A photosensor device for reducing dark current is disclosed. The photosensor device includes a photon absorbing layer and two or more photosensor diffusions in said absorbing layer. The photosensor diffusions in the absorbing layer have edges of their diffusions separated in said absorbing layer by less than two minority carrier diffusion lengths. The photosensor device also includes in one embodiment one or more diffusion control junction diffusions in the absorbing layer and in proximity to the photosensor diffusions. In another embodiment the photosensor diffusions are selectively biased to operate as photosensor diodes or as diffusion impediments.

An optoelectronic device as well as its methods of use and manufacture are disclosed. In one embodiment, the optoelectronic device includes a first optoelectronic material that is inhomogeneously strained. A first charge carrier collector and a second charge carrier collector are each in electrical communication with the first optoelectronic material and are adapted to collect charge carriers from the first optoelectronic material. In another embodiment, a method of photocatalyzing a reaction includes using a strained optoelectronic material.

An optical sensor including a semiconductor substrate; a first light absorption region formed in the semiconductor substrate, the first light absorption region configured to absorb photons at a first wavelength range and to generate photo-carriers from the absorbed photons; a second light absorption region formed on the first light absorption region, the second light absorption region configured to absorb photons at a second wavelength range and to generate photo-carriers from the absorbed photons; and a sensor control signal coupled to the second light absorption region, the sensor control signal configured to provide at least a first control level and a second control level.

A differential amplifier includes an unmatched pair, including first quantum dots and second quantum dots, and a matched pair, including first and second phototransistors. The unmatched pair has a difference between a first spectrum absorbed by the first quantum dots and a second spectrum absorbed by the second quantum dots. Each of the first and second phototransistors includes a channel. The first quantum dots absorb the first spectrum from incident electromagnetic radiation and gate a first current through the channel of the first phototransistor, and the second quantum dots absorb the second spectrum from the incident electromagnetic radiation and gate a second current through the channel of the second phototransistor. The first and second phototransistors are coupled together for generating a differential output from the first and second currents, the differential output corresponding to the difference between the first and second spectrums within the incident electromagnetic radiation.

An image sensor includes a first light detecting device configured to selectively sense or absorb first visible light, a second light detecting device configured to selectively sense or absorb second visible light having a longer wavelength region than the first visible light, and a third light detecting device on the first light detecting device and the second light detecting device. The first light detecting device has one of a maximum transmission wavelength and a maximum absorption wavelength less than about 440 nm, the second light detecting device has one of a maximum transmission wavelength and a maximum absorption wavelength greater than about 630 nm, and the third light detecting device is configured to selectively sense or absorb third visible light having a wavelength region between the first visible light and the second visible light.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to infrared detector devices incorporating a tunneling structure. In one embodiment, an infrared detector device includes a first contact layer, an absorber layer adjacent to the first contact layer, and a tunneling structure including a barrier layer adjacent to the absorber layer and a second contact layer adjacent to the barrier layer. The barrier layer has a tailored valence band offset such that a valence band offset of the barrier layer at the interface between the absorber layer and the barrier layer is substantially aligned with the valence band offset of the absorber layer, and the valence band offset of the barrier layer at the interface between the barrier layer and the second contact layer is above a conduction band offset of the second contact layer.

An integrated photodetecting semiconductor optoelectronic component for measuring the intensity of each of the two colour constituents of dichromatic light irradiating the optoelectronic component includes a first SPAD and a second SPAD that detect photons over a broad range of wavelengths. The component also includes a semiconductor optical longpass filter that at least partially covers an active surface area of the first SPAD. The longpass filter is permissive to a first one of the two colour constituents of the dichromatic light and blocking the second one of the two colour constituents of the dichromatic light. The component further includes electronic circuitry for the readout and processing of detection signals delivered by the first and second SPAD. The electronic circuitry is adapted to provide a first intensity output signal and a second intensity output signal via a differential analysis based on the detection signals delivered by the first and second SPAD.

The present technique relates to a solid-state imaging device and an imaging apparatus that enable provision of a solid-state imaging device having superior color separation and high sensitivity.

The solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor layer 11 in which a surface side becomes a circuit formation surface, photoelectric conversion units PD1 and PD2 of two layers or more that are stacked and formed in the semiconductor layer 11, and a longitudinal transistor Tr1 in which a gate electrode 21 is formed to be embedded in the semiconductor layer 11 from a surface 15 of the semiconductor layer 11. The photoelectric conversion unit PD1 of one layer in the photoelectric conversion units of the two layers or more is formed over a portion 21A of the gate electrode 21 of the longitudinal transistor Tr1 embedded in the semiconductor substrate 11 and is connected to a channel formed by the longitudinal transistor Tr1.

Methods and structures for providing single-color or multi-color photo-detectors leveraging cavity resonance for performance benefits. In one example, a radiation detector (110) includes a semiconductor absorber layer (210, 410A, 410B, 610, 810, 1010, 1030, 1210, 1230) having a first electrical conductivity type and an energy bandgap responsive to radiation in a first spectral region, a semiconductor collector layer (220, 630, 830, 1020, 1040) coupled to the absorber layer (210, 410A, 41013, 610, 810, 1010, 1030, 1210, 1230) and having a second electrical conductivity type, and a resonant cavity coupled to the collector layer (220, 630, 830, 1020, 1040) and having a first mirror (240) and a second mirror (245).

A CMOS image sensor includes: a substrate containing a potential well stack including: a first p-well, a first n-well disposed below the first p-well, a second p-well disposed below the first n-well, a second n-well disposed below the second p-well, and a third p-well disposed below the second n-well, wherein a first photodiode is formed at the junction between the first p-well and first n-well, a second photodiode is formed at the junction between the first n-well and second p-well, a third photodiode is formed at the junction between the second p-well and the second n-well, and a fourth photodiode is formed at the junction between the second n-well and the third p-well, and each photodiode is disposed at a different respective depth within the substrate; and a plurality of active pixel sensors for converting light received by the photodiodes into electrical charge.