Solid-State Optical Sensor with Peak Defectiveness for Single-Photon Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current proximity sensors are complex and costly due to their structure, which includes separate driver circuits for light emitters, and they do not fully meet the requirements of precision, rapidity, and low cost, especially for applications that benefit from single-photon sources operating at room temperature.
Innovation Solution
An optical sensor with a solid-state material having a band gap greater than or equal to 2.3 eV, featuring a light-emitter device with a cathode and anode region defining a junction, and a peak defectiveness area housing vacancies in the crystalline structure, enabling single-photon emission and integrated with a current-pulse counting stage for efficient photon detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional proximity sensor with separate driver circuits is used, then the sensor can detect objects, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the light emitter and light receiver into a single integrated sensor unit, eliminating the need for separate driver circuits. The sensor includes a light-sensitive element that directly converts incident light into electrical signals, merging functions that were previously separated into distinct components with separate control circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
The light-sensitive element serves multiple functions: it acts as both the light detection component and the signal generation component. By using a single element that can detect light across multiple wavelengths and generate electrical signals directly, the sensor achieves multi-functionality without requiring separate specialized components for each function.
2Measurement precision
If high-performance light sources are used for single-photon emission, then detection precision improves, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the light-sensitive element by optimizing its spectral response characteristics. The element is designed to be sensitive to specific wavelength ranges where single-photon emission occurs, allowing detection with minimal energy input. This parameter optimization enables high-precision detection without requiring high-power light sources.
3Measurement precision
If cryogenic temperature operation is used for single-photon sources, then emission characteristics improve, but device portability and practical application decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature operational parameter from cryogenic to room temperature by redesigning the light-sensitive element's material composition and structural characteristics. The element maintains its single-photon detection capability at elevated temperatures through optimized spectral sensitivity and noise filtering mechanisms, eliminating the need for complex cooling systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a simpler, cost-effective optical sensor with high sensitivity and low power consumption, capable of operating at room temperature and detecting single photons efficiently, suitable for various applications including proximity sensing and hyperspectral analyses.
Implementation Method 1
a light-emitter device in said body, said light-emitter device including a cathode region having a first conductivity type, and an anode region having a second conductivity type
Implementation Method 2
a light receiver arranged, in use, to receive, directly or via reflection, radiation emitted from the light-emitter device
Data Source
AI summary
An optical sensor includes a light-emitter device formed in a body of solid-state material with wide band gap having a surface. The light-emitter device includes a cathode region having a first conductivity type and an anode region having a second conductivity type. The anode region extends into the cathode region from the surface of the body. The anode region and the cathode region define a junction, and the cathode region has, near the junction, a peak defectiveness area accommodating vacancies in the crystalline structure due to non-bound ions or atoms of Group IV or VIII of the periodic table, which may include carbon, silicon, helium, argon, or neon. The vacancies are at a higher concentration with respect to mean values of vacancies in the anode region and in the cathode region. For example, the vacancies in the peak defectiveness area have a concentration of at least 1013 atoms/cm−3.