Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Omnivision Technologies, Inc.

Nippon Hoso' Kyokai

Other

Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Yoshiyuki Matsunaga

Makoto Inagaki

Masashi Murakami

Nobuo Nakamura

Shinji Ohsawa

Hirofumi Yamashita

Yoshihiro Sato

Kazuko Nishimura

Junji Hirase

Yutaka Abe

Yukio Endo

Nozomu Harada

Ryohei Miyagawa

Hiroki Miura

Yutaka Hirose

Motonori Ishii

Masayuki Masuyama

Takahiro Yamamoto

Miwako Doi

Keiji Mabuchi

Nagataka Tanaka

Shunichi Numazaki

Lindsay Alexander Grant

Mikiya Uchida

Takumi Yamaguchi

Shigetaka Kasuga

Michio Sasaki

Sohei Manabe

Makoto Yarino

Syouji Tanaka

Akira Morishita

Tokuhiko Tamaki

Takahiko Murata

Yoshitaka Egawa

Yoshihisa Kato

Naoko Umeki

Hidenori Shibata

Kunihiko Hara

Yoshiyuki Ohmori

Yoriko Tanaka

Yasuaki Nishida

Hiroki Nagasaki

Nahoko Endo

Keisuke Yazawa

Daisuke Ueda

Sanshiro Shishido

Hiroshi Yoshida

Takayoshi Yamada

Ikuko Inoue

Kazuyuki Inokuma

Okio Yoshida

Yoshihisa Minami

Ryota Sakaida

Fumio Izawa

Takahiro Muroshima

Mamoru Iesaka

Makoto Hoshino

Yuuichi Inaba

Hiroyuki Hayashita

Shigeo Yoshikawa

Atsushi Ueta

Yoshiki Iino

Yoshihito Koya

Hiroshi Ohtake

Sougo Ohta

Masahide Abe

Takeshi Sowa

Shinji Osawa

Natsue Sakaguchi

Katsunori Mizuno

Yoshiyuki Tomizawa

Tsuyoshi Arakawa

Takayuki Ota

An image sensor includes: a photodiode configured to be reset for each one frame period, to accumulate charges corresponding to incident light for one frame period, and to output an output voltage corresponding to the accumulated charges; and a holding capacitor configured to accumulate charges corresponding to an output signal of the photodiode. The output signal of the photodiode for one frame is integrated, the integrated output signal is accumulated in the holding capacitor, and a first signal is output. After the holding capacitor is refreshed, a voltage corresponding to the output voltage of the photodiode is held in the holding capacitor, and a second signal is output.

Image sensor to suppress flicker

In a case where a photodiode is in a saturated state, the photodiode can be transited from the saturated state to an unsaturated state during a period when a knee pulse is supplied from a knee pulse supplying unit. The knee pulse supplying unit preferably supplies the knee pulse a plurality of times during one frame period.

Image sensor having pixels in linear mode and photovoltaic mode

An image sensor includes a sensor substrate and a circuit substrate. The sensor substrate includes a plurality of sensor substrate-side pixels. Each of the sensor substrate-side pixels includes a photodiode configured to operate in a photovoltaic mode, a reset transistor configured to reset the photodiode, and a pixel source follower transistor connected to an output of the photodiode. The circuit substrate includes circuit substrate-side pixels corresponding to the respective sensor substrate-side pixels of the sensor substrate. Each of the circuit substrate-side pixels includes a peak hold circuit configured to hold a peak of an output of the pixel source follower transistor by receiving the output of the pixel source follower transistor, and a readout source follower transistor configured to read out a voltage held in a holding capacitor. The sensor substrate-side pixels and the respective corresponding circuit substrate-side pixels are connected to each other.

Image sensor operating in a photovoltaic mode

A pixel circuit includes: a phototransistor configured to receive, by one region of a source and a drain, inflow of photo-carriers generated by light entering a substrate, and configured to output a voltage signal from the one region; and a blocking layer provided on another region of the drain and the source and on a side of a channel far from a surface, and configured to prevent the photo-carriers from directly flowing into the other region. The phototransistor causes a sub-threshold current to flow between the source and the drain in a pinch-off state. Each of the source and the drain of the phototransistor is periodically reset to a reset voltage. The reset voltage is set to a voltage between a voltage at which a dark current of the phototransistor becomes zero and a voltage at which a bias voltage of the phototransistor becomes zero.

Photo-voltaic phototransistor in forward bias

A pixel circuit includes: a photodiode configured to operate in a photovoltaic mode and to accumulate charges corresponding to an incident light amount; a reset transistor configured to reset the accumulated charges of the photodiode; and a peak hold circuit configured to hold an output corresponding to the accumulated charges of the photodiode, the peak hold circuit including a peak hold transistor connected to an output end of the photodiode, a switching transistor configured to turn on/off an output of the peak hold transistor, and a holding capacitor configured to hold an output of the switching transistor. The peak hold transistor operates in a state where no carrier charge or only one carrier charge is present on a channel.

Image sensor including peak hold circuit

An imaging device including a photoelectric converter that generates signal charge; a charge storage region that stores the signal charge; a first transistor that has a gate coupled to the charge storage region and reads out the signal charge; a second transistor that has a source and a drain, an output of the first transistor being fed back to one of the source and the drain and being supplied to the charge storage region from the other of the source and the drain; and voltage supply circuitry that supplies voltages varying with time. In a reset operation for discharging the signal charge stored in the charge storage region, the voltage supply circuitry supplies the voltages to a gate of the second transistor.

Solid-state imaging apparatus and method of driving the same

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 photoelectric converter that generates signal charge; a charge storage region that stores the signal charge; a first transistor that has a gate coupled to the charge storage region and reads out the signal charge; a second transistor that, has a source and a drain, an output of the first transistor being fed back to one of the source and the drain and being supplied to the charge storage region from the other of the source and the drain; and voltage supply circuitry that supplies voltages varying with time. In a reset operation for discharging the signal charge stored in the charge storage region, the voltage supply circuitry supplies the voltages to a gate of the second transistor so that the second transistor gradually changes from an OFF state to an ON state.

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 having a pixel including: a photoelectric converter that generates an electric signal through photoelectric conversion of incident light; a first transistor that has a gate coupled to the photoelectric converter and that amplifies the electric signal; and a second transistor that has a gate coupled to the photoelectric converter, one of a source and a drain of the second transistor being coupled to the photoelectric converter. The imaging device further includes a voltage supply circuit configured to supply two or more different voltages to the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor.

Imaging device including unit pixel cell

An imaging device including a semiconductor substrate; a photoelectric converter stacked on the semiconductor substrate, the photoelectric converter being configured to generate a signal through photoelectric conversion of incident light; a multilayer wiring structure located between the semiconductor substrate and the photoelectric converter; and circuitry located in the multilayer wiring structure and the semiconductor substrate, the circuitry being configured to detect the signal. The circuitry includes a first capacitance element and a second capacitance element; and a first transistor including a first source and a first drain in the semiconductor substrate and a first gate. The first capacitance element includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a dielectric film between the first electrode and the second electrode, the multilayer wiring structure includes an insulating layer adjacent to the first capacitance element, and a permittivity of the dielectric film is greater than a permittivity of the insulating layer.

Imaging device including photoelectric converter and circuitry including a first capacitance element, a second capacitance element and a transistor

An imaging device includes a photoelectric converter generating signal charge; a charge storage region storing the signal charge; a first transistor having a gate coupled to the charge storage region; a second transistor having a source and a drain; and voltage supply circuitry supplying voltages varying with time. An output of the first transistor is fed back to the second transistor and is supplied to the charge storage region. A reset operation for discharging the signal charge in the charge storage region includes a first reset operation and a second reset operation. In the first reset operation, the second transistor changes from an OFF state to an ON state and then changes to an OFF state. In the second reset operation, the voltage supply circuitry supplies the voltages to a gate of the second transistor so that the second transistor gradually changes from an OFF state to an ON state.

An imaging device includes a photoelectric converter that includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, a first transistor that has a gate connected to the first electrode, and a first capacitor and a switching element that are connected, in series, between the first electrode and either a voltage source or a ground.

Imaging device including photoelectric converter and capacitor with a capacitor and a switching element connected in series between a first electrode of a photoelectric converter and a voltage source or a ground

An imaging device having a pixel including a photoelectric converter that generates electric signal; first transistor having a gate coupled to the photoelectric converter; second transistor one of a source and a drain of which is coupled to one of a source and a drain of the first transistor; third transistor one of a source and a drain of which is coupled to the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor coupled to the photoelectric converter; first capacitor having a first and second ends, the first end coupled to the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor, first reference voltage applied to the second end; and second capacitor having a third and fourth ends, the third end coupled to the first end, the fourth end coupled to the photoelectric converter.

Each unit pixel includes a photoelectric converter, an n-type impurity region forming an accumulation diode together with the semiconductor region, the accumulation diode accumulating a signal charge generated by the photoelectric converter, an amplifier transistor including a gate electrode electrically connected to the impurity region, and an isolation region formed around the amplifier transistor and implanted with p-type impurities. The amplifier transistor includes an n-type source/drain region formed between the gate electrode and the isolation region, and a channel region formed under the gate electrode. A gap in the isolation region is, in a gate width direction, wider at a portion including the channel region than at a portion including the source/drain region.

Solid-state imaging device and method of manufacturing the device

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Yoshiyuki Matsunaga