Other

Texas Instruments Corporation

Polaroid Corporation

Robert Daniel McGrath

Kenneth E Bean

William D Washkurak

John Powell

Joao Pedro Carreira

Jack W Freeman

An image sensing device comprising active pixels is disclosed, each pixel having a charge accumulation region for collecting charges generated by a photosensitive element such as a photodiode. A linear voltage to current converter, current mirrors, and a differential amplifier generate an output signal and minimize fixed pattern noise and improve the signal to noise ratio. Image quality is improved by reducing pixel blooming and image smearing through an improved method for resetting the pixels with a bias voltage reference which is less than Vdd. Active circuitry and physical device layout reduce the effects of IR voltage drops along the bus lines in a massive pixel array.

Active-pixel image sensing device with linear mode voltage to current conversion

An improved pixel design for a CMOS image sensor with a small feature size is described. In conventional image sensors of this type, the quantum efficiency is typically reduced as a result of the decreased thickness of the top n-type layer of the photodiode and the presence of an intervening p-type layer which is higher doped than the substrate. In the pixel design of the invention, the higher doped p-type layer underneath the photodiode is omitted while barrier regions channel the carriers generated by the impinging radiation towards the top n-layer of the photodiode. A high quantum efficiency is thereby attained in spite of a shrinking feature size. The novel pixel design can also incorporate anti-blooming protection.

CMOS imager with improved sensitivity

The invention relates to a method of scribing and separating dice from each other after fabrication in a semiconductor wafer in a manner such that active circuit regions in the dice reside as near to an edge of a die as possible. The wafer is anistropically etched through the active layer and into the substrate through an opening in the mask to form a generally V-shaped channel with the dice then being separated along a vertex of the channel. The dice are then positioned to abut each other in the form of a mosaic.

Method of fabricating an integrated circuit having active regions near a

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Andover, MA, United States of America

Robert Daniel McGrath