Multichannel sensors in thin film technology

A novel sensor concept for the detection of the fundamental components of visible light has been developed. The multi- channel sensors (3-, 4- and 6-channel detectors) based on three and four stacked amorphous thin film detectors are color moire or color aliasing free due to their vertical integration. The color separation is performed in the depth of the structure without using optical filters. The developed 3- and 4-channel detectors can be read-out with one shot whereas the color information of the 6-channel detector can be read- out with two shots. The sensors are colorimetrically characterized in order to gain further optimization criteria concerning the improvement of the sensor performance. The presented characterization model facilitates the quantification of color errors with regard to the human perception. Furthermore, the color errors of amorphous thin film sensors are compared with a commercial color CCD camera and a BiCMOS color-sensor.

[1]  J. Parkkinen,et al.  Characteristic spectra of Munsell colors , 1989 .

[2]  W. Luft,et al.  Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Alloy Deposition Processes , 1993 .

[3]  Markus Schubert,et al.  Fast Color Detection with Two-Terminal P-I-I-N Devices , 1996 .

[4]  H. Stiebig,et al.  Four terminal color detector for digital signal processing , 1998 .

[5]  Bernd Rech,et al.  Texture etched Al-doped ZnO: a new material for enhanced light trapping in thin film solar cells , 1997, Conference Record of the Twenty Sixth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1997.

[6]  J. P. M. Schmitt,et al.  Thin Film on Asic - A Novel Concept for Intelligent Image Sensors , 1992 .

[7]  Patrick G. Herzog,et al.  Colorimetric characterization of novel multiple-channel sensors for imaging and metrology , 1999, J. Electronic Imaging.

[8]  Giampiero Naletto,et al.  Amorphous silicon/silicon carbide photodiodes with excellent sensitivity and selectivity in the vacuum ultraviolet spectrum , 1995 .

[9]  Richard L. Weisfield,et al.  Two-dimensional amorphous silicon image sensor arrays , 1996 .

[10]  Yukio Endo,et al.  A 2-million-pixel CCD image sensor overlaid with an amorphous silicon photoconversion layer , 1991 .

[11]  Y.K. Fang,et al.  A vertical-type a-Si:H back-to-back Schottky diode for high-speed colour image sensor , 1991, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[12]  Helmut Stiebig,et al.  Transient behavior of optimized nipiin three-color detectors , 1998 .

[13]  Ron Gershon,et al.  Measurement and Analysis of Object Reflectance Spectra , 1994 .

[14]  N. Yamauchi,et al.  A light-transmitting two-dimensional photodetector array using a-Si pin photodiodes and poly-Si TFT's integrated on a transparent substrate , 1994 .

[15]  R. Wolffenbuttel,et al.  Thin-film optical sensors with silicon-compatible materials. , 1997, Applied optics.

[16]  Hsiung‐Kuang Tsai,et al.  Amorphous SiC/Si three-color detector , 1988 .

[17]  Patrick G. Herzog,et al.  Characterization of novel three- and six-channel color moire free sensors , 1998, Electronic Imaging.

[18]  H. Stiebig,et al.  Spectral response modelling of a-Si:H solar cells using accurate light absorption profiles , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE 1st World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion - WCPEC (A Joint Conference of PVSC, PVSEC and PSEC).

[19]  Peter Seitz,et al.  Smart optical and image sensors fabricated with industrial CMOS/CCD semiconductor processes , 1993, Electronic Imaging.

[20]  H. Stiebig,et al.  Amorphous Silicon Three Color Detector , 1995 .

[21]  Helmut Stiebig,et al.  Transient photocurrent response of three-color detectors based on amorphous silicon , 1999 .

[22]  Gunther Wyszecki,et al.  Color Science: Concepts and Methods, Quantitative Data and Formulae, 2nd Edition , 2000 .