Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100288913 | OPTICAL TRAPPING METHODS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYING ONE OR MORE FRESNEL ZONE PLATES - Methods and apparatus ( | 11-18-2010 |
20100304061 | FABRICATION OF HIGH ASPECT RATIO FEATURES IN A GLASS LAYER BY ETCHING - Methods, apparatuses, systems, and devices relating to the fabrication of features for semiconductor devices are disclosed. The features may include vias and pillars. In some implementations, the vias may define light pipes for semiconductor image sensor devices that serve to guide electromagnetic radiation directly down to photodiodes or other radiation detecting elements formed on an underlying silicon substrate. These structures significantly improve the light collection efficiency and reduce the scattering and crosstalk losses in the dielectric layer. An etch mask may be used to produce features through a subsequent etching process. More specifically, the etch mask defines sidewalls in the glass layer, provides excellent dry etch resistance, and enables easy lift-off of the etch mask from the glass layer. Two embodiments are disclosed herein: the first using amorphous silicon as the etch mask; and the second employing a photoresist as the etch mask. Both embodiments produce high aspect ratio features having generally vertical and smooth sidewalls. | 12-02-2010 |
20110115041 | NANOWIRE CORE-SHELL LIGHT PIPES - Embodiments relate to methods and devices comprising an optical pipe comprising a core and a cladding. An embodiment includes obtaining a substrate comprising a photodiode and a first protective layer, the first protective layer having a predetermined thickness and growing a nanowire having a length L on the photodiode, wherein the length L is greater than the predetermined thickness of the protective layer. Another embodiment includes (1) obtaining a substrate comprising a photodiode and a protective layer, (2) fabricating a nanowire light pipe on the photodiode, the light pipe comprising a nanowire core and a cladding; and (3) coating the substrate and the nanowire light pipe with a protective coating. | 05-19-2011 |
20110309233 | SELECTED SPECTRAL ABSORPTION OF NANOWIRES - Methods, apparatuses, systems, and devices relating to fabricating one or more nanowires are disclosed. One method for fabricating a nanowire includes: selecting a particular wavelength of electromagnetic radiation for absorption for a nanowire; determining a diameter corresponding to the particular wavelength; and fabricating a nanowire having the determined diameter. According to another embodiment, one or more nanowires may be fabricated in an array, each having the same or different determined diameters. An image sensor and method of imaging using such an array are also disclosed. | 12-22-2011 |
20110309237 | LIGHT ABSORPTION AND FILTERING PROPERTIES OF VERTICALLY ORIENTED SEMICONDUCTOR NANO WIRES - A nanowire array is described herein. The nanowire array comprises a substrate and a plurality of nanowires extending essentially vertically from the substrate; wherein: each of the nanowires has uniform chemical along its entire length; a refractive index of the nanowires is at least two times of a refractive index of a cladding of the nanowires. This nanowire array is useful as a photodetector, a submicron color filter, a static color display or a dynamic color display. | 12-22-2011 |
20120001284 | SILICON NITRIDE LIGHT PIPES FOR IMAGE SENSORS - Various embodiments for etching of silicon nitride (Si | 01-05-2012 |
20120127568 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SCANNING MICROSCOPY USING ONE OR MORE FRESNEL ZONE PLATES - Microscopy methods and apparatus in which one or more microfabricated optical elements (e.g., one or more Fresnel zone plates) operate as one or an array of objective lenses. A single object or a plurality of objects may be scanned in parallel. A single, low-numerical-aperture relay optic can be used with the one or more optical elements eliminating the need for one or more confocal pinhole apertures. When an array of optical elements is used, hundreds to thousands of objects can be imaged or inspected simultaneously onto a two-dimensional imaging device, such as a CCD array. The microfabricated optical elements can be readily configured for imaging with a solid immersion medium. Imaging resolutions on the order of one wavelength of the illumination source, and less, can be achieved. | 05-24-2012 |
20120267549 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR FLUORESCENCE SENSING EMPLOYING FRESNEL ZONE PLATES - Methods and apparatus for high-throughput fluorescence detection using integrated microfabricated optical element arrays are described. In one example, the optical element arrays may comprise one or more microfabricated Fresnel zone plates, which may be configured to collect light from samples flowing in microfluidic channels. Multiple samples may be inspected in parallel at significantly high rates (e.g., about 200,000 samples per second or higher). A relay lens combined with high numerical aperture integrated microfabricated optical elements provides significant signal enhancement (e.g., on the order of at least 200 times that of conventional fluorescence detection methods). | 10-25-2012 |