Sony Corporation

Kazushige Nigawara

Satoshi Kitayama

Tsuyoshi Sasaki

Atsushi Asai

Kouji Matsuzaki

A photoelectric converter with improved charge transfer efficiency from a light receiving portion. The photoelectric converter includes a light receiving portion having an output end and a gate portion having a first side and a second side that both define a readout gate width for the light receiving portion, where the first side of the gate portion confronts the output end of the light receiving portion. The photoelectric converter also includes a charge transfer portion formed to confront the second side of the gate portion, where the readout gate width of said gate portion is wider at the first side confronting said light receiving portion than at the second side confronting said charge transfer portion.

Photoelectric converter having a light receiving portion with an improved readout gate

The displacement amount of a color filter which is displaced with respect to an opening of a light-shielding film along the surface of a substrate increases as the distance from the substantial center of an image pickup region to the opening of the light-shielding film increases, and the height from the surface of the substrate to the substantial center in the direction of thickness of the color filter increases. For this reason, whole light incident on the sensor of each pixel can pass through only a corresponding color filter and also pass through the entire thickness of the color filter. Even when the thickness or height of the color filter changes in units of pixels, a high-quality image having no color irregularity can be obtained.

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Tokyo, Japan

Kazushige Nigawara