Sensors and electronic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022013585-A1
Application number	US-202117485737-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 27, 2021
Priority date	Aug 1, 2019
Publication date	Jan 13, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A sensor includes an anode and a cathode, and a near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer between the anode and the cathode. The near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer is configured to absorb light of at least a portion of a near-infrared wavelength spectrum and convert the absorbed light into an electrical signal. The near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer includes a first material having a maximum absorption wavelength in the near-infrared wavelength spectrum and a second material forming a pn junction with the first material and having a wider energy bandgap than an energy bandgap of the first material. The first material is included in the near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer in a smaller amount than the second material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A sensor, comprising:
a near-infrared light sensor, the near-infrared light sensor including
an anode and a cathode, each of the anode and the cathode including an oxide conductor, and
a near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer between the anode and the cathode,
wherein the near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer includes
a p-type semiconductor, the p-type semiconductor being a near-infrared absorbing material having a maximum absorption wavelength in a near-infrared wavelength spectrum, and
an n-type semiconductor, the n-type semiconductor including C60,
a difference between a highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of the p-type semiconductor and a work function of the cathode is less than about 0.8 eV, and
wherein a composition ratio of the p-type semiconductor relative to the n-type semiconductor is about 0.10 to about 0.50.

2 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein a difference between a HOMO energy level of the n-type semiconductor and the HOMO energy level of the p-type semiconductor is greater than or equal to about 1.0 eV.

3 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein a HOMO energy level of the p-type semiconductor is about 4.0 eV to about 5.5 eV and a lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level of the p-type semiconductor is about 3.0 eV to 4.5 eV.

4 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the maximum absorption wavelength of the p-type semiconductor is in a range of about 750 nm to about 1500 nm.

5 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein a difference between a HOMO energy level of the n-type semiconductor and the work function of the cathode is greater than or equal to about 1.5 eV.

6 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer comprises a mixed layer including a mixture of the p-type semiconductor and the n-type semiconductor.

7 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein each of the anode and the cathode includes indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, zinc tin oxide, aluminum tin oxide, aluminum zinc oxide, or a combination thereof.

8 . The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the composition ratio of the p-type semiconductor relative to the n-type semiconductor is about 0.10 to about 0.30.

9 . The sensor of claim 1 , further comprising a first auxiliary layer between the cathode and the near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer, the first auxiliary layer including C60.

10 . The sensor of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second auxiliary layer between the near-infrared photoelectric conversion layer and the anode, wherein a difference between a lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level of the second auxiliary layer and a work function of the anode is greater than or equal to about 1.5 eV.

11 . The sensor of claim 1 , further comprising:
a semiconductor substrate, wherein the semiconductor substrate is integrated with a charge storage, the charge storage is electrically connected to the near-infrared light sensor.

12 . The sensor of claim 11 , further comprising:
a visible light sensor configured to detect light in a visible wavelength spectrum, wherein the near-infrared light sensor and the visible light sensor are stacked in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction.

13 . The sensor of claim 12 , wherein
the visible light sensor includes
a blue sensor configured to sense light in a blue wavelength spectrum,
a green sensor configured to sense light in a green wavelength spectrum, and
a red sensor configured to sense light in a red wavelength spectrum, and
the blue sensor, the green sensor and the red sensor are integrated in the semiconductor substrate.

14 . The sensor of claim 12 , wherein
the visible light sensor includes
a blue sensor configured to sense light in a blue wavelength spectrum,
a green sensor configured to sense light in a green wavelength spectrum, and
a red sensor configured to sense light in a red wavelength spectrum,
two sensors of the blue sensor, the green sensor, or the red sensor are photodiodes integrated in the semiconductor substrate, and a remaining one sensor of the blue sensor, the green sensor, and the red sensor is a photoelectric conversion device on the semiconductor substrate.

15 . The sensor of claim 14 , wherein the photoelectric conversion device includes a visible photoelectric conversion layer between a pair of electrodes, the visible photoelectric conversion layer configured to absorb visible light of one wavelength spectrum of the blue wavelength spectrum, the green wavelength spectrum, or the red wavelength spectrum to convert the absorbed visible light into a visible light electrical signal.

16 . The sensor of claim 12 , wherein
the visible light sensor includes
a blue sensor configured to sense light in a blue wavelength spectrum,
a green sensor configured to sense light in a green wavelength spectrum, and
a red sensor configured to sense light in a red wavelength spectrum, and
each sensor of the blue sensor, the green sensor, and the red sensor is a photoelectric conversion device.

17 . The sensor of claim 16 , wherein
the blue sensor includes a blue photoelectric conversion layer configured to absorb first light in the blue wavelength spectrum and convert the first light into a first electrical signal, the green sensor includes a green photoelectric conversion layer configured to absorb second light in the green wavelength spectrum and convert the second light into a second electrical signal, and the red sensor includes a red photoelectric conversion layer configured to absorb third light in the red wavelength spectrum and convert the third light into a third electrical signal.

18 . The sensor of claim 12 , further comprising an optical filter, the optical filter being configured to selectively transmit light in near-infrared wavelength spectrum and visible wavelength spectrum.

19 . An electronic device comprising the sensor of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Leem Dong-Seok
• Kim Rae Sung
• Choi Hyesung
• Kwon Ohkyu
• Kim Changki
• Kim Hwang Suk
• Park Bum Woo
• Lee Jae Jun

Classifications

• H10K30/353

  comprising blocking layers, e.g. exciton blocking layers · CPC title

• H10K30/20

  comprising organic-organic junctions, e.g. donor-acceptor junctions · CPC title

• H10F39/80

  Constructional details of image sensors · CPC title

• H10F39/184 Primary

  Infrared image sensors · CPC title

• H10F39/193

  Infrared image sensors · CPC title