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:
Mar. 10, 2009
Filed:
May. 02, 2005
Seiichiro Mizuno, Hamamatsu, JP;
Yasuhiro Suzuki, Hamamatsu, JP;
Seiichiro Mizuno, Hamamatsu, JP;
Yasuhiro Suzuki, Hamamatsu, JP;
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka, JP;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a photodetector having a structure capable of increasing the dynamic range and of improving the S/N ratio for light detection. The photodetector includes a pixel including a photodiode, an integrating circuit, a CDS circuit, a selecting circuit, and a switching circuit. Charges generated by the photodiode are accumulated in an integral capacitor unit in the integrating circuit, and a first voltage value Vcorresponding to the amount of accumulated charge is outputted from the integrating circuit. The CDS circuit receives the first voltage value and outputs a second voltage value Vcorresponding to the variation of the first voltage value with reference to that at a reference time. The switching circuit compares the amount of charge generated by the photodiode with a threshold value therefor, and, based on the result of the comparison, instructs the integrating circuit to set the capacitance of the integral capacitor unit and instructs the selecting circuit to select one of the first and second voltages as an output voltage value.