153 results about "Vertical transfer" patented technology

An image sensor including a first pixel positioned between second and third pixels, each of the first, second and third pixels comprising a photodiode region surrounded by an isolation trench; a first charge transfer gate comprising a first column electrode surrounded by an insulating layer and positioned in an opening of the isolation trench between the first and second pixels, the first column electrode being configured to receive a first transfer voltage signal; and a second charge transfer gate including a second column electrode surrounded by an insulating layer and positioned in an opening of the isolation trench between the first and third pixels, the second column electrode being configured to receive a second transfer voltage signal.

A solid-state imaging device includes sensor areas, in each of the sensor areas, a plurality of pixel sensors are disposed in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction. Two vertical transfer portions are formed across each pixel column including the plurality of pixel sensors in the vertical direction. A controller controls electric charges stored in the pixel sensors vertically adjacent to each other in each pixel column to be simultaneously read in different directions by the two vertical transfer portions, and also controls each of the two vertical transfer portions to add and transfer electric charges for the plurality of pixel sensors. With this configuration, the time required for a vertical transfer operation can be decreased, and the frame rate of the solid-state imaging device can be improved.

When a signal is read from a CCD solid-state image pickup element, the CCD solid-state image pickup element is driven with at least two driving voltages so that high-speed reading is performed with generation of noise due to interference between the driving voltages reduced. The CCD solid-state image includes a charge storage section between a vertical transfer register and a horizontal transfer register. By performing the transfer of charge in the direction of columns during an effective transfer period of the transfer in the direction of rows, signal charge of one row generated by a light receiving sensor is transferred to the charge storage section, and by performing the transfer outside the effective transfer period in the transfer in the direction of the row, the signal charge of one row transferred to the charge storage section is transferred to the horizontal transfer register.

A timing signal generating device to drive a solid-state image pickup device including a large number of photoelectric converter elements arranged in a matrix shape, a vertical transfer path arranged for each photoelectric converter element column in the vicinity thereof, and a horizontal transfer path connected to an end section of each vertical transfer path includes at least one rewritable storage in which stored information can be rewritten by an external controller and a timing signal generating section which can generate a sequence of a plurality of kinds of timing signals corresponding to an operation mode of the solid-state image pickup device according to data stored in the storage. Therefore, generating points of time, signal waveforms, and the like of various kinds of timing signals to drive a solid-state image pickup device can be easily changed according to specifications of devices using the solid-state image pickup device as an area image sensor.

A manufacturing method of a solid-state imaging device, the device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; photodiodes each comprising a surface-side first conductivity type region formed adjacent to a surface of the semiconductor substrate and a second conductivity type region provided directly under the surface-side first conductivity type region; a second conductivity type vertical transfer region provided in the vicinity of the surface-side first conductivity type region; at least one first conductivity type inter-pixel isolation region provided under the vertical transfer region; and at least one first conductivity type overflow barrier region provided below the first conductivity type inter-pixel isolation region, the method comprising: a first step of forming the first conductivity type overflow barrier region in a semiconductor substrate; and a second step of ion-implanting first conductivity type impurity ions from a direction in which channeling tends to occur, to form at least one of the first conductivity type inter-pixel isolation region.

The present invention concerns an image-pickup apparatus and a method for driving the same, adapted for reading signal charges accumulated in a plurality of photodetection portions provided on a predetermined plane through vertical transfer lines and a horizontal transfer line. The image-pickup apparatus has the structure for establishing potential wells having a length not smaller than a vertical width of a horizontal line, in the vertical transfer lines, thereby permitting the horizontal width of the vertical transfer lines to be decreased. Since the image-pickup apparatus has the structure for establishing the plurality of potential wells having signal charges in the vertical transfer lines at a predetermined time, the signal charges can be transferred efficiently with keeping low driving speed of the vertical transfer lines.

A solid-state image pickup device comprises: a semiconductor substrate; at least one photoelectric converting film that generates signal charges corresponding to an amount of incident light; at least one set of pixel electrode films arranged in row and column directions and attached to said at least one photoelectric converting film; vertical transfer paths in the semiconductor substrate, extended in the column direction; and charge accumulating portions in the surface portion of the semiconductor substrate that accumulate signal charges from the pixel electrode films, wherein the charge accumulating portions comprise a plurality of sets, each comprising a subset of the charge accumulating portions arranged in the column direction, and wherein the subset reads out the accumulated signal charges to the corresponding one of the vertical transfer paths, and wherein the two adjacent subsets of the charge accumulating portions are shifted to each other in a direction along the vertical transfer paths.

A solid-state image pickup element has: a photoelectric converting film which is stacked above a semiconductor substrate; plural photoelectric converting elements which are arranged in the row direction and the column direction on the semiconductor substrate, and signal charge accumulating portions in which signal charges generated in the photoelectric converting film are accumulated; vertical transfer paths which are formed in the semiconductor substrate, and which transfer signal charges accumulated in the photoelectric converting elements and the signal charge accumulating portions, in the column direction; a horizontal transfer path which transfers the signal charges transferred from the vertical transfer paths, in the row direction; and an output section which outputs color signals corresponding to the signal charges transferred from the horizontal transfer path. The vertical transfer paths are formed so that two of them are disposed between the photoelectric converting elements adjacent to each other in the row direction, and between the signal charge accumulating portions, and they are formed so as to meander in the column direction between the columns.

An imaging apparatus according to the present invention is arranged with an OB level difference correcting unit for performing a process by sectionalizing a vertical pre-stage OB unit to a first region positioned on a side opposite to an effective pixel unit along a vertical transfer direction and a second region positioned on the effective pixel unit side and read out after the first region, and calculating a correction amount for correcting the OB level difference using a signal corresponding to a dark current obtained from the first region, and a correction table described with a relationship of a signal corresponding to the dark current generated in the vertical pre-stage OB unit and an OB level difference which is a difference between a black level in the vertical pre-stage OB unit and a black level of an image signal.

A method for driving a charge-transfer type solid-state image pick-up device, wherein the charge-transfer type solid-state image pick-up device comprises: high sensitivity photoelectric conversion elements for executing photoelectric conversion with relatively high sensitivity; low sensitivity photoelectric conversion elements for executing photoelectric conversion with relatively low sensitivity; and vertical transfer channels for transferring signal charges from said high sensitivity photoelectric conversion elements and said low sensitivity photoelectric conversion elements, the method comprising a charge transfer step of individually reading/transferring first signal charges from said high sensitivity photoelectric conversion elements and second signal charges from said low sensitivity photoelectric conversion elements onto said vertical transfer channels, without executing a high speed charge transfer operation for the vertical transfer channels after exposure of said solid-state image pick-up device.

An image sensor including a photodiode, a first doped region, a second doped region, a first storage node, a second storage node, a first vertical transfer gate, and a second vertical transfer gate is presented. The photodiode is disposed in a semiconductor material to convert image light to an electric signal. The first doped region and the second doped region are disposed in the semiconductor material between a first side of the semiconductor material and the photodiode. The first doped region is positioned between the first storage node and the second storage node while the second doped region is positioned between the second storage node and the first doped region. The vertical transfer gates are coupled between the photodiode to transfer the electric signal from the photodiode to a respective one of the storage nodes in response to a signal.

An image capture apparatus includes an image sensor, a determination unit which determines one image capturing mode, a driving unit which drives the image sensor by different driving methods in the respective image capturing modes, and a control unit which controls the operation of the driving unit. The image sensor includes a plurality of two-dimensionally arrayed pixels, a predetermined number of vertical output lines arranged for each array of pixels, and a holding memory which holds pixel signals from pixels on rows. The control unit drives the image sensor in the first power save mode when a horizontal transfer period is not less than twice a vertical transfer period, and drives the image sensor in the second power save mode when the vertical transfer period is not less than twice the horizontal transfer period.

A pixel cell has a photodiode, a readout circuit, and a vertical transfer transistor. The photodiode is disposed within a first substrate of a first semiconductor chip for accumulating an image charge in response to light incident upon the photodiode. The readout circuit is disposed within a second substrate of a second semiconductor chip. The vertical transfer transistor is coupled between the photodiode and the readout circuitry to transfer the image charge from the photodiode to the readout circuitry.