GB2055507A - Improvements in optical couplers for semiconductor devices - Google Patents
Improvements in optical couplers for semiconductor devices Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2055507A GB2055507A GB8021157A GB8021157A GB2055507A GB 2055507 A GB2055507 A GB 2055507A GB 8021157 A GB8021157 A GB 8021157A GB 8021157 A GB8021157 A GB 8021157A GB 2055507 A GB2055507 A GB 2055507A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- transmitter
- receiver
- optical
- optical coupler
- glass plate
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 31
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 title 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 19
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 6
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 claims abstract 4
- 239000011347 resin Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 229920005989 resin Polymers 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 5
- 230000015556 catabolic process Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000010304 firing Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000008054 signal transmission Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000007613 environmental effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000012774 insulation material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000004026 adhesive bonding Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005266 casting Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007547 defect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000005357 flat glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000004907 flux Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000009439 industrial construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000002955 isolation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000005693 optoelectronics Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000035699 permeability Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000004033 plastic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920003023 plastic Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003068 static effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002966 varnish Substances 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
- H01L31/12—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof structurally associated with, e.g. formed in or on a common substrate with, one or more electric light sources, e.g. electroluminescent light sources, and electrically or optically coupled thereto
- H01L31/16—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof structurally associated with, e.g. formed in or on a common substrate with, one or more electric light sources, e.g. electroluminescent light sources, and electrically or optically coupled thereto the semiconductor device sensitive to radiation being controlled by the light source or sources
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Photo Coupler, Interrupter, Optical-To-Optical Conversion Devices (AREA)
- Optical Communication System (AREA)
Abstract
An optical coupler is described in which a U-shaped glass plate 3 is disposed between the optical transmitter 1 and receiver 2. The electrodes of the transmitter 1 and receiver 2 e.g. an LED and phototransistor are glued to the glass plate and act to shade each other. A partly conductive coating may be formed on the glass plate which coating may additionally be opaque. The positions of transmitter and receiver may be reversed or the plate 3 may be flat. <IMAGE>
Description
SPECIFICATION
Improvements in optical couplers
The invention relates to an optical coupler for transmitting a triggering signal by means of an optical transmitter and an optical receiver, in particular for use in the control of thyristors in the field of industrial control engineering.
Optoelectronic coupling elements are mainly used for isolation of two switching circuits, which are at different potentials. The signal is transmitted optically by means of a light emitting diode acting as a light transmitter or emitter and a detector such as a phototransistor acting as the receiver. The potential differences which can be attained between the transmitter and receiver depend not only on the coupling elements, but also on the type of construction, the type of circuit and the environmental conditions. In addition, the type of circuit and the environmental conditions.
In addition to a coupling factor, high limiting frequency or short response time and a high breakdown voltage, the properties of optical couplers are determined in particular by their industrial construction (type of assembly and casing).
Thus, depending on their application, optical couplers are either built in hermetically sealed metal casings or in plastics casings. The wiring of the connections is also more or less determined by their application, with the limitation that a certain minimum distance between the external connections is necessary in order to reach breakdown voltages in the kilovolt range. A high coupling factor presupposes the use of infrared emitters with a high radiation flux, and of phototransistors with a high infrared sensitivity.
In addition, provision must be made for the greatest possible amount of the light emitted by the transmitter to be picked up by the phototransistor. This is done for example by using the photoconductor principle, or by focusing the beam path by means of lens-like element enclosures. By this means, a practically complete collection of the beam can be attained even in the case of relatively large emitter-receiver distances, so that a high breakdown voltage is ensured in addition to the high coupling factor.
The general properties of optical couplers, dielectric strength, transmission factor, speed of switching, possibilities of defects and the like are known from "Elektrotechnik", Issue 1/2, 1979, pages 10 to 12.
Thyristors in inverters are controlled in terms of potential separation by pulse repeaters. A potential separation of up to 3.5 kV of rated breakdown voltage is possible with present-day pulse repeaters. Firing signal transmission devices for higher voltages can therefore still only be obtained by optical means. However, optical couplers for rated voltages exceeding 5 kV and a rise time of approximately 1 iisec are not yet commercially available.
The invention seeks to provide an optical coupler which, instead of traditional pulse repeaters with self-controlled and systemcontrolled static converters, makes firing signal transmission possible even for a high rated voltage and short rise time.
According to the present invention, there is provided an optical coupler for transmitting triggering signals by means of an optical transmitter and an optical receiver in which a transparent plate is disposed between the transmitter and the receiver.
Preferably, the transparent plate is U-shaped in cross-section and is made of glass.
The particular advantage of the optical coupler according to the invention is its simple and inexpensive construction. The transmitter and receiver oppose each other so closely that any possible influence of outside light is very small, and any additional protection against outside light is unnecessary. If a further increase in rated voltage is required, this is easily attained in an advantageous manner by extending the pass length of the U-shaped glass plate. Because of the constructional arrangement, a large proportion of the radiated power is received by the receiver, so that the higher current which can be produced thereby leads to a simplification of the subsequent circuit.
One embodiment of the device according to the invention is described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawing.
In known optical signal transmission devices, the dielectric strength between the input and output depends on the one hand on the distance between the transmitter (LED emitter) and the receiver (phototransistor), and on the other hand on the light transmission medium and the material of the casing surrounding the electrodes.
In order to attain a high dielectric strength for a rapid rise time, the optical coupler for transmitting firing signals according to the preferred embodiment of the invention consists of a glass disc bent in the form of a U, with the transmitter (light emitting diode) being incorporated into the
U-shaped piece. The transmitter is indicated by 1, the glass disc by 3 and the receiver (mainly a photodiode or phototransistor) by 2.
A special ion-free glass, having a good permeability to the infrared radiation of the light emitting diode, is used as the insulation material between the transmitter electrode 1 and receiver electrode 2. For simple applications in which no rise time of less than 200 nsec for the thyristor firing pulse transmission is required, a simple flat glass disc can be used instead of the U-shaped glass. The use of other inorganic glow-resistant insulation materials is alternatively possible.
The mechanical fixing of the electrodes on to the U-shaped glass is done by glueing, cementing or locking. Casting the light emitting diode into the
U-shaped piece using resin can also be considered.
By virtue of the direct fixing of the transmitter and the receiver on to the glass disc 3, the two oppose each other so closely that they provide mutual shading against outside light. The disturbing influence of outside light is very small because of this, and thus additional costs are saved. A further increase in the design voltage can be easily attained by increasing the path length of the U-shaped glass. Uncontrolled glow potentials which may occur can be led off by means of semiconducting coatings (for example by conductive varnish), so that the required high rated voltages can easily be coped with. The semiconducting coatings can likewise be made to contribute towards the shading of outside light.
The arrangement of the transmitter and the receiver shown on the drawing is clearly interchangeable. Thus, the receiver 2 can be disposed in the U-shaped glass instead of the light emitting diode 1.
Claims (1)
1. An optical coupler for transmitting triggering signals by means of an optical transmitter and an optical receiver, in which a transparent plate is disposed between the transmitter and the receiver.
2. An optical coupler as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the transparent plate is U-shaped in cross-section and is made of glass.
3. An optical coupler as claimed in Claim 2, in which the transmitter is located between the limbs of the U-shaped glass plate, and both the transmitter and the receiver are cemented onto the glass.
4. An optical coupler as claimed in Claim 3, in which the transmitter is cast using a resin in the space between the limbs of the U-shaped glass plate.
5. An optical coupler as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the parts of the glass plate not lying between the transmitter and the receiver are coated with a partially conductive coating.
6. An optical coupler as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the coating is opaque.
7. An optical coupler for transmitting triggering pulses substantially as herein described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
New claims or amendments to claims filed on 27th November 1980.
Superseded claims 1.
New or amended claim:~
1. An optical coupler for transmitting triggering signals by means of an optical transmitter and an optical receiver, in which a U-shaped glass plate is disposed between the transmitter and the receiver.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE2926259A DE2926259C2 (en) | 1979-06-29 | 1979-06-29 | Ignition signal transmission device |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB2055507A true GB2055507A (en) | 1981-03-04 |
Family
ID=6074468
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8021157A Withdrawn GB2055507A (en) | 1979-06-29 | 1980-06-27 | Improvements in optical couplers for semiconductor devices |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| DE (1) | DE2926259C2 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2460568A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2055507A (en) |
| SE (1) | SE8004689L (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE3735331A1 (en) * | 1987-10-19 | 1989-04-27 | Tv System Electronic Gmbh | Transmission device for transmitting signals through a disc (pane, plate, screen) which lets these signals pass, and a housing which can be mounted on the disc |
-
1979
- 1979-06-29 DE DE2926259A patent/DE2926259C2/en not_active Expired
-
1980
- 1980-06-25 SE SE8004689A patent/SE8004689L/en unknown
- 1980-06-27 GB GB8021157A patent/GB2055507A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1980-06-27 FR FR8014393A patent/FR2460568A1/en not_active Withdrawn
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| DE2926259A1 (en) | 1981-01-08 |
| SE8004689L (en) | 1980-12-30 |
| DE2926259C2 (en) | 1982-06-09 |
| FR2460568A1 (en) | 1981-01-23 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |