously detect and correct human eye aberration, and thereby, the high resolution of the images is ensured.

A working position measuring system, comprising a rotary laser device for irradiating and rotating a laser beam and a photodetection sensor device for receiving the laser beam and for detecting a working position, wherein the rotary laser device comprises a laser projector for projecting at least two fan-shaped beams with at least one beam tilted, and the photodetection sensor device comprises at least one photodetection unit for receiving the fan-shaped beams and an arithmetic unit for calculating an elevation angle relative to the rotary laser device based on photodetection signals produced when the photodetection unit receives the light beam.

A light wave distance-measuring system, comprising a projection optical system having an optical axis of outgoing light and for projecting a measuring light, and a photodetection optical system having an optical axis of a returning light and for receiving a reflection light, wherein the photodetection optical system comprises a light receiving lens for receiving and for converging the reflection light, a light receiving surface where the reflection light enters, and a ring-like perforated multi-focal optical member arranged between the light receiving surface and the light receiving lens and for converging the light to the light receiving surface.

An optical pickup apparatus having an irradiation optical system for condensing a light beam on a track of a recording plane and a photodetection optical system for guiding return light to a photodetector to detect a focal error includes a holographic lens provided in the optical path of the return light for outputting 0-th and ±1st order diffracted lights based on the return light; an optical element provided in front of or behind the holographic lens for providing astigmatism; photodetectors for receiving the 0-th and ±1st order diffracted lights; and servo-signal generating operation circuits connected to the photodetectors for generating a first and second focus error signals having a first and second capture ranges based on the output signal of the photodetector.