Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.

Kenji Imai

Yuji Takada

Yusuke Hashimoto

Fumi Tsunesada

A photodetector capable of improving dynamic range for input signals is provided. This photodetector includes a photoelectric converting portion, a charge separating portion, a charge accumulating portion, a barrier electrode formed the charge separating portion and the charge accumulating portion, and a barrier-height adjusting portion electrically connected to the barrier electrode. Undesired electric charges such as generated when environment light is incident on the photoelectric converting portion are removed by the charge separating portion. A potential barrier with an appropriate height is formed under the barrier electrode by applying a voltage to the barrier electrode according to an electric charge amount supplied from the charge separating portion to the barrier-height adjusting portion. Electric charges flowing from the charge separating portion into the charge accumulating portion over the potential barrier are provided as an output of the photodetector.

Photodetector and spatial information detecting device using the same

A compact image pickup device with high sensitivity is provided, which is suitable for a spatial information detecting apparatus. The image pickup device has a plurality of image pickup units arranged on a semiconductor substrate. Each of the image pickup units has a light receiving array of photoelectric conversion elements for generating electric charges corresponding to a received-light amount, a transfer array of charge transfer elements, an accumulation array of charge accumulation elements each having a greater charge storage capacity than a saturation charge amount of the photoelectric conversion element, and a charge-amount adjusting portion configured to determine an amount of undesired electric charges to be separated from the electric charges generated by each of the photoelectric conversion elements. The transfer array and the light receiving array are arranged in a line in a vertical direction. The accumulation array is disposed adjacent to the transfer array in a horizontal direction.

Image pickup device, spatial information detecting apparatus using the same device and method for taking out received-light output from the same device

A spatial information detecting device is provided, which is capable of reducing the possibility that a saturation phenomenon is caused by the influence of an environmental light. This device includes a photoelectric converting portion for receiving a signal light from a target space to generate electric charges, a charge separating portion for separating electric charges corresponding to a constant amount of a bias component as undesired electric charges from the electric charges generated by the photoelectric converting portion, a charge accumulating portion for accumulating the remaining electric charges as effective electric charges reflecting a fluctuation component of the signal light, a barrier control electrode for forming a potential barrier between the charge separating portion and the charge accumulating portion, and a charge take-out portion for outputting the effective electric charges as an received-light output. By controlling a voltage applied to the barrier control electrode to change a height of the potential barrier, it is possible to adjust an amount of electric charges flowing from the charge separating portion into the charge accumulating portion over the potential barrier.

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Kadoma, Japan

Kenji Imai