Biometric imaging devices and associated methods

Abstract

A system for identifying an individual can include an active light source capable of emitting light having at least one wavelength from about 700 nm to about 1200 nm, and an imager device positioned to receive the electromagnetic radiation upon reflection from an individual to generate an electronic representation. The system can also include an image processing module functionally coupled to the imager device to receive the electronic representation and process the electronic representation into an individual representation having at least one substantially unique identification trait. The imager device can include a semiconductor device layer having a thickness of less than about 10 microns, at least two doped regions forming a junction, and a textured region positioned to interact with the light, and can have an external quantum efficiency of at least about 33% for at least one wavelength of greater than 800 nm.

1 . A system for identifying an individual, comprising:
 an active light source capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of from about 700 nm to about 1200 nm;   an imager device positioned to receive the electromagnetic radiation upon reflection from an individual to generate an electronic representation of the individual, the imager device including a semiconductor device layer having a thickness of less than about 10 microns, at least two doped regions forming a junction, and a textured region positioned to interact with the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the imaging device has an external quantum efficiency of at least about 33% for electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of greater than 800 nm; and   an image processing module functionally coupled to the imager device and operable to receive the electronic representation, wherein the image processing module is operable to process the electronic representation into an individual representation having at least one substantially unique identification trait.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor device layer is coupled to a bulk semiconductor. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the active light source is two or more active light sources each emitting infrared electromagnetic radiation at distinct peak emission wavelengths. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the two or more active light sources emit infrared electromagnetic radiation at about 850 nm and about 940 nm. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the imager device is capable of capturing the electronic representation with sufficient detail to identify the at least one substantially unique identification trait using electromagnetic radiation emitted from the active light source having at least one wavelength of from about 700 nm to about 1200 nm and having a scene radiance impinging on the individual at 3 meters that is at least 0.1 mW/mm 2 . 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the imager device is silicon-based and has a response time of from about 0.1 ms to about 1 ms and an external quantum efficiency of at least about 33% for electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of greater than 800 nm. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the imager device is silicon-based and has a response time of from about 0.1 ms to about 1 ms and an external quantum efficiency of at least about 11% for electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of greater than 940 nm. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an analysis module functionally coupled to the image processing module, wherein the analysis module is operable to compare the at least one substantially unique identification trait with a known identification trait to facilitate identification of the individual. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an automatic pan and zoom module operable to move at least one of the light source or the imager device in order to track the individual. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the imager device includes at least two imager devices. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the at least two imager devices includes a first imager device positioned and operable to generate a facial electronic representation of the individual and a second imager device positioned and operable to generate an iris electronic representation of the individual. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 an automatic pan and zoom module operable to move at least one of the active light source or the imager device; and   a process module to analyze the facial electronic representation and provide the pan and zoom module coordinates for the face and iris.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the system is concealed behind an infrared transparent and optically opaque medium from the individual. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the light source, the imager device, and the image processing module collectively has a size of less than about 160 cubic centimeters. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an electronic device into which the system is integrated, wherein the electronic device includes at least one of a mobile smart phone, a cellular phone, a laptop computer, and a tablet computer. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein positive identification of the individual is operable to verify the individual in a financial transaction. 
     
     
         17 . A method of identifying an individual, comprising:
 emitting infrared electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of from about 700 nm to about 1200 nm toward the individual;   receiving the infrared electromagnetic radiation reflected from the individual into an imager device to generate an electronic representation of the individual, the imager device including a semiconductor device layer having a thickness of less than about 10 microns, at least two doped regions forming a junction, and a textured region positioned to interact with the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the imaging device has an external quantum efficiency of at least about 33% for electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of greater than 800 nm;   processing the electronic representation into an individual representation having at least one substantially unique identification trait; and   using the at least one substantially unique identification trait to identify the individual.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one substantially unique identification trait includes an electronic representation of an iris sufficient to identify the individual. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the electronic representation of the iris is captured by the imager device at a distance of from about 0.5 m to about 15 m from the individual. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein emitting infrared electromagnetic radiation further includes emitting infrared electromagnetic radiation from at least two active light sources each emitting at distinct peak emission wavelengths. 
     
     
         21 . The method of claim  31 , wherein electronic representations from each active light source are processed into individual representations each having at least one substantially unique identification trait, and wherein each individual representation is compared to verify identification results of the individual. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising moving the emitted infrared electromagnetic radiation and the imager device relative to movements of the individual in order to track the individual during receiving of the infrared electromagnetic radiation. 
     
     
         23 . An electronic device having an integrated user authorization system, the user authorization system comprising:
 an imager device including a semiconductor device layer with a thickness of less than about 10 microns, at least two doped regions forming a junction, and a textured region positioned to interact with the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the imaging device has an external quantum efficiency of at least about 33% for electromagnetic radiation having at least one wavelength of greater than 800 nm, the imager device being positioned to capture an electronic representation of an identification trait of a user of the device, wherein the imager device is operable to at least periodically capture the electronic representation;   a storage register operable to store a known identification trait of an authorized user;   an analysis module electrically coupled to the imager device and the storage register, the analysis module being operable to compare the electronic representation of the identification trait to the known identification trait to verify that the user is the authorized user.   
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 23 , wherein the analysis module and the imager device are integrated monolithically together separate from the CPU of the electronic device. 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 23 , wherein the user authorization system is operable to continuously verify the user is the authorized user. 
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 23 , further comprising a switch to toggle the imager device between infrared light capture and visible light capture modes.