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1278 results about "Floating diffusion" patented technology

High dynamic range pixel amplifier

A pixel cell with increased dynamic range is formed by providing a floating diffusion region having a variable capacitance, controlled by at least one gate having source and drain regions commonly connected to the floating diffusion region. The gate has an intrinsic capacitance which, when the gate is activated, is added to the capacitance of the floating diffusion region, providing a low conversion gain readout. When the gate is off, the floating diffusion region capacitance is minimized, providing a high conversion gain readout. The gate may also be selectively switched to mid-level. At mid-level, a mid-level conversion gain, which is between the high and low conversion gains, readout is provided, but the gate still provides some capacitance to prevent the floating diffusion region from saturating.
Owner:APTINA IMAGING CORP

Fet type sensor, ion density detecting method comprising this sensor, and base sequence detecting method

The surface of a semiconductor substrate (1) comprises an input diode section (2) and a floating diffusion section (3) consisting of a diffusion region reverse to the substrate in conductivity type, an input gate (6) and an output gate (7) fixed on an insulation film (5) extending from an input diode section to a floating diffusion section, a sensing section (9) consisting of an ion sensitive film fixed on the insulation film extending from the input.
Owner:BAIO TSUKUSU +1

Dynamic range enlargement in CMOS image sensors

InactiveUS20050083421A1Increasing intrascene dynamic rangeTelevision system detailsTelevision system scanning detailsCMOSControl signal
A method for operating a pixel circuit is disclosed, wherein a saturation control signal is used to control the photoresponse of four-transistor (4-T), five-transistor (5-T) and shared floating diffusion pixel circuits. The saturation control signal is a variable voltage signal, and is transmitted to a transfer transistor or anti-blooming transistor, wherein the signal opens or partially opens the transistor to allow excess electrons to flow from the photodiode region during an integration period. As a result, the effective dynamic range of the pixel circuit can be extended.
Owner:MICRON TECH INC

Anti-blooming storage pixel

Embodiments of the present invention provide pixel cells with increased storage capacity, which are capable of anti-blooming operations. In an exemplary embodiment a pixel cell has an electronic shutter that transfers charge generated by a photo-conversion device to a storage node before further transferring the charge to the pixel cell's floating diffusion node. Each pixel cell also includes an anti-blooming transistor for directing excess charge out of each respective pixel cell, thus preventing blooming. Additionally, two or more pixel cells of an array may share a floating diffusion node and reset and readout circuitry.
Owner:APTINA IMAGING CORP

Time-of-light flight type distance sensor

A lower cost range-finding image sensor based upon measurement of reflection time of light with reduced fabrication processes compared to standard CMOS manufacturing procedures. An oxide film is formed on a silicon substrate, and two photo-gate electrodes for charge-transfer are provided on the oxide film. Floating diffusion layers for taking charges out from a photodetector layer are provided at the ends of the oxide film, and on the outside thereof are provided a gate electrode for resetting and a diffusion layer for providing a reset voltage.
Owner:NAT UNIV CORP SHIZUOKA UNIV

Solid-state imaging apparatus

A solid-state imaging apparatus wherein an FD capacitor value is variable without increasing the number of elements. There is provided a solid-state imaging apparatus including a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, for generating an electric charge by photoelectric conversion; a plurality of transfer transistors each connected to each of the photoelectric conversion elements, for transferring the electric charge generated by the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements; a plurality of floating diffusion regions for holding the electric charge transferred by the transfer transistors; a plurality of amplifiers each connected to each of the floating diffusion regions, for amplifying a signal based on the electric charge in the plurality of floating diffusion regions; and a connecting unit for connecting and disconnecting between the plurality of floating diffusion regions.
Owner:CANON KK

Transparent-channel thin-film transistor-based pixels for high-performance image sensors

A pixel circuit, and method of forming a pixel circuit, an imager device, and a processing system include a photo-conversion device, a floating diffusion region for receiving and storing charge from the photo-conversion device, and a transparent transistor for use in operation of the pixel, wherein the transparent transistor is at least partially over the photo-conversion device, such that the photo-conversion device receives light passing through the transparent transistor.
Owner:APTINA IMAGING CORP

Image pickup device, its control method, and camera

An image pickup device, wherein a part of the carriers overflowing from the photoelectric conversion unit for a period of photoelectrically generating and accumulating the carriers may be flowed into the floating diffusion region, and a pixel signal generating unit generating a pixel signal according to the carriers stored in the photoelectric conversion unit and the carriers having overflowed into the floating diffusion region, is provided. The expansion of a dynamic range and the improvement of an image quality can be provided by controlling a ratio of the carriers flowing into the floating diffusion region to the carriers overflowing from such a photoelectric conversion unit at high accuracy.
Owner:CANON KK

Image sensor having improved sensitivity and decreased crosstalk and method of fabricating same

An image sensor is provided. The image sensor includes a substrate; a first isolation region, a second isolation region, a plurality of photoelectric transducer devices, a read element and a floating diffusion region. The second isolation region has a depth that is less than that of the first isolation region. The plurality of photoelectric transducer devices is isolated from one another by the first isolation region. The read element and the floating diffusion region are isolated from the photoelectric transducer devices by the second isolation region.
Owner:SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD

Solid state imaging device, driving method of the solid state imaging device, and electronic equipment

A solid state imaging device includes: multiple unit pixels including a photoelectric converter generating electrical charge in accordance with incident light quantity and accumulating the charge, a first transfer gate transferring the accumulated charge, a charge holding region holding the transferred charge, a second transfer gate transferring the held charge, and a floating diffusion region converting the transferred charge into voltage; an intermediate charge transfer unit transferring, to the charge holding region, a charge exceeding a predetermined charge amount as a first signal charge; and a pixel driving unit setting the first transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the second transfer gate to a conducting state, transfer the first signal charge to the floating diffusion region, set the second transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the first transfer gate to a conducting state, and transfer the accumulated charge to the charge holding region as a second signal charge.
Owner:SONY CORP

Solid state image pickup device and camera

A solid state image pickup device which can prevent color mixture by using a layout of a capacitor region provided separately from a floating diffusion region and a camera using such a device are provided. A photodiode region is a rectangular region including a photodiode. A capacitor region includes a carrier holding unit and is arranged on one side of the rectangle of the photodiode region as a region having a side longer than the one side. In a MOS unit region, an output unit region including an output unit having a side longer than the other side which crosses the one side of the rectangle of the photodiode region is arranged on the other side. A gate region and the FD region are arranged between the photodiode region and the capacitor region.
Owner:CANON KK

Image sensor with charge binning and dual channel readout

An image sensor includes: (a) a plurality of light measuring elements arranged in an array and at least a portion of the elements have a color filter mated with the light receiving elements which permits selective color reception by the light measuring elements; (b) a plurality of floating diffusions respectively mated with the plurality of light receiving elements; and c) an output structure electrically connected to two or more of the floating diffusions; wherein the at least two light receiving elements receiving the same color are transferred to the output structure substantially simultaneously.
Owner:OMNIVISION TECH INC

Solid-state imaging device and electronic device

There is provided a solid-state imaging device including an imaging region having a plurality of pixels arranged in a two-dimensional matrix and a peripheral circuit detecting output signals from the pixels. An impurity concentration in a transistor of each pixel is lower than an impurity concentration in a transistor of the peripheral circuit. Further, the impurity concentration of a semiconductor well region under a floating diffusion portion in the pixel is set to be lower than the impurity concentration of a semiconductor well region under a transistor portion at the subsequent stage of the floating diffusion portion.
Owner:SONY SEMICON SOLUTIONS CORP

Integrated Infrared and Color CMOS Imager Sensor

An integrated infrared (IR) and full color complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imager array is provided. The array is built upon a lightly doped p doped silicon (Si) substrate. Each pixel cell includes at least one visible light detection pixel and an IR pixel. Each visible light pixel includes a moderately p doped bowl with a bottom p doped layer and p doped sidewalls. An n doped layer is enclosed by the p doped bowl, and a moderately p doped surface region overlies the n doped layer. A transfer transistor has a gate electrode overlying the p doped sidewalls, a source formed from the n doped layer, and an n+ doped drain connected to a floating diffusion region. The IR pixel is the same, except that there is no bottom p doped layer. An optical wavelength filter overlies the visible light and IR pixels.
Owner:SMARTSENS TECH (SHANGHAI) CO LTD

Anti-blooming storage pixel

Embodiments of the present invention provide pixel cells with increased storage capacity, which are capable of anti-blooming operations. In an exemplary embodiment a pixel cell has an electronic shutter that transfers charge generated by a photo-conversion device to a storage node before further transferring the charge to the pixel cell's floating diffusion node. Each pixel cell also includes an anti-blooming transistor for directing excess charge out of each respective pixel cell, thus preventing blooming. Additionally, two or more pixel cells of an array may share a floating diffusion node and reset and readout circuitry.
Owner:APTINA IMAGING CORP

Photoelectric conversion apparatus and image pickup system using photoelectric conversion apparatus

A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements configured to convert incident light to electric carriers, an amplifier MOS transistor shared by the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a plurality of floating diffusions connected to the gate electrode of the amplifier MOS transistor, and a plurality of transfer MOS transistors arranged corresponding to the respective photoelectric conversion elements, each of the transfer MOS transistors transferring electric carriers from corresponding one of the photoelectric conversion elements to corresponding one of the floating diffusions. In such a photoelectric conversion apparatus, at least two of the floating diffusions are electrically connected to each other with a wiring line included in the same wiring layer as the gate electrode of the amplifier MOS transistor.
Owner:CANON KK

Solid-state imaging device and electronic apparatus

A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel region in which shared pixels which share pixel transistors in a plurality of photoelectric conversion portions are two-dimensionally arranged. The shared pixel transistors are divisionally arranged in a column direction of the shared pixels, the pixel transistors shared between neighboring shared pixels are arranged so as to be horizontally reversed or / and vertically crossed, and connection wirings connected to a floating diffusion portion, a source of a reset transistor and a gate of an amplification transistor in the shared pixels are arranged along the column direction.
Owner:SONY CORP

Image sensor with embedded photodiode region and fabrication method thereof

ActiveUS20060208285A1Addition of noise to detection can be suppressedSuppress noiseTelevision system detailsSolid-state devicesFloating diffusionPhotodiode
An image sensor in which a plurality of pixels having at least a photodiode, a reset transistor, and source follower transistor are formed, wherein each pixel comprises an electrical-charge transfer gate transistor between the photodiode and reset transistor, and a floating diffusion region constituting a node connecting the reset transistor and transfer gate transistor is connected to the gate of the source follower transistor. Further, a photodiode region is embedded below a well region in which the reset transistor and source follower transistor of each pixel are formed. In addition, the photodiode region is not formed below at least a partial region of the floating diffusion region.
Owner:SOCIONEXT INC

Solid-State Image Pickup Device

This invention is a solid-state image pickup device that solves the problem of limited dynamic range in the high luminance region in an image sensor having white pixels. White pixels or yellow pixels and at least red pixels, green pixels or blue pixels are arranged in array form on the light receiving surface of a semiconductor substrate. White pixels or yellow pixels have an additional capacitance CS connected to the photodiode via the floating diffusion, a capacitance coupling transistor S that can couple or separate the floating diffusion and the additional capacitance. The proportion of white or yellow pixels to the total number of pixels is higher in a central portion of the light receiving surface than a peripheral portion. The white or yellow pixel may share a floating diffusion with a red, green or blue pixel.
Owner:TEXAS INSTR JAPAN

Solid-state imaging device and camera

Disclosed is a solid-state imaging device which includes a plurality of pixels in an arrangement, each of the pixels including a photoelectric conversion element, pixel transistors including a transfer transistor, and a floating diffusion region, in which the channel width of transfer gate of the transfer transistor is formed to be larger on a side of the floating diffusion region than on a side of the photoelectric conversion element.
Owner:SONY CORP

Imaging device and manufacturing method thereof

Disclosed is an imaging device including a photodiode and floating diffusion region formed to be spaced from each other on a surface layer of a pixel region of a silicon (semiconductor) substrate, and a transfer gate having one of a concave and convex portions toward the floating diffusion region, the transfer gate being formed above the silicon substrate between the photodiode and the floating diffusion region by interposing a gate insulating film therebetween.
Owner:FUJITSU SEMICON LTD

Dual conversion gain gate and capacitor combination

A pixel cell array architecture having a dual conversion gain. A dual conversion gain element is coupled between a floating diffusion region and a respective storage capacitor. The dual conversion gain element having a control gate switches in the capacitance of the capacitor to change the conversion gain of the floating diffusion region from a first conversion gain to a second conversion gain. In order to increase the efficient use of space, the dual conversion gain element gate also functions as the bottom plate of the capacitor. In one particular embodiment of the invention, a high dynamic range transistor is used in conjunction with a pixel cell having a capacitor-DCG gate combination; in another embodiment, adjacent pixels share pixel components, including the capacitor-DCG combination.
Owner:MICRON TECH INC

Amplification with feedback capacitance for photodetector signals

Signals from an imager pixel photodetector are received by an amplifier having capacitive feedback, such as a capacitive transimpedance amplifier (CTIA). The amplifier can be operated at a low or no power level during an integration period of a photodetector to reduce power dissipation. The amplifier can be distributed, with an amplifier element within each pixel of an array and with amplifier output circuitry outside the pixel array. The amplifier can be a single ended cascode amplifier, a folded cascode amplifier, a differential input telescopic cascode amplifier, or other configuration. The amplifier can be used in pixel configurations where the amplifier is directly connected to the photodetector, or in configurations which use a transfer transistor to couple signal charges to a floating diffusion node with the amplifier being coupled to the floating diffusion node.
Owner:APTINA IMAGING CORP

High-low sensitivity pixel

A pixel circuit, and a method for operating a high-low sensitivity (HLS) pixel circuit, to provide increased dynamic range in an imager. The pixel circuit combines a four transistor (“4T”) and a three-transistor plus capacitor (“3TC”) configuration in one pixel, where the 4T portion of the pixel is coupled to a high sensitivity buried photodiode region, and the 3TC portion of the pixel is coupled to a low sensitivity buried photodiode region. The pixel circuit first reads out charge from the high sensitivity photodiode region and compares it to a reset voltage, then reads out charge from the low sensitivity photodiode region. Under an alternate embodiment, multiple HLS pixels are coupled through a common floating diffusion node.
Owner:APTINA IMAGING CORP

Solid-state imaging apparatus, driving method of the same and imaging system

A solid-state imaging apparatus has a plurality of pixels, wherein each of the pixels includes: a photoelectric conversion element for converting incident light to an electric charge; an accumulating element accumulating the electric charge converted by the photoelectric conversion element; a first transfer element for transferring the electric charge converted by the photoelectric conversion element to the accumulating element; a second transfer element for transferring the electric charge accumulated in the accumulating element to a floating diffusion region; and an amplifying element for amplifying the electric charge in the floating diffusion region, wherein the first transfer element transfers the electric charge converted by the photoelectric conversion element to the accumulating element a plurality of times and causes the accumulating element to cumulatively accumulate the electric charge transferred the plurality of times.
Owner:CANON KK
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