US3699346A - Photo-conductive image intensifiers - Google Patents

Photo-conductive image intensifiers Download PDF

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Publication number
US3699346A
US3699346A US95437A US3699346DA US3699346A US 3699346 A US3699346 A US 3699346A US 95437 A US95437 A US 95437A US 3699346D A US3699346D A US 3699346DA US 3699346 A US3699346 A US 3699346A
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United States
Prior art keywords
layer
photo
input
panel
conductive
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Expired - Lifetime
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US95437A
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English (en)
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Mervyn Geoffrey Harwood
John Schofield
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US Philips Corp
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US Philips Corp
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J29/00—Details of cathode-ray tubes or of electron-beam tubes of the types covered by group H01J31/00
    • H01J29/02—Electrodes; Screens; Mounting, supporting, spacing or insulating thereof
    • H01J29/10—Screens on or from which an image or pattern is formed, picked up, converted or stored
    • 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
    • H01L31/14—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 light source or sources being controlled by the semiconductor device sensitive to radiation, e.g. image converters, image amplifiers or image storage devices
    • H01L31/141—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 light source or sources being controlled by the semiconductor device sensitive to radiation, e.g. image converters, image amplifiers or image storage devices the semiconductor device sensitive to radiation being without a potential-jump barrier or surface barrier

Definitions

  • This invention relates to photo-conductive image intensifiers of panel-type construction.
  • each mesh .of said input electrode a coupling conductor which is insulated except for having its input end in contact with an area of the output face of the PC layer;
  • the coupling conductors are provided in this arrangement (and also in arrangements according to the invention) to couple the input or PC stage to the output or EL display stage of the device.
  • the PC layer being continuous, extends over the input ends of the coupling conductors.
  • Photo-conduction operates to some extent in the plane of the panel, i.e., between the input end of each coupling conductor and the corresponding mesh which surroundsit, and this is desirable since the PC layer acts effectively only to an extremely small depth of light penetration.
  • this advantage is lost in the region of the coupling conductor since the photocurrent has to flow away from the active PC input surface and through the thickness of the PC layer in order to reach the underlying conductor, and the same occurs near the input electrode since the latter is on the output side of the PC layer.
  • the present invention is based in part on the realization that even a very small thickness of the PC layer can have a very damaging effect on the sensitivity and performance of the panel if inserted in the circuit path.
  • the PC layer is of CdS having a thickness of only p, then with an attenuation to light b. an input electrode of grid form in contact with the input face of said PC layer at areas separated from said spaced apertures;
  • an electroluminescent (EL) layer in contact with the output faces of all of said plates; transparent fia output electrode in contact. with the output face of said EL layer; and
  • said conductive plates being opaque to light emitted by said EL layer and/or'having as backing a filler which is opaque thereto.
  • the plates reflect light from the EL layer in addition to being opaque thereto so as to improve the luminance of the output image by reflecting light initially directed inwards towards the photo-conductive of about l0lcm the intensity of light at the face away from the incident light may be less than 1 percent of what it is on the incident or input face.
  • the impedance will be more than I00 times that of the incident face and this reduces the sensitivity accordingly.
  • the present invention provides a photo-conductive image intensifier panel comprising:
  • a photo-conductive (PC) input layer having its input face exposed to incoming light and having an array of spaced apertures;
  • the input electrode may be in the form of a single mesh bywhich the PC layer is subdivided into an array of separated elements each containing an input end of a coupling conductor.
  • the input electrode lies against the input face of the PC layer which layer is continuous except for the aforesaid apertures.
  • FIG. 1 shows in fragmentary axial section a construction as described by Evans
  • FIG. 2 shows in similar section a construction according to the present invention
  • FIG. 3 shows a variant of the arrangement of FIG. 2
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 are views illustrating one method of manufacture given by way of example.
  • the Evans construction comprising a continuous photo-conductive (PC) input layer having its input face exposed to incoming light and a square-mesh input electrode El located against the output face of the said PC layer.
  • a coupling conductor CC which is insulated except for having its input end in contact with an area of the output face of the PC layer.
  • a conductive plate E2 is electrically connected to the output end of each of said coupling con ductors, all said plates being co-planar and spaced from each other so as form a regular array.
  • the electroluminescent layer EL is in contact with the output faces of all of said plates, and an output electrode E3 is provided on the output face of the EL layer.
  • a filler F is provided and both said filler and the plates E2 are made transparent to allow optical feedback as explained above. Suitable A.C. excitation is provided between E1 and E3 from a source G.
  • FIG. 2 corresponding parts have the same reference numerals.
  • the input electrode E1 is on the input face of the PC layer, and the PC layer has apertures for the coupling conductors CC to extend through.
  • these ends of the coupling conductors are provided with flanges Cf to provide area contact (as opposed to mere edge contact) with the input face of the PC layer.
  • a further difference lies in the fact that the plates E2 (also referred to hereinafter as mosaic electrodes) and/or the filler F are opaque to light from the EL layer in order to prevent optical feedback as aforesaid.
  • the plates E2 are also made reflective to light from the EL layer so as to increase the image brightness.
  • the grid E1 and/or flanges Cf are opaque to such radiation then said grid and flanges will have surface or area contact (in the plane of the device) with highly resistive parts of the photo-conductive layer and will only have edge contact (of small area) with the irradiated (and therefore more conductive) parts of thelayer.
  • the said grid E1 and flanges are made transparent, they will have not only the edge contact mentioned above, but they will also have larger area surface contact with underlying parts of the photo-conductive layer which are rendered conductive by input light passed by the grid and flanges themselves.
  • the PC layer may be relatively thin as shown in FIG. 2 in which case a further thicker layer F of a filling material is provided between the pillars CC.
  • a further thicker layer F of a filling material is provided between the pillars CC.
  • the whole of the space between the grid El and the electrodes E2 can be filled by the photo-conductor in which case, of course, nearly all the photo-conductor is acting as a mere filler and only a very thin layer at the input face is operative (in either event, the pillars are made to extend to the output face of the tiller so as to contact the plates E2).
  • FIG. 3 Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 3.
  • FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 which drawings are schematic particularly in two respects.
  • the rigid substrate means required in practice to support the various layers is not shown.
  • the length of the pillars is shown much greater than it needs to be in practice, this v being done for ease of illustration.
  • one method of manufacture will now be described as applied to a case in which two transparent plates are used (one on the input-side and one on the output side), some of the operative layers being provided on each plate before the two sections are joined together.
  • a first or input substrate is provided in the form of a relatively thick transparent plate W1 of glass (see FIG. 4) and on the output face of said plate are deposited, by conventional means, the grid pattern El and an array of discs which will form the flanges Cf.
  • the central parts of the flanges are plated up so as to form the pillars CC (these will be much shorter than shown in FIGS. 2 3 for practical convenience as aforesaid).
  • the photo-conductive (PC) layer (not shown in FIG. 4) is deposited on the grid E1 and around the pillars and the said layer is then sintered.
  • the photo-conductive layer may by a relatively thin layer as shown in FIG. 2 in which case a further thicker layer of a filling material is deposited between the columns.
  • the whole of the space between the grid E1 and the electrodes E2 can be filled by photo-conductor as aforesaid.
  • the pillars are made to extend to the output face of the filler and this can be done by wiping or grinding the output surface of the input section after sintering.
  • a second substrate or output plate W2 (which may also be a relatively thick glass plate) is taken and provided with a transparent tin-oxide layer on its input face forming the electrode E3.
  • the electroluminescent layer EL is provided on the tin-oxide with a suitable binder.
  • a continuous conductive layer is provided by evaporation on the input face of the electroluminescent layer.
  • a mosaic resist pattern is formed thereon and unwanted conductor is then etched away so as to leave the desired mosaic of square or substantially square mosaic electrodes E2.
  • the two sections of the device whichhave thus been formed are then brought together (see FIG. 5) under pressure after coating the interface with a liquid binder.
  • the pressure applied forces the binder away from the points where the pillars protrude from the filler to contact the electrodes E2.
  • This process can be monitored by applying suitable voltages to the device while the pressure is being applied. In this way, areas of the array where good contact between pillars and E2 electrodes has been achieved will be shown up by brighter light output from the electro-luminescent layer, and pressure on plates Wl W2 can be increased until the brightness of the display is uniform thus indicating that all pillars have contacted all the E2 electrodes.
  • This process is assisted by the fact that the pillars are made of a soft material such as gold which can be deformed locally so as to take up irregularities in the two mating sections.
  • references herein to the plane" of the device and to elements being co-planar it will be appreciated that the device can be slightly curved if desired.
  • references to light the term should be read as including invisible light such as ultraviolet or infra-red.
  • a photo-conductive image intensifier panel comprising:
  • a photo-conductive input layer having an input face and an output face and having its input face adapted for exposure to incoming light and having an array of spaced apertures
  • each of said coupling conductors having its input end located within the aperture and at least in electrical contact with the input face of said photoconductive layer at the periphery of the aperture;
  • a conductive plate having an input face and an output face, said input face thereof being electrically connected to the output end of each of the said coupling conductors, all of said plates being co-planar and spaced from each other;
  • a transparent output electrode having a surface in contact with the output face of said electroluminescent layer
  • a panel as claimed in claim 1 wherein the whole of the space between said input electrode grid and the plates is filled by the photo-conductor, nearly all the photo-conductor acting as a mere filler and only a very thin layer thereof being operative at the input face.

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  • 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)
  • Image-Pickup Tubes, Image-Amplification Tubes, And Storage Tubes (AREA)
  • Electroluminescent Light Sources (AREA)
US95437A 1969-12-11 1970-12-07 Photo-conductive image intensifiers Expired - Lifetime US3699346A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB6055669 1969-12-11

Publications (1)

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US3699346A true US3699346A (en) 1972-10-17

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US95437A Expired - Lifetime US3699346A (en) 1969-12-11 1970-12-07 Photo-conductive image intensifiers

Country Status (8)

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US (1) US3699346A (cs)
BE (1) BE760105A (cs)
CA (1) CA919287A (cs)
CH (1) CH519245A (cs)
DE (1) DE2060332C3 (cs)
FR (1) FR2070810B1 (cs)
GB (1) GB1331430A (cs)
NL (1) NL7017794A (cs)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4227209A (en) * 1978-08-09 1980-10-07 The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. Sensory aid for visually handicapped people
US5698858A (en) * 1994-08-11 1997-12-16 U.S. Philips Corporation Solid-state image intensifier and x-ray examination apparatus comprising a solid-state image intensifier

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2920232A (en) * 1958-08-18 1960-01-05 Gen Electric Display device with storage
US3235736A (en) * 1957-08-29 1966-02-15 Sylvania Electric Prod Electroluminescent device
US3300645A (en) * 1963-09-16 1967-01-24 Electro Optical Systems Inc Ferroelectric image intensifier including inverse feedback means
US3405276A (en) * 1965-01-26 1968-10-08 Navy Usa Image intensifier comprising perforated glass substrate and method of making same
US3558974A (en) * 1968-04-30 1971-01-26 Gen Electric Light-emitting diode array structure
US3590253A (en) * 1969-06-30 1971-06-29 Westinghouse Electric Corp Solid-state photoconductor-electroluminescent image intensifier
US3604938A (en) * 1969-04-29 1971-09-14 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Method for operating electroluminescence display device

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3235736A (en) * 1957-08-29 1966-02-15 Sylvania Electric Prod Electroluminescent device
US2920232A (en) * 1958-08-18 1960-01-05 Gen Electric Display device with storage
US3300645A (en) * 1963-09-16 1967-01-24 Electro Optical Systems Inc Ferroelectric image intensifier including inverse feedback means
US3405276A (en) * 1965-01-26 1968-10-08 Navy Usa Image intensifier comprising perforated glass substrate and method of making same
US3558974A (en) * 1968-04-30 1971-01-26 Gen Electric Light-emitting diode array structure
US3604938A (en) * 1969-04-29 1971-09-14 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Method for operating electroluminescence display device
US3590253A (en) * 1969-06-30 1971-06-29 Westinghouse Electric Corp Solid-state photoconductor-electroluminescent image intensifier

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4227209A (en) * 1978-08-09 1980-10-07 The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. Sensory aid for visually handicapped people
US5698858A (en) * 1994-08-11 1997-12-16 U.S. Philips Corporation Solid-state image intensifier and x-ray examination apparatus comprising a solid-state image intensifier

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2070810A1 (cs) 1971-09-17
CA919287A (en) 1973-01-16
CH519245A (de) 1972-02-15
GB1331430A (en) 1973-09-26
DE2060332A1 (de) 1971-06-16
FR2070810B1 (cs) 1973-02-02
BE760105A (cs) 1971-06-09
DE2060332C3 (de) 1979-09-06
DE2060332B2 (de) 1979-01-11
NL7017794A (cs) 1971-06-15

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