Patent ID: 6278102
Filing Date: 2001-08-21
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
A method of detecting electromagnetic radiation rising the steps of:providing a photosensitive device having:a substrate;a photosensitive region of semiconductor material disposed above the substrate, the photosensitive region having a surface for exposure to the electromagnetic radiation, and the photosensitive region producing hole-electron pairs when exposed to the electromagnetic radiation;a transparent insulating layer positioned over at least a portion of the surface of the photosensitive region;a transparent conductive layer positioned over the transparent insulating layer;a pinning layer for holding electrons in the photosensitive region, the pinning layer being producible by biasing the transparent conductive layer;a coupling region for coupling to the pinning layer; anda transfer device connected to the photosensitive region;biasing the transparent conductive layer to produce the pinning layer at the surface of the photosensitive region by inverting the semiconductor material at said surface;biasing the coupling region and pinning layer to prevent significant current flow through the coupling region and the pinning layer when hole-electron pairs are produced in the photosensitive region;exposing the photosensitive device to the electromagnetic radiation to generate hole-electron pairs in the photosensitive region;holding electrons in the photosensitive region during an exposure period;activating the transfer device to transfer electrons out of the photosensitive region; andmeasuring the current flow of electrons out of the photosensitive region to determine the electromagnetic energy received by the photosensitive region.