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:
Jan. 16, 2007
Filed:
May. 17, 2002
Richard B. Merrill, Woodside, CA (US);
Richard B. Merrill, Woodside, CA (US);
Foveon, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A vertical color filter detector group with highlight detector for generating data for a picture element. In one embodiment, the detector group includes three photodiodes each having its own spectral sensitivity and saturation exposure level and a highlight diode having a highlight saturation exposure level. The three photodiodes are located substantially each above or below the others in a semiconductor substrate with the highlight diode in close physical proximity thereto. The four diodes react to light exposure at about the same time as one another. The saturation exposure levels of the three photodiodes are about equal to each other and the highlight saturation exposure level is higher than each of the other three levels. The highlight diode may not be directly exposed to light, but it is close enough to the exposed photodiode region to collect some photoelectrons that are not collected by the three photodiodes.