The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 08, 2006
Filed:
Oct. 05, 2004
Yoshinori Iida, Tokyo, JP;
Keitaro Shigenaka, Hachioji, JP;
Naoya Mashio, Yokohama, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A solid-state infrared imager comprises a matrix array of infrared sensing pixels which are formed as an imaging area on a semiconductor substrate and each of which contains a pn-junction thermoelectric converter element to sense incident infrared radiation, row selection lines each connected to the pixels of a corresponding row, signal lines each connected to the pixels of a corresponding column, a row selection circuit which selects and drives one of the row selection lines, and a signal readout circuit which reads out signal currents output to the signal lines from the pixels corresponding to the row selection line driven by the row selection circuit. Particularly, the signal readout circuit includes a signal line potential stabilizer which stabilizes the potential of the signal line to a constant level, and a current-voltage converter which converts the signal current flowing in a signal line to a signal voltage.