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:
Apr. 17, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 22, 2011
Jeffrey A. Mckee, Meridian, ID (US);
Jeffrey A. McKee, Meridian, ID (US);
Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US);
Abstract
An imaging device comprising a plurality of photosensors, a shared diffusion region for receiving charge generated by the photosensors, and a dual conversion gain element that can be selectively coupled to the shared diffusion region to increase a conversion gain of the shared diffusion region. A method of operating such an imaging device is also described, comprising resetting a shared diffusion region, sampling a reset voltage level at the shared diffusion region, transferring charge accumulated in one of a plurality of photosensors to the shared diffusion region, sampling a pixel signal voltage level at the shared diffusion region, and activating a dual conversion gain element to increase a conversion gain of the shared diffusion region.