A photomultiplier containing a solid-state photoconductive film composed of amorphous selenium (a-Se) is provided. In the a-Se containing photomultiplier, a hole-blocking layer is provided that maximizes gain and maintains low dark conductivity. Also, the hole-blocking layer achieves reliable and repeatable impact ionization without irreversible breakdown. The hole-blocking layer is a non-insulating metal oxide having a dielectric constant (k) of greater than 10.

Described herein is an optical sensor, a detector including the optical sensor for an optical detection of at least one object, a method for manufacturing the optical sensor and various uses of the optical detector.

The optical sensor can be supplied as a non-bulky hermetic package which provides an increased degree of protection against possible degradation by humidity and/or oxygen over long terms. Further, the optical sensor may be easily manufactured and integrated on a circuit carrier device.

An infrared sensor includes: a base substrate; a bolometer infrared receiver; a first beam; and a second beam. Each of the first and second beams has a connection portion connected to the base substrate and/or a member on the base substrate and a separated portion away from the base substrate, and is physically joined to the infrared receiver at the separated portion. The infrared receiver is supported by the first and second beams to be away from the base substrate. The infrared receiver includes a resistance change portion including a resistance change material the electrical resistance of which changes with temperature. The resistance change portion includes an amorphous semiconductor, and the first and second beams include a crystalline semiconductor made of the same base material as the resistance change material, and is electrically connected to the resistance change portion at the separated portion.

The instant disclosure provides an optical component packaging structure which includes a far-infrared sensor chip, a first metal layer, a packaging housing and a covering member. The far-infrared sensor chip includes a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor stack structure. The semiconductor substrate has a first surface, a second surface which is opposite to the first surface, and a cavity. The semiconductor stack structure is disposed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a part of the semiconductor stack structure is located above the cavity. The first metal layer is disposed on the second surface of the semiconductor substrate, the packaging housing is used to encapsulate the far-infrared sensor chip and expose at least a part of the far-infrared sensor chip, and the covering member is disposed above the semiconductor stack structure.

Various embodiments of the present application are directed towards a method for forming a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate comprising a trap-rich layer with small grain sizes, as well as the resulting SOI substrate. In some embodiments, an amorphous silicon layer is deposited on a high-resistivity substrate. A rapid thermal anneal (RTA) is performed to crystallize the amorphous silicon layer into a trap-rich layer of polysilicon in which a majority of grains are equiaxed. An insulating layer is formed over the trap-rich layer. A device layer is formed over the insulating layer and comprises a semiconductor material. Equiaxed grains are smaller than other grains (e.g., columnar grains). Since a majority of grains in the trap-rich layer are equiaxed, the trap-rich layer has a high grain boundary area and a high density of carrier traps. The high density of carrier traps may, for example, reduce the effects of parasitic surface conduction (PSC).

The present invention discloses a nanoparticle control and detection system and operating method thereof. The present invention controls and detects the nanoparticles in the same device. The device comprises a first transparent electrode, a photoconductive layer, a spacer which is deposed on the edge of the photoconductive layer and a second transparent electrode. The aforementioned device controls and detects the nanoparticles by applying AC/DC bias and AC/DC light source to the transparent electrode.

The instant disclosure provides an optical component packaging structure which includes a far-infrared sensor chip, a first metal layer, a packaging housing and a covering member. The far-infrared sensor chip includes a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor stack structure. The semiconductor substrate has a first surface, a second surface which is opposite to the first surface, and a cavity. The semiconductor stack structure is disposed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a part of the semiconductor stack structure is located above the cavity. The first metal layer is disposed on the second surface of the semiconductor substrate, the packaging housing is used to encapsulate the far-infrared sensor chip and expose at least a part of the far-infrared sensor chip, and the covering member is disposed above the semiconductor stack structure.

The use of silicon or vanadium oxide nanocomposite consisting of graphene deposited on top of an existing amorphous silicon or vanadium oxide microbolometer can result in a higher sensitivity IR detector. An IR bolometer type detector consisting of a thermally isolated nano-sized (<one micron feature size) electro-mechanical structure comprised of Si3N4, SiO2 thins films, suspended over a cavity with a copper thin film reflecting surface is described. On top of the suspended thin film is a nanostructure composite comprised of graphene monolayers, covered with various surface densities of VoXy or amorphous nanoparticles, followed by another graphene layer. The two conducting legs are connected to a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) fabricated on a CMOS wafer underneath. The nanostructure is fabricated after the completion of the ROIC process and is integrate able with the CMOS process.

A photoelectric detector, which includes a substrate, a MoS.sub.2 semiconductor layer, an electrical signal detector, a first electrode and a second electrode. Said MoS.sub.2 semiconductor layer is located on the substrate, with the first electrode and the second electrode spaced from each other and electrically connected to the MoS.sub.2 semiconductor layer respectively. The electrical signal detector is configured to detect changes in electrical properties of the MoS.sub.2 semiconductor layer, and the material of the MoS.sub.2 semiconductor layer is amorphous MoS.sub.2 sheet.

An imaging element has a laminated structure including a first electrode, a light-receiving layer formed on the first electrode, and a second electrode formed on the light-receiving layer. The second electrode is made of a transparent amorphous oxide having a conductive property.