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:
Sep. 12, 2006
Filed:
Sep. 20, 2004
Applicants:
Xinping He, San Jose, CA (US);
Chih-huei Wu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Hongli Yang, Cupertino, CA (US);
Inventors:
Assignee:
OmniVision Technologies, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 31/062 (2006.01); H01L 31/113 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
The active pixel includes a photodiode, a reset transistor, and a pixel output transistor. The photodiode is substantially covered with a protective structure, thus protecting the entire surface of the photodiode from damage. This substantially eliminates potential leakage current sources, which result in dark current. The protective structure has a photodiode contact formed therein to electrically connect the photodiode to the pixel output transistor.