Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Yoriko Tanaka

Yukio Endo

Yoshitaka Egawa

Shinji Ohsawa

Nobuo Nakamura

Nagataka Tanaka

Hiromi Kusakabe

Yoshiyuki Matsunaga

Tadashi Sugiki

Ryohei Miyagawa

Ikuko Inoue

Fumio Izawa

Hiroki Miura

Makoto Hoshino

Tsuyoshi Arakawa

Yoshiyuki Tomizawa

Natsue Sakaguchi

An image pickup apparatus comprising an array of unit cells, vertical signal lines, and a control circuit. The unit cells are arranged in rows and columns. Each unit cell has a light-receiving device for receiving light and generating an electric charge corresponding to the light, a charge-accumulating section for accumulating the electric charge generated by the light-receiving device, a transfer device for transferring the electric charge from the light-receiving device to the charge-accumulating section, and a charge-limiting device for limiting the electric charge accumulated in the charge-accumulating section. The vertical signal lines extend along the columns of unit cells, respectively, each for receiving a electric data item corresponding to the electric charge accumulated in the charge-accumulating section of any unit cell of the associated column. The control circuit controls each of the unit cells, causing the charge-limiting device to limit the charge generated by the light-receiving device during a first period and transferred to the charge-accumulating section through the transfer device. The charge generated by the light-receiving device during a second period following the first period and transferred to the charge-accumulating section through the transfer device is added to the electric charge accumulated in the charge-accumulating section.

Amplification type image pickup apparatus and method of controlling the amplification type image pickup apparatus

In a CMOS image sensor, current leakage after a series of noise removing operations has been completed is suppressed in a read operation for each horizontal line, thereby suppressing image noise occurring on the output display screen of the image sensor. There are provided signal storage regions for storing the signals read from the unit cells in the same row selected in the imaging area onto vertical signal lines and horizontal select transistors for sequentially selecting and reading the signals stored in the individual signal storage regions and transferring them to read horizontal signal lines. At least in the period during which the signals are read from the signal storage regions, one of the drain and source of the transistor electrically connected to the signal path between the vertical signal line and horizontal signal line is biased in the reverse direction with respect to the substrate region. Two adjacent ones of the horizontal select transistors form a pair. The horizontal select transistors in each pair share one of the source/drain regions so as to be connected to the horizontal signal line in common, and the others of the source/drain regions are connected to the vertical signal line individually.

High-speed solid-state imaging device capable of suppressing image noise

A solid-state imaging device with a variable (continuous) electronic shutter function comprises an imaging area where unit cells with photodiodes acting as pixels are arranged two-dimensionally, read lines for driving the read transistors in each pixel row, vertical selection lines for driving the vertical selection transistors in each pixel row, a vertical driving circuit for selectively driving vertical selection lines, vertical signal lines for outputting the signal from each unit cell in the pixel rows driven sequentially, and a row selection circuit for controlling the vertical driving circuit in such a manner that the vertical driving circuit drives the read transistors in each pixel row with the desired signal storage timing and signal read timing twice in that order and thereby drives the vertical selection transistors in the pixel row in synchronization with the signal read timing.

Solid-state imaging device

An amplifying solid-state image pickup device comprises an image pickup region formed by two-dimensionally arranging photosensitive cells, each of the photosensitive cells including photoelectric conversion means, signal charge storage means, signal charge ejection means, row select means, and amplification means on a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of vertical select lines arranged in the image pickup region in a row direction, vertical select means for driving the plurality of vertical select lines, a plurality of vertical signal lines arranged in the column direction to read the outputs of the amplification means, noise suppression means provided at the ends of the plurality of vertical signal lines to capture and deduct noises and signals appearing on the plurality of vertical signal lines at time differences, horizontal select lines arranged in a column direction, horizontal read means for relaying the outputs of the horizontal select lines and the noise suppression means, horizontal select means for driving the horizontal read means, and charge adding means for adding the signal charges read to the vertical signal lines.

Amplifying solid-state image pickup device and operating method of the

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Yoriko Tanaka