695 results about "Floating diffusion" patented technology

An image sensing device includes a first photoelectric conversion element configured to overlap a left region of a first microlens, a second photoelectric conversion element configured to overlap a right region of the first microlens, a first floating diffusion region configured to accumulate photocharges received from at least one of the first photoelectric conversion element and the second photoelectric conversion element, a first transfer gate disposed at a top-left side of the first floating diffusion region and configured to transfer photocharges of the first photoelectric conversion element to the first floating diffusion region, and a second transfer gate disposed at a bottom-right side of the first floating diffusion region and configured to transfer photocharges of the second photoelectric conversion element to the first floating diffusion region.

A control method of a high gain image sensor is provided. A column bias current source and a column PMOS amplifier transistor are provided in a column signal readout unit, the column bias current source is connected to a column-common current output connecting line, a drain of the column PMOS amplifier transistor is connected to a column-common current input connecting line, and a gate of the column PMOS amplifier transistor is connected to the column-common current output connecting line, to acquire an amplified signal of a floating diffusion region of a readout row pixel unit on the column-common current input connecting line. An SHCG is achieved, and a dynamic range in a dark light scene is expanded. A device structure size in the column signal readout unit can be much larger than the transistor in the pixel, which results in better process consistency and more flexible adjustment of the conversion gain.

A pixel circuit includes a pixel array and a color filter. The pixel array includes pixels arranged in rows and columns, and each pixel includes a photodiode configured to photogenerate image charge in response to incident light, and a transfer transistor coupled to the photodiode to transfer the image charge out from the photodiode. The color filter array includes color filters each having one of a plurality of colors and disposed over at least one of the pixels. Each of the pixels is coupled to a first readout circuit, and the plurality of pixels includes a first subset of the pixels not coupled to a second readout circuit and a second subset of the pixels coupled to the second readout circuit. Two diagonally arranged pixels are coupled together to share a floating diffusion, and the two diagonally arranged pixels coupled together are disposed underneath color filters of a same color.

A time-of-flight pixel circuit includes a photodiode configured to generate charge in response to modulated light reflected from an object. First and second transfer transistors are coupled to the photodiode. The first transfer transistor transfers a first portion of charge from the photodiode in response to a first modulation signal and the second transfer transistor transfers a second portion of charge from the photodiode in response to a second modulation signal. The second modulation signal is an inverted first modulation signal. A first floating diffusion is coupled to the first transfer transistor to receive the first portion of charge in response to a first modulation signal. Each one of a first plurality of sample and hold transistors is coupled between a respective one of a first plurality of memory nodes and the first transfer transistor.

A pixel array and an image sensor including the pixel array are provided. The pixel array included in the image sensor includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, and a plurality of column lines each commonly connected to pixels arranged on a same column from among the plurality of pixels. Each of the plurality of pixels includes four subpixels. Each of the four subpixels includes four photoelectric conversion devices; a floating diffusion region storing electric charges generated by the four photoelectric conversion devices; and four transmission gates configured to transmit the electric charges generated by the four photoelectric conversion devices to the floating diffusion region. Four floating diffusion regions included in the four subpixels are electrically connected to one another via internal wiring. Each of the plurality of pixels further includes a reset gate, a first driving gate and a first selection gate.

Provided is a solid-state imaging device capable of suitably forming a capacitor for a floating diffusion portion. A solid-state imaging device of the present disclosure includes: a first substrate; a photoelectric conversion unit provided in the first substrate; a floating diffusion portion provided in the first substrate; and a capacitor including a first electrode electrically connected or connectable to the floating diffusion portion, a second electrode different from the first electrode, and a ferroelectric film or an antiferroelectric film provided between the first electrode and the second electrode.

A pixel circuit includes a pixel array and a color filter. The pixel array includes a plurality of pixels each comprising two photodiodes, a floating diffusion coupled between the two photodiodes, and two transfer transistor coupled between the two photodiodes and the floating diffusion. The color filter array includes a plurality of color filters each having one of a plurality of colors and disposed over at least one of the pixels. Each pixel is coupled to a first readout circuit. The pixels include a second subset of the pixels coupled to a second readout circuit and a first subset of the pixels not coupled to the second readout circuit. Each pair of pixels arranged in two adjacent rows includes a first pixel included in the second subset of the pixels and a second pixel included in the first subset of the pixels and disposed underneath one of the color filters.

An image sensor includes a first semiconductor chip which extends in first and second directions that intersect each other, and having a pixel part including a plurality of pixel regions; and a second semiconductor chip including a circuit part electrically connected to the pixel part, on the first semiconductor chip. The pixel part includes a photodiode, a floating diffusion node which accumulates photocharges generated by the photodiode, and a first source follower which amplifies and outputs a signal corresponding to a change in potential of the floating diffusion node. The circuit part includes a first pre-charge selection transistor connected between a first node and a second node, a second pre-charge selection transistor connected to the first pre-charge selection transistor, and a pre-charge transistor which pre-charges the second node connected to the first source follower. The plurality of pixel regions share the pre-charge transistor.

The invention discloses an image sensor and a manufacturing method thereof, the image sensor comprises a substrate, a photodiode, a storage node and a floating diffusion region which are arranged in the substrate at intervals, the storage node is arranged between the photodiode and the floating diffusion region, and one side, close to the storage node, of the photodiode is in a step shape; the first transmission grid electrode comprises a vertical grid electrode and a plane grid electrode, the vertical grid electrode is arranged in the substrate between the photodiode and the storage node, and the plane grid electrode is arranged on the vertical grid electrode and part of the substrate; a second transfer gate disposed on the substrate between the storage node and the floating diffusion region; the shallow trench isolation structure is arranged around the first transmission grid electrode, the storage node, the second transmission grid electrode and the floating diffusion region in a surrounding manner; and the shading structure is arranged on the first transmission grid electrode, the storage node and part of the second transmission grid electrode. According to the invention, the pixel transmission sensitivity can be improved, the parasitic light response of the storage node is reduced, and the imaging quality of the image sensor is improved.

An image sensor may include an array of imaging pixels arranged in rows and columns. Each imaging pixel may include a photodiode, an overflow capacitor, an overflow transistor that is interposed between the photodiode and the overflow capacitor, a floating diffusion region, a transfer transistor that is interposed between the photodiode and the floating diffusion region, a voltage supply, and a reset transistor that is interposed between the floating diffusion region and the voltage supply. The voltage supply may provide a voltage at a first magnitude that is less than the pinning voltage for a first portion of a reset period and may provide the voltage at a second magnitude that is greater than the pinning voltage for a second portion of the reset period.

A subpixel including at least one second-conductivity-type pinned photodiode layer that forms a p-n junction with a substrate semiconductor layer, at least one floating diffusion region, and at least one transfer gate stack structure. The at least one transfer gate stack structure may at least partially laterally surround the at least one second-conductivity-type pinned photodiode layer with a total azimuthal extension angle in a range from 240 degrees to 360 degrees around a geometrical center of the second-conductivity-type pinned photodiode layer. The at least one transfer gate stack structure may include multiple edges that overlie different segments of a periphery of the at least one second-conductivity-type pinned photodiode layer, and the floating diffusion region includes a portion located between the first edge and the second edge. In addition, multiple transfer gate stack structures and multiple floating diffusion regions may be present in the subpixel.

A control circuitry region of a pixel sensor of a semiconductor device includes a plurality of conversion gain circuits that may be selectively activated and / or deactivated in various combinations to enable a plurality of sequential conversion gain operations to be performed across an exposure operation of the semiconductor device. The control circuitry region may include a first conversion gain circuit and a second conversion gain circuit that are connected to a floating diffusion node of the pixel sensor in parallel. The selectable parallel conversion gain circuits enable sequential conversion gain operations to be performed for the pixel sensor such that the capacitance in the pixel sensor may be gradually increased through the conversion gain operations. Gradually increasing the capacitance in the pixel sensor across the sequential conversion gain operations provides for smaller signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) drops, which enables a low SNR drop to be achieved for the pixel sensor.

An optical device and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed. The optical device includes a first die layer and a second die layer. The first die layer includes a first substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, first and second pixel structures, an inter-pixel isolation structure disposed in the first substrate and surrounding the first and second pixel structures, and a floating diffusion region disposed in the first substrate and between the first and second pixel structures. The second die layer includes a second substrate having a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to the third surface and a pixel transistor group disposed on the third surface of the second substrate and electrically connected to the first and second pixel structures.

Pixels with multiple operating modes (and associated systems, devices, and methods) are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a pixel arrangement includes a pixel including a first photosensor, a second photosensor, a floating diffusion, a first event vision sensor (EVS) connection coupling the pixel to first EVS readout circuitry and configured to receive first charge from the first photosensor, and a second EVS connection coupling the pixel to second EVS readout circuitry and configured to receive second charge from the second photosensor. The pixel further includes a first transfer transistor selectively coupling the first photosensor to the floating diffusion, a second transfer transistor selectively coupling the first photosensor to the first EVS connection, and a third transfer transistor selectively coupling the second photosensor to the floating diffusion. In some embodiments, the pixel further includes a fourth transfer transistor selectively coupling the second photosensor to the second EVS connection.

An image sensor structure including a substrate, a pixel structure, and a deep trench isolation (DTI) structure is provided. The substrate includes a first side and a second side opposite to each other. The pixel structure includes a transfer transistor, a light sensing device, and a floating diffusion region. The transfer transistor includes a first gate. The first gate is disposed on the first side of the substrate. The light sensing device is disposed in the substrate and is located on one side of the first gate. The floating diffusion region is disposed in the substrate and is located on another side of the first gate. The DTI structure extends into the substrate from the second side of the substrate. The top-view pattern of the floating diffusion region does not overlap the top-view pattern of the DTI structure.

A pixel circuit includes a pixel array and a color filter. The pixel array includes a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, each pixel including four photodiodes, a floating diffusion, and four transfer transistors. The color filter array includes a plurality of color filters each having one of a plurality of colors and disposed over at least one of the pixels. Each of the plurality of pixels is coupled to a first readout circuit, and the plurality of pixels includes (i) a first subset of the pixels not coupled to a second readout circuit and (ii) a second subset of the pixels coupled to the second readout circuit. Floating diffusions of two diagonally arranged pixels are coupled together, and the two diagonally arranged pixels coupled together are disposed underneath color filters of a same color.

An image sensor includes a substrate including a pixel region, a first surface, and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a first photoelectric conversion region in the pixel region, a deep isolation pattern provided to at least partially penetrate the substrate and define the pixel region, a first transfer gate electrode in the pixel region and at least partially vertically overlapped with the first photoelectric conversion region, the first transfer gate electrode including a first upper portion, which protrudes above the first surface of the substrate, and a first lower portion, which is at least partially inserted into the substrate through the first surface of the substrate, a floating diffusion region in the pixel region and at least partially overlapped with the first photoelectric conversion region, and a barrier device isolation pattern between the floating diffusion region and the first transfer gate electrode.

A method of driving a photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a pixel, an output line, and a current source, the pixel including a photoelectric conversion element, a floating diffusion region, and a transfer transistor, the method including setting the transfer transistor to an on state to transfer the charge to the floating diffusion region at a first timing, completing, at a second timing, a comparison of the pixel signal and a threshold voltage, based on the charge transferred to the floating diffusion region at the first timing and performing a first drive to change a connection state between the pixel and the current source from a conductive state to a non-conductive state between the first timing and the second timing.

An image sensor is provided. The image sensor includes: a photoelectric conversion region in a semiconductor substrate; a photocharge collection region provided in the photoelectric conversion region; a floating diffusion region in the semiconductor substrate that is spaced apart from the photocharge collection region along a vertical direction; a charge multiplication region between the photocharge collection region and the floating diffusion region; and a vertical gate electrode which extends into the semiconductor substrate and overlaps the photocharge collection region along the vertical direction. A side surface of the vertical gate electrode is adjacent to the floating diffusion region and the charge multiplication region.

Hybrid image sensors with multiple operating modes are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a pixel arrangement includes a first photosensor, a first floating diffusion, a second photosensor, a second floating diffusion, and a mode switch. The mode switch can include (a) a first switch selectively coupling the second floating diffusion to the first floating diffusion, and (b) a second switch configured to selectively couple the second floating diffusion to event vision sensor (EVS) readout circuitry. The mode switch can be used to transition the pixel arrangement between (i) a first mode in which the pixel arrangement is controllable to output intensity information corresponding to first light incident on the first photosensor and / or second light incident on the second photosensor, and (ii) a second mode in which the pixel arrangement is controllable to output contrast information corresponding to the first light and / or the second light.

[Problem] To optimize a pixel configuration by connecting elements using a connector other than metal wiring. [Solution] This solid-state imaging device comprises a light receiving element, a transfer transistor, a capacitor, an amplification transistor, and a floating diffusion layer. The transfer transistor transfers a signal output by the light receiving element. The capacitor is connected at one end to the light receiving element via the transfer transistor, is connected at the other end to a negative-side power supply voltage, and converts charges output by the light receiving element into voltages and accumulates the same. A voltage from the capacitor is applied to a gate of the amplification transistor and the amplification transistor outputs a signal corresponding to the voltage. The floating diffusion layer includes one end of the capacitor and a gate of the amplification transistor, and is formed from an electrode integrated with the one end of the capacitor and the gate of the amplification transistor.

The present technology relates to a solid-state image sensor, an imaging device, and an electronic device capable of switching FD conversion efficiency in all pixels of a solid-state image sensor. A photodiode performs photoelectric conversion on incident light. A floating diffusion (FD) stores charge obtained by the photodiode. FD2, which is a second FD to which the capacity of an additional capacitor MIM is added, adds the capacity to the FD. The additional capacitor MIM is constituted by a first electrode formed by a wiring and a second electrode formed by a metallic light blocking film provided on a surface of a substrate on which the photodiode is formed. Switching between the FD and FD+FD2 allows switching of the FD conversion efficiency. The present technology is applicable to a CMOS image sensor.

A solid-state imaging device includes: a pixel array in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in rows and columns; and a first power supply line. Each of the plurality of pixels includes a photoelectric converter, a floating diffusion, a capacitance accumulator, a first transfer transistor, an overflow transistor, a second transfer transistor, a first reset transistor, and an amplifier transistor. The solid-state imaging device further includes a resetter for resetting the floating diffusion and the capacitance accumulator at voltages different from each other.

The invention discloses an image sensor and a manufacturing method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of semiconductors. The image sensor comprises a substrate which is divided into a plurality of active regions by a shallow trench isolation structure; the photodiode, the charge storage region and the floating diffusion region are arranged in the substrate at intervals; the global transmission grid is arranged between the photodiode and the charge storage region and comprises a first branch arranged on the active region and a second branch arranged on the shallow trench isolation structure; the transfer gate is arranged between the charge storage region and the floating diffusion region and comprises a first gate arranged on the active region and a second gate arranged on the shallow trench isolation structure; the first mask layer is arranged on the global transmission gate and the transfer gate, and the second mask layer is arranged on the first mask layer on the first branch and the first gate; the shading structure covers the first subsection, the charge storage area and part of the transfer grid electrode. According to the image sensor and the manufacturing method thereof, the parasitic light response is improved, and the manufacturing yield is improved.

A pixel array includes: unit pixel groups; and two column lines provided for each column. Each of the unit pixel groups includes rows, a first pixel group comprising a plurality of pixels, a second pixel group comprising a plurality of pixels. The first pixel group and the second pixel group are arranged in a row direction. A pixel signal is output by simultaneously reading out: unit pixel groups that are connected to a first column line and that do not share a first floating diffusion region, and unit pixel groups that are connected to a second column line different from the first column line and that do not share a second floating diffusion region. At least one of the first floating diffusion region and the second floating diffusion region is between a dual conversion transistor and a reset transistor.

The invention provides a rapid simulation method for breaker resistor disc breakage and falling faults, and relates to the technical field of breaker fault diagnosis, and the method comprises the steps: obtaining the material parameters of a breaker resistor disc, and building a multi-physical field model of the breaker resistor disc through an MIT floating diffusion model; performing coupling simulation calculation on the multi-physical field model of the circuit breaker resistor disc by using a computational fluid mechanics numerical method to obtain a simulation result; according to the material parameters of the circuit breaker resistor disc and a damage criterion defined in the MIT floating diffusion model, performing post-processing on the simulation result to judge the damage condition of the resistor disc; a simulation result is extracted in real time, optimization of a resistor disc material and a geometric structure is carried out on the simulation result according to the damage condition of the resistor disc, and an optimal analog simulation scheme is obtained through multiple simulation iterations; according to the invention, the phenomenon that the resistor disc is damaged and falls in the operation process of the circuit breaker can be accurately simulated, and a scientific basis is provided for the design and fault diagnosis of the circuit breaker.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards a semiconductor device including a plurality of photodetectors disposed within a substrate, where the substrate has a front-side opposite a back-side. The semiconductor device includes a floating diffusion node disposed in the substrate, where the photodetectors are disposed around the floating diffusion node. A trench isolation structure is disposed within the substrate and laterally surrounds the photodetectors. The trench isolation structure includes a first isolation structure disposed in the substrate and having a first depth, where the first isolation structure is disposed between adjacent photodetectors and is laterally offset from the floating diffusion node. The trench isolation structure includes a second isolation structure extending from the back-side of the substrate towards the floating diffusion node, where the second isolation structure directly overlies the floating diffusion node and has a second depth less than the first depth.

A back side illumination (BSI) image sensor includes an epitaxial substrate, a deep trench isolation (DTI) structure from one surface to the other surface of the epitaxial substrate, a buried oxide layer on the epitaxial substrate, an epitaxial layer, a well region, a floating diffusion (FD) region, a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure, and vertical transfer gates (VTGs). The buried oxide layer has openings exposing the epitaxial substrate, and the epitaxial layer is formed on the epitaxial substrate and covers the buried oxide layer. The well region is in the epitaxial layer and the epitaxial substrate. The FD region is in the well region above the buried oxide layer, and a width of the buried oxide layer is larger than that of the FD region. The STI structure is in the epitaxial layer. The VTGs are in the epitaxial layer and through the openings of the buried oxide layer.

An image sensor includes a substrate, a first floating diffusion region and a second floating diffusion region in the substrate and spaced apart from each other, a ground region in the substrate and spaced apart from the first floating diffusion region and the second floating diffusion region, a first interconnection line on the substrate and connecting the first floating diffusion region and the second floating diffusion region, and a second interconnection line on the substrate and connected to the ground region, where the first interconnection line is at a first level and the second interconnection line is at a second level that is different from the first level.

The invention provides an image sensor, an arrangement structure and a control method, the image sensor comprises a plurality of pixel blocks arranged in an array, and each pixel block comprises a reset unit used for resetting at least one of a floating diffusion node, a photosensitive unit and an overflow unit; the photosensitive unit is used for generating a first charge signal and a second charge signal based on photoelectric conversion, storing the first charge signal and transferring the first charge signal to the floating diffusion node; the overflow unit comprises an overflow path and a quantization path, the overflow path is coupled to the photosensitive unit, the quantization path is coupled to the floating diffusion node, the second charge signal is stored based on the overflow path, and the second charge signal is transferred to the floating diffusion node based on the quantization path; and the readout unit is used for carrying out quantitative readout on at least the first charge signal and the second charge signal. According to the invention, the problem of poor image quality caused by the influence of overflow charges on the floating diffusion nodes of each pixel block of the existing image sensor is solved.