Patents by Inventor Yun-Chung Na

Yun-Chung Na has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20250142987
    Abstract: Methods, devices, and systems for optical sensing are provided. In one aspect, an optical sensing apparatus includes: a first absorption region configured to absorb light in at least a first spectrum with visible or near infrared wavelengths; a second absorption region formed over the first absorption region, the second absorption region configured to absorb light in at least a second spectrum with near infrared or shortwave infrared wavelengths; and a third absorption region formed over the second absorption region, the third absorption region configured to absorb light in at least a third spectrum with shortwave infrared or mid-wave infrared wavelengths.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2024
    Publication date: May 1, 2025
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, You-Ru Lin, Tsung-Ting Wu, Yu-Hsuan Liu
  • Patent number: 12278252
    Abstract: A photo-detecting apparatus is provided. The photo-detecting apparatus includes a carrier conducting layer having a first surface; an absorption region is doped with a first dopant having a first conductivity type and a first peak doping concentration, wherein the carrier conducting layer is doped with a second dopant having a second conductivity type and a second peak doping concentration, wherein the carrier conducting layer comprises a material different from a material of the absorption region, wherein the carrier conducting layer is in contact with the absorption region to form at least one heterointerface, wherein a ratio between the first peak doping concentration of the absorption region and the second peak doping concentration of the carrier conducting layer is equal to or greater than 10; and a first electrode and a second electrode both formed over the first surface of the carrier conducting layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yen-Cheng Lu, Yun-Chung Na, Tsung-Ting Wu, Shu-Lu Chen, Chih-Wei Yeh
  • Patent number: 12274097
    Abstract: Methods, devices, apparatus, and systems for photo-detecting are provided. The photo-detecting apparatus includes a substrate, an absorption region supported by the substrate and configured to receive an optical signal and generate photo-carriers in response to the optical signal, and multiple sets of a switch including a first set and a second set. The substrate includes a first material, and the absorption region includes a second material. The absorption region is arranged in between the first set and the second set. Each of the multiple sets includes a respective control region and a respective readout region. The respective control regions of the multiple sets of the switch are configured to receive a control signal, and the respective readout regions of the multiple sets of the switch are configured to provide one or more electrical signals representing first collective information for deriving time-of-flight information associated with the optical signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventor: Yun-Chung Na
  • Patent number: 12256578
    Abstract: An optical sensing apparatus including: a substrate including a first material; an absorption region including a second material different from the first material; an amplification region formed in the substrate and configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers from the absorption region and to amplify the portion of the photo-carriers; an interface-dopant region formed in the substrate between the absorption region and the amplification region; a buffer layer formed between the absorption region and the interface-dopant region; one or more field-control regions formed between the absorption region and the interface-dopant region and at least partially surrounding the buffer layer; and a buried-dopant region formed in the substrate and separated from the absorption region, where the buried-dopant region is configured to collect at least a portion of the amplified portion of the photo-carriers from the amplification region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yen-Cheng Lu, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Jung-Chin Chiang, Yun-Chung Na, Tsung-Ting Wu, Zheng-Shun Liu, Chou-Yun Hsu
  • Patent number: 12241740
    Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods for improved reconfigurable optical sensing are provided. For instance, an example optical sensing apparatus can include a photodetector array including a plurality of photodetectors. The optical sensing apparatus can include circuitry or one or more processing devices configured to receive one or more electrical signals representing an optical signal received by a first subset of the plurality of photodetectors; determine, based on the one or more electrical signals, a region of interest in the photodetector array for optical measurements; and deactivate, based on the region of interest, a second subset of the plurality of photodetectors of the photodetector array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: ARTILUX, INC.
    Inventors: Chih-Wei Yeh, Yun-Chung Na, Tsung-Ting Wu, Shu-Lu Chen
  • Patent number: 12243901
    Abstract: A circuit, including: a photodetector including a first readout terminal and a second readout terminal different than the first readout terminal; a first readout circuit coupled with the first readout terminal and configured to output a first readout voltage; a second readout circuit coupled with the second readout terminal and configured to output a second readout voltage; and a common-mode analog-to-digital converter (ADC) including: a first input terminal coupled with a first voltage source; a second input terminal coupled with a common-mode generator, the common-mode generator configured to receive the first readout voltage and the second readout voltage, and to generate a common-mode voltage between the first and second readout voltages; and a first output terminal configured to output a first output signal corresponding to a magnitude of a current generated by the photodetector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Che-Fu Liang, Shu-Lu Chen, Szu-Lin Cheng, Han-Din Liu, Chien-Lung Chen, Yuan-Fu Lyu, Chieh-Ting Lin, Bo-Jiun Chen, Hui-Wen Chen, Shu-Wei Chu, Chung-Chih Lin, Kuan-Chen Chu
  • Publication number: 20250036200
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for eye gesture recognition. In one aspect, a method includes obtaining an electrical signal that represents a measurement, by a photodetector, of an optical signal reflected from an eye and determining a depth map of the eye based on phase differences between the electrical signal generated by the photodetector and a reference signal. Further, the method includes determining gaze information that represents a gaze of the eye based on the depth map and providing output data representing the gaze information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2024
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Chien-Lung Chen, Han-Din Liu, Shu-Lu Chen
  • Publication number: 20250031466
    Abstract: An optical sensing apparatus including: a substrate including a first material; an absorption region including a second material different from the first material; an amplification region formed in the substrate and configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers from the absorption region and to amplify the portion of the photo-carriers; an interface-dopant region formed in the substrate between the absorption region and the amplification region; a buffer layer formed between the absorption region and the interface-dopant region; one or more field-control regions formed between the absorption region and the interface-dopant region and at least partially surrounding the buffer layer; and a buried-dopant region formed in the substrate and separated from the absorption region, where the buried-dopant region is configured to collect at least a portion of the amplified portion of the photo-carriers from the amplification region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2024
    Publication date: January 23, 2025
    Inventors: Yen-Cheng Lu, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Jung-Chin Chiang, Yun-Chung Na, Tsung-Ting Wu, Zheng-Shun Liu, Chou-Yun Hsu
  • Patent number: 12203846
    Abstract: Systems and methods for sensing objects are provided. A sensing apparatus can include a sensor comprising a photo-detecting unit configured to absorb (i) a first incident light having a first wavelength to generate a first detecting signal and (ii) a second incident light having a second wavelength to generate a second detecting signal. The sensing apparatus can further include a calculation circuit coupled to the sensor. The calculation circuit can be configured to output a calculating result according to the first detecting signal and the second detecting signal. The sensing apparatus can further include an adjustment circuit coupled to the calculation circuit. The adjustment circuit can be configured to perform an adjustment to one or more functionalities associated with the sensing apparatus according to the calculating result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2025
    Assignee: ARTILUX, INC.
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Der-Song Lin, Hung-Chih Chang, Shu-Lu Chen
  • Patent number: 12196610
    Abstract: A photodetecting device is provided. The photodetecting device includes a silicon substrate, a germanium absorption region, and a plurality of microstructures. The silicon substrate includes a first surface and a second surface. The germanium absorption region is formed proximal to the first surface of the silicon substrate, and the germanium absorption region is configured to absorb photons and to generate photo-carriers. The plurality of microstructures are formed over the second surface of the silicon substrate, and the plurality of microstructures are configured to direct an optical signal towards the germanium absorption region. A system including an optical transmitter and an optical receiver is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: ARTILUX, INC.
    Inventors: Yen-Cheng Lu, Yun-Chung Na, Shu-Lu Chen, Chien-Yu Chen, Szu-Lin Cheng, Chung-Chih Lin, Yu-Hsuan Liu
  • Patent number: 12183765
    Abstract: A photodetecting device includes a substrate, an array of sub-pixels, and a lens array covering the array of sub-pixels. Each sub-pixel includes a photosensitive layer supported by the substrate, the photosensitive layer being configured to absorb photons and generate photo-carriers, a first doped portion formed in the photosensitive layer of the respective sub-pixel, wherein the first doped portion includes dopants with a first conductivity type; and a second doped portion formed in the substrate, wherein the second doped portion includes dopants with a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type. The array further includes an isolation region separating two or more sub-pixels of the array, a routing layer formed on the substrate configured to electrically couple a circuit to multiple sub-pixels of the array. The lens array includes a spacer portion and a plurality of lenses arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with each of the sub-pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: ARTILUX, INC.
    Inventor: Yun-Chung Na
  • Publication number: 20240413189
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing one or more optical sensor packages includes forming a bonded wafer by bonding (i) a device wafer comprising a plurality of optical sensing pixels and (ii) a circuit wafer comprising application-specific-integrated-circuit configured to operate the optical sensing pixels, where the bonded wafer includes a device-wafer surface and a circuit-wafer surface. The method also includes forming a plurality of microlens arrays over the device-wafer surface, where each microlens of the microlens arrays corresponds to a particular optical sensing pixel. The method also includes forming a plurality of module-lens structures over the plurality of microlens arrays, where each module-lens structure corresponds to a particular microlens array of the plurality of microlens arrays. The method also includes forming electrical contacts over the circuit-wafer surface to establish electrical connections to the plurality of optical sensing pixels and the application-specific-integrated-circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2024
    Publication date: December 12, 2024
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Yi-Chuan Teng, Tsung-Ting Wu
  • Patent number: 12164033
    Abstract: Described are systems and methods for ToF imaging of a target. The ToF imaging system includes an optical splitter that splits the light beam from a light source into multiple transmitting light beams. The transmitting light beams are directed towards a target, and one or more portions return as reflected light beams. A detector generates detector signals, representative of the reflected light beams. An electronically-controlled mirror is used to change the angular position of the transmitting light beams incident on the target, so that different regions of the target can be measured at different time instants. The ToF imaging system uses a flash and scan process to flash one region(s) of the target with the transmitting light beams during one sub-frame exposure and to scan other region(s) of the target during subsequent sub-frame exposures. An image processing apparatus constructs target information from multiple sub-frame exposure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Tim K. Shia, Yun-Chung Na
  • Patent number: 12164704
    Abstract: Methods and devices for a display apparatus. In one aspect, a display apparatus includes a display device including a transparent layer, a display integrated circuit layer including one or more display control circuits, and a shielding layer between the transparent layer and the display integrated circuit layer, a near-infrared (NIR) light source and a visible light source, and a detector device including a detector integrated circuit layer including one or more detector control circuits, where a surface of the detector device contacts a surface of the display device, and a photodetector electrically coupled to at least one detector control circuit and including a detection region positioned to receive NIR light propagating from a front side of the display device to a back side of the display device along a path, where the shielding layer includes a filter region positioned in the path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Shu-Lu Chen
  • Patent number: 12141351
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for eye gesture recognition. In one aspect, a method includes obtaining an electrical signal that represents a measurement, by a photodetector, of an optical signal reflected from an eye and determining a depth map of the eye based on phase differences between the electrical signal generated by the photodetector and a reference signal. Further, the method includes determining gaze information that represents a gaze of the eye based on the depth map and providing output data representing the gaze information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Chien-Lung Chen, Han-Din Liu, Shu-Lu Chen
  • Publication number: 20240369690
    Abstract: An apparatus including a semiconductor substrate; an absorption layer coupled to the semiconductor substrate, the absorption layer including a photodiode region configured to absorb photons and to generate photo-carriers from the absorbed photons; one or more first switches controlled by a first control signal, the one or more first switches configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers based on the first control signal; and one or more second switches controlled by a second control signal, the one or more second switches configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers based on the second control signal, where the second control signal is different from the first control signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2024
    Publication date: November 7, 2024
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Che-Fu Liang
  • Patent number: 12113141
    Abstract: An optical sensing apparatus is provided. The optical sensing apparatus includes a substrate, one or more pixels supported by the substrate, where each of the one or more pixels includes an absorption region, a field control region, a first contact region, a second contact region and a carrier confining region. The field control region and the first contact region are doped with a dopant of a first conductivity type. The second contact region is doped with a dopant of a second conductivity type. The carrier confining region includes a first barrier region and a channel region, where the first barrier region is doped with a dopant of the second conductivity type and has a first peak doping concentration, and where the channel region is intrinsic or doped with a dopant of the second conductivity type and has a second peak doping concentration lower than the first peak doping concentration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Chien-Yu Chen, Yen-Ju Lin
  • Patent number: 12072448
    Abstract: An apparatus including a semiconductor substrate; an absorption layer coupled to the semiconductor substrate, the absorption layer including a photodiode region configured to absorb photons and to generate photo-carriers from the absorbed photons; one or more first switches controlled by a first control signal, the one or more first switches configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers based on the first control signal; and one or more second switches controlled by a second control signal, the one or more second switches configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers based on the second control signal, where the second control signal is different from the first control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2023
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: Artilux, Inc.
    Inventors: Yun-Chung Na, Che-Fu Liang
  • Publication number: 20240280407
    Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods for multi-application optical sensing are provided. For example, an optical sensing apparatus can include a photodetector array, a first circuitry, and a second circuitry. The photodetector array includes a plurality of photodetectors, wherein a first subset of the plurality of photodetectors are configured as a first region for detecting a first optical signal, and a second subset of the plurality of photodetectors are configured as a second region for detecting a second optical signal. The first circuitry, coupled to the first region, is configured to perform a first function based on the first optical signal to output a first output result. The second circuitry, coupled to the second region, is configured to perform a second function based on the second optical signal to output a second output result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2024
    Publication date: August 22, 2024
    Inventors: Chih-Wei Yeh, Hung-Chih Chang, Yun-Chung Na, Tsung-Ting Wu, Shu-Lu Chen
  • Patent number: 12062585
    Abstract: A wafer includes a plurality of testing dies, a plurality of non-testing dies, and a dicing region. Each testing die includes: a first active area including one or more first active devices, and one or more first device pads electrically coupled to the one or more first active devices. Each non-testing die includes: a second active area including one or more second active devices, and one or more second device pads electrically coupled to the one or more second active devices. The dicing region includes one or more testing pads electrically coupled to the one or more first device pads. The one or more testing pads are arranged to receive one or more external probes for determining one or more characteristics of the one or more first active devices of the plurality of testing dies. The plurality of non-testing dies are electrically isolated from the dicing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2024
    Assignee: ARTILUX, INC.
    Inventors: Chien-Yu Chen, Yi-Chuan Teng, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Yun-Chung Na