a-Si:H photo diode with variable spectral sensitivity

A novel two terminal thin film photo diode for color detection has been developed. The device structure which is based on standard amorphous silicon nipin multilayers exhibits three or even more linearly independent spectral sensitivity peaks and provides linearity over a wide range of illumination levels. Band gap engineering and electric field tailoring allow a precise voltage controlled shift of the collection region of photo generated carriers. The steady-state as well as the transient device characteristics have been studied in detail. Emphasis was put on optimization of the spectral sensitivity of the color diodes. Furthermore, an electronic color correction algorithm is presented which results in an improved color separation.