Storage device having a semiconductor target

Claim 2

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a storage target disposed within said envelope comprising semiconducting regions and storage regions alternating across an exposed major face of said target, said semiconducting regions being surface portions of a continuous layer of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and said storage regions consisting essentially of a discontinuous layer of an insulating compound of semiconductor material; and c. means for writing information on said storage target, for reading said information, and for erasing said information.

Claim 3

The electron device defined in claim 1, wherein said storage regions are secondary emissive, and said device further comprises: a. terminal means connected to said storage target for applying electrical potential thereto and extracting electrical signals therefrom; b. a collector electrode for intercepting secondary electrons emitted from said target, said collector electrode being disposed in spaced relation with said storage target; and c. terminal means for applying electrical potential to said collector electrode.

Claim 4

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a self-supporting storage target disposed within said envelope, comprising i. a signal layer consisting essentially of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and having an energy bandgap of between 0.6 ev. and 1.2 ev., said signal layer having a major surface, and ii. a secondary electron emissive storage layer disposed contiguous to said major surface, said storage layer consisting essentially of an insulating compound of semiconductor material, one of said layers being interrupted and exposing portions of the other layer; c. terminal means connected to said signal layer for applying electrical potential thereto and for extracting electrical signals therefrom; d. an electron gun disposed within said envelope in spaced relation with and opposite said storage layer; e. a collector electrode disposed between and in spaced relationship with said electron gun and said storage target, said collector electrode being disposed to intercept secondary electrons emitted from said storage target; and f. terminal means for applying electrical potential to said collector electrode.

Claim 5

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a self-supporting storage target disposed within said envelope, comprising i. a signal layer consisting essentially of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and having an energy bandgap of between 0.6 ev. and 1.2 ev., said signal layer having a major surface, and ii. a secondary electron emissive storage layer disposed contiguous to said major surface, said storage layer consisting essentially of an insulating compound of semiconductor material, one of said layers being interrupted and exposing portions of the other layer; c. terminal means connected to said signal layer for applying electrical potential thereto and for extracting electrical signals therefrom; d. an electron gun disposed within said envelope in spaced relation with and opposite said storage layer; e. a collector electrode disposed between and in spaced relationship with said electron gun and said storage target, said collector electrode being disposed to intercept secondary electrons emitted from said storage target; and f. terminal means for applying electrical potential to said collector electrode.

Claim 6

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a storage target disposed within said envelope, comprising: i. a substrate consisting essentially of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and having a major surface, and ii. a plurality of discrete storage elements disposed upon said major surface and spaced apart to expose portions of said substrate, said elements consisting essentially of an insulating compound of semiconductor material; and c. means for writing, reading, and erasing information on said storage target.

Claim 7

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a storage target disposed within said envelope, comprising: i. a substrate consisting essentially of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and having a major surface, and ii. a plurality of discrete storage elements disposed upon said major surface and spaced apart to expose portions of said substrate, said elements consisting essentially of an insulating compound of semiconductor material; and c. means for writing, reading, and erasing information on said storage target.

Claim 8

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a storage target disposed within said envelope including a signal layer consisting essentially of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and a storage layer disposed contiguous to said signal layer, said storage layer comprising an insulating compound of semiconductor material, one of said layers being discontinuous and exposing portions of the other layer; and c. means for writing, reading, and erasing information on said target.

Claim 9

An electron device having information storage capabilities, comprising: a. an evacuated envelope; b. a storage target disposed within said envelope including a signal layer consisting essentially of semiconductor material of substantially single conductivity type and a storage layer disposed contiguous to said signal layer, said storage layer comprising an insulating compound of semiconductor material, one of said layers being discontinuous and exposing portions of the other layer; and c. means for writing, reading, and erasing information on said target.

Claim 10

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said semiconductor material is silicon.

Claim 11

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said insulating compound is silicon dioxide.

Claim 12

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said insulating compound is silicon nitride.

Claim 13

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said semiconductor material is germanium.

Claim 14

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said semiconductor material of said insulating compound is the same kind of semiconductor material as that of said signal layer.

Claim 15

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said semiconductor material of said insulating compound is a different kind of semiconductor material from that of said signal layer.

Claim 16

An electron device as defined in claim 5, wherein said storage layer is secondary electron-emissive, and said means for writing information comprises: a. electron gun means for directing impinging electrons onto said target, thereby causing secondary electrons to be emitted from said storage layer; and b. means for collecting said secondary electrons.

Claim 17

The electron device of claim 5, wherein said signal layer is polycrystalline.

Claim 18

The electron device of claim 5, wherein said signal layer is substantially monocrystalline.

Claim 19

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said storage layer is discontinuous and comprises an ordered plurality of discrete lands.

Claim 20

The electron device defined in claim 15 wherein said lands comprise an array of substantially parallel strips.

Claim 21

The electron device defined in claim 5 wherein said storage layer is discontinuous and an oxidation-inhibiting material is alloyed with said signal layer at exposed areas of said major surface.

Claim 22

The electron device defined in claim 17 wherein said oxidation-inhibiting material is selected from the group consisting essentially of silver, gold, platinum, molybdenum, tungsten and nickel.

Claim 23

The electron device defined in claim 5, wherein said other layer is uninterrupted.

Claim 24

An electronic storage tube including a target which is comprised of a pattern including a plurality of alternating discrete insulating strips and conducting strips, the tube comprising: means for applying a signal to the target to establish a desired stored charge distribution on the discrete insulating strips; and means for detecting the stored charge distribution on the target, and wherein the conducting strips are electrically connected to each other and are formed of silicon; and the discrete insulating strips are formed of silicon dioxide.

Claim 25

An electronic storage tube including a target which is comprised of a pattern including a plurality of alternating discrete insulating strips and conducting strips, the tube comprising: means for applying a signal to the target to establish a desired stored charge distribution on the discrete insulating strips; and means for detecting the stored charge distribution on the target, and wherein the conducting strips are electrically connected to each other and are formed of silicon; and the discrete insulating strips are formed of silicon dioxide.

Claim 26

The invention of claim 20 wherein the pattern comprising said plurality of discrete insulating strips overlies a conducting substrate.

Claim 27

The invention of claim 20, including a conducting substrate of silicon and discrete insulating strips overlying the conducting substrate such that the pattern comprises said plurality of alternating discrete insulating strips and conducting strips.

Claim 28

An electronic storage tube comprising: a target having a pattern of alternating conducting strips and discrete insulating strips; an output terminal, the conducting strips being electrically connected to the output terminal; means for applying an input signal to the target such that a signal is stored thereon in the form of a desired stored charge distribution on the insulating strips; means for scanning the target and obtaining an output signal at the output terminal which output signal is a function of the stored charge distribution on the insulating strips; and wherein the conducting strips are formed of silicon; and the insulating strips are formed of silicon dioxide.

Claim 29

An electronic storage tube comprising: a target having a pattern of alternating conducting strips and discrete insulating strips; an output terminal, the conducting strips being electrically connected to the output terminal; means for applying an input signal to the target such that a signal is stored thereon in the form of a desired stored charge distribution on the insulating strips; means for scanning the target and obtaining an output signal at the output terminal which output signal is a function of the stored charge distribution on the insulating strips; and wherein the conducting strips are formed of silicon; and the insulating strips are formed of silicon dioxide.