Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Masashi Murakami

Kazuko Nishimura

Yasuo Miyake

Tokuhiko Tamaki

Yoshiyuki Matsunaga

Yutaka Abe

Sanshiro Shishido

Junji Hirase

Masayuki Masuyama

Yoshihiro Sato

Yasunori Inoue

Takayoshi Yamada

Yoshiaki Satou

Masaaki Yanagida

Masayuki Takase

Hidenari Kanehara

Kenji Watanabe

Takeyoshi Tokuhara

Shinichi Machida

Masumi Izuchi

Manabu Nakata

Kenichi Shimomura

Masayuki Hirota

Shinsuke Nezaki

Yutaka Hirose

Yoshinori Takami

Shota Yamada

Kunihiko Hara

Makoto Shouho

Naoki Shimasaki

Hirohisa Ohtsuki

Makoto Ikuma

Hiroyuki Amikawa

Yasuyuki Endoh

Masaya Hirose

Takahiro Muroshima

Hisato Ishimoto

Rie Ryuzaki

Toshinobu Nakao

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 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 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 pixel including: a photoelectric converter including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion film between the first electrode and the second electrode, the photoelectric conversion film converting light into a charge; a first transistor having a first source, drain and gate, the first gate connected to the first electrode; and a second transistor having a second source and drain, one of the second source and the second drain connected to the first electrode and being a charge accumulation region that accumulates the charge. The imaging device further including a first voltage supply circuit supplying a first voltage to the second electrode, where the second transistor has a characteristic that when a voltage of the charge accumulation region is equal to or greater than a clipping voltage, the second transistor is turned off, and the clipping voltage is lower than the first voltage.

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 pixels each including a photoelectric converter that converts light into a signal charge; and controller, where the controller causes the pixels to perform global shutter operation in a first frame period and causes the pixels to perform rolling shatter operation in a second frame period different from the first frame period.

Imaging device including photoelectric conversion layer

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.

An imaging device including a semiconductor substrate that includes a first impurity region; a photoelectric converter that is coupled to the first impurity region and that converts light into charges; a capacitor that includes a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal coupled to the first impurity region; voltage supply circuitry coupled to the second terminal; a first transistor including the first impurity region as a source or a drain; and control circuitry. The control circuitry is programmed to cause the voltage supply circuitry to supply a first voltage in a first period, and to cause the voltage supply circuitry to supply a second voltage different from the first voltage in a second period continuous to the first period, the first transistor being in on-state in the first period, the first transistor being in off-state in the second period.

An imaging device includes: a photoelectric converter including first and second electrodes, and a photoelectric conversion layer located between the first electrode and the second electrode; a voltage supply circuit applying a bias voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode; an amplifier transistor including a gate electrically connected to the second electrode, the amplifier transistor configured to output a signal corresponding to a potential of the second electrode; and a detection circuit configured to detect a level of the signal from the amplifier transistor. The voltage supply circuit applies the bias voltage in a first voltage range when the level detected by the detection circuit is greater than or equal to a first threshold value, and applies the bias voltage in a second voltage range that is greater than the first voltage range when the level detected by the detection circuit is less than a second threshold value.

An imaging device including: a photoelectric converter that converts incident light into a signal charge; 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. The capacitive element including a first electrode, a second electrode and a dielectric film sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode, the first electrode being connected to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor, the second electrode being connected to a voltage source or a ground. The transistor is configured to switch a first mode and a second mode, a sensitivity in the first mode being different from a sensitivity in the second mode.

An imaging device including pixels each including: a photoelectric converter including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the second electrode of each of the pixels being electrically connected to each other; and a transistor having a gate electrically connected to the first electrode. The imaging device further including voltage supply circuitry electrically connected to the second electrode, in which the voltage supply circuitry supplies a first voltage to the second electrode in an exposure period, the voltage supply circuitry supplies a second voltage to the second electrode in a non-exposure period, an a potential difference between the first electrode and the second electrode in the non-exposure period is less than a potential difference between the first electrode and the second electrode in the exposure period.

An imaging device including: a first photoelectric converter that generates a first signal by photoelectric conversion; a first transistor having a gate configured to be electrically coupled to the first photoelectric converter; a second photoelectric converter that generates a second signal by photoelectric conversion; a capacitor having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal being configured to be electrically coupled to second photoelectric converter, a first potential being applied to the second terminal; and a switch element provided between the gate of the first transistor and the first terminal of the capacitor.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Masashi Murakami