Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd.

Kazuko Nishimura

Masashi Murakami

Yasuo Miyake

Yutaka Abe

Sanshiro Shishido

Yoshiaki Satou

Hiroshi Iwai

Osamu Shibata

Yasunori Inoue

Yoshiyuki Matsunaga

Junji Hirase

Yoshihiro Sato

Hiroshi Kimura

Hidenari Kanehara

Tokuhiko Tamaki

Takayoshi Yamada

Tsutomu Kobayashi

Yusuke Okada

Masahiro Higuchi

Hiroshi Fujinaka

Masaaki Yanagida

Yuusuke Yamaoka

Dai Ichiryu

Hironori Akamatsu

Toru Iwata

Akira Matsuzawa

Yoshinori Takami

Norihiko Sumitani

Mitsuyasu Ohta

Makoto Ikuma

Katsumasa Hijikata

Makoto Shouho

Yosuke Higashi

Asami Nishikawa

Yuya Ito

An imaging device includes a charge accumulator, a first transistor, and a first capacitive element. The first transistor has a first source, a first drain, and a first gate electrode electrically connected to one of the first source and the first drain. The first capacitive element holds the charges and has a first terminal. A fixed potential is supplied to the other of the first source and the first drain. One of the first source and the first drain is always electrically connected to the first terminal of the first capacitive element from start to end of an exposure period.

Imaging device and camera system

A camera system includes: a photoelectric converter including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the photoelectric conversion layer converting incident light into electric charge; voltage application circuitry that supplies a first voltage and a second voltage less than the first voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode in a frame; and a controller that derives a voltage value corresponding to an attenuation ratio set for the frame and that causes the voltage supply circuitry to supply the first voltage having the voltage value and the second voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode in the frame.

A camera system including an imaging device; and a signal processor. The imaging device includes; a first imaging cell having a first photoelectric converter generating a first signal; and a second imaging cell having a second photoelectric converter generating a second signal; and a capacitor having a first and second terminal, the first terminal electrically coupled to second photoelectric converter. An area of the first photoelectric converter is greater than an area of the second photoelectric converter in a plan view, the first imaging cell has a first number of saturation charges, and the second imaging cell has a second number of saturation charges, the number of saturation charges by the first photoelectric converter is greater than the number of saturation charges by the second photoelectric converter. The capacitor causes the second number of saturation charges to become greater than the first number of saturation charges.

Imaging device

An imaging device including a photoelectric convertor that includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer located between the first electrode and the second electrode. The photoelectric convertor has a photoelectric conversion characteristic in which a rate of change of the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the photoelectric convertor with respect to a first bias voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode when the first bias voltage is in a first voltage range, is greater than the rate of change with respect to a second bias voltage when the second bias voltage is in a second voltage range that is higher than the first voltage range, and a first voltage is applied to the first electrode or the second electrode so that a bias voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode exists in the first voltage range.

Imaging device and camera system including photoelectric conversion layer between two electrodes, and driving method of imaging device

An imaging device includes: a plurality of pixels arrayed in a matrix, the plurality of pixels respectively including photoelectric converters that convert light into signal charge and charge accumulators that accumulate the signal charge; and a control circuit. The control circuit causes pixels included in the plurality of pixels and belonging to at least one row to sequentially perform, for each row or for two or more rows at a time, a reset operation for initializing potentials of the charge accumulators, before receiving a trigger signal for giving an instruction for starting exposure, and causes, after receiving the trigger signal, the plurality of pixels to simultaneously perform an exposure operation for accumulating the signal charge in the charge accumulators without causing the pixels included in the plurality of pixels and belonging to at least one row to perform the reset operation.

Imaging device and control method

An imaging apparatus includes: a photoelectric converter that generates charge through photoelectric conversion; a charge accumulator in which the charge is accumulated; and a metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor including a first terminal, a second terminal, a gate, an oxide layer, and at least one semiconductor region. During exposure, the first terminal is electrically connected to the charge accumulator. The gate is electrically connected to the first terminal. The at least one semiconductor region is electrically connected to the second terminal. The oxide layer is located between the gate and the at least one semiconductor region.

Imaging apparatus

An imaging apparatus comprises a semiconductor substrate, a photoelectric converter, a charge storage region, and an amplification transistor. The photoelectric converter includes a pixel electrode, a counter electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer. The photoelectric conversion layer is positioned above the semiconductor substrate and is disposed between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode. Charge generated by the photoelectric converter is stored in the charge storage region. The amplification transistor includes a source, a drain, and a gate electrode. The gate electrode is electrically connected to the charge storage region. In a plan view, the width of the drain of the amplification transistor is less than the width of the source of the amplification transistor.

An imaging device is provided with a pixel array section including multiple pixels arranged in a matrix of rows and columns, and a column signal processor. The multiple pixels include multiple imaging pixels that each output a pixel signal corresponding to incident light and multiple reference pixels which are aligned in the column direction in at least two columns and which each output a reset signal corresponding to the output signal at reset of each of the multiple first pixels. The column signal processor outputs the difference between the pixel signal outputted by one imaging pixel from among the multiple imaging pixels and a reference signal based on the reset signals outputted by at least two reference pixels, from among the multiple reference pixels, located in the same row as the one imaging pixel.

A camera system includes: a photoelectric converter including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the photoelectric conversion layer converting incident light into electric charge; voltage application circuitry that supplies a first voltage and a second voltage less than the first voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode such that the first voltage is applied at least one time in a frame; and a controller that derives a total length of at least one period in which the first voltage is applied in the frame, the total length corresponding to an attenuation ratio set for the frame, and causes the voltage supply circuitry to supply the first voltage in the at least one period having the total length in the frame.

An imaging device including a semiconductor substrate; a photoelectric converter that converts incident light into a signal charge, the photoelectric converter being stacked on the semiconductor substrate; a node to which the signal charge is input; a transistor having a source and a drain, one of the source and the drain being connected to the node; and a capacitive element connected between the transistor and a voltage source or a ground. The transistor is configured to switch between a first mode and a second mode, a sensitivity in the first mode being different from a sensitivity in the second mode, and in a cross-sectional view, the capacitive element is located between the semiconductor substrate and the photoelectric converter.

Imaging device including a photoelectric converter and a capacitive element having a dielectric film sandwiched between electrodes and a mode switching transistor

An imaging device including a first filter that passes a first light and a second light; a second filter that blocks the second light; photoelectric converters that have sensitivity to the first light and the second light; and a processor, in which one of the photoelectric converters detects a light passing through the first filter to generate a first signal, one of the photoelectric converters detects a light passing through the first filter and the second filter to generate a second signal, and the processor performs the second light sensing based on the first signal and the second signal.

Imaging device, imaging system, vehicle running control system, and image processing device

An imaging device including: a first imaging cell including a first photoelectric converter that generates a first signal; and a second imaging cell including: a second photoelectric converter that generates a second signal; and a capacitor having a first and second terminal, the first terminal electrically coupled to second photoelectric converter. An area of the first photoelectric converter is greater than an area of the second photoelectric converter in a plan view, the first imaging cell has a first number of saturation charges, and the second imaging cell has a second number of saturation charges, the first number of saturation charges is greater than the second number of saturation charges, and the capacitor has capacitance that causes the second number of saturation charges of the second imaging cell to become greater than the first number of saturation charges of the first imaging cell.

A camera system including a photoelectric convertor including a first and second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer; and a correction circuit correcting a signal corresponding to a potential change of the second electrode. The photoelectric convertor has a photoelectric conversion characteristic in which rate of change of the photoelectric conversion efficiency with respect to a first bias voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode when the first bias voltage is in a first voltage range, is greater than the rate of change with respect to a second bias voltage when the second bias voltage is in a second voltage range that is higher than the first voltage range, and a bias voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode exists in the first voltage range, and the correction circuit corrects the signal so that variation of an output regarding an amount of incident light becomes linear.

Imaging device and camera system, and driving method of imaging device

An imaging device that includes a semiconductor substrate; a first photoelectric converter that is located in the semiconductor substrate and that generates a first signal charge by photoelectric conversion; a first node to which the first signal charge is input; a capacitor having a first terminal coupled to the first node; a second photoelectric converter that is located in the semiconductor substrate and that generates a second signal charge by photoelectric conversion; a second node to which the second signal charge is input; a transistor having a gate coupled to the second node; and a switch element coupled between the first node and the second node, where a number of saturation charges of a first imaging cell including the first photoelectric converter and the capacitor is greater than a number of saturation charges of a second imaging cell including the second photoelectric converter.

Imaging device including photoelectric converters and capacitor

An imaging device including a pixel that includes: a photoelectric converter that converts light into a charge; a charge accumulation region to which the charge is input; and an amplifier transistor that includes a gate electrically connected to the charge accumulation region. The amplifier transistor being configured to output a signal that corresponds to a potential of the charge accumulation region. The imaging device further including a detection circuit that is configured to detect a level of the signal from the amplifier transistor, wherein a sensitivity of the pixel is caused to be increased, in a case where the level detected by the detection circuit is greater than a first threshold value.

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Kyoto, Japan

Kazuko Nishimura