| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 7139023 |
High dynamic range charge readout system |
November 21, 2006 |
| A solid-state image sensor has a readout architecture that incorporates charge multiplier cells into a horizontal register of a CCD image sensor, and includes a first CCD register adjacent to at least a second CCD register and coupled to the said first register through a charge overflow |
| 7075575 |
Gated vertical punch through device used as a high performance charge detection amplifier |
July 11, 2006 |
| A charge detection system used in an image sensor consists of the vertical punch through transistor with the gate surrounding its source and connected to it. The charge detector has a large conversion gain, high dynamic range, low reset feed through, and low noise. It senses charge n |
| 6522355 |
Digital nonuniformity correction for image sensors |
February 18, 2003 |
| A method of compensating for nonuniformities in an image sensor includes: providing an image sensing device 20; measuring test pixel signals from the image sensing device 20 during a test mode; determining which test pixel signals are greater than a fixed threshold level S.sub.T ; and |
| 6518607 |
Low feed through-high dynamic range charge detection using transistor punch through reset |
February 11, 2003 |
| A new High Dynamic Range charge detection concept useful for CCD and Active Pixel CMOS image sensors uses at least one transistor operating in a punch through mode for the charge detection node reset. The punch through operation significantly reduces the reset feed through which leads to |
| 6459077 |
Bucket brigade TDI photodiode sensor |
October 1, 2002 |
| A TDI sensor includes a bias charge voltage circuit, a reset voltage circuit, a bucket brigade column having a plurality of nodes, and a plurality of pinned photodiodes. Each photodiode is formed integral with a corresponding node of the bucket brigade column. The bucket brigade column |
| 6369413 |
Split-gate virtual-phase CCD image sensor with a diffused lateral overflow anti-blooming drain s |
April 9, 2002 |
| Generally, and in one form of the invention, a monolithic solid state image-sensing device is disclosed. The device utilizes only a single layer of polysilicon deposition in its fabrication process that is split into two or more phases by very narrow gaps. The single polysilicon layer ma |
| 6323479 |
Sensor pixel with linear and logarithmic response |
November 27, 2001 |
| A pixel includes a photon detecting element coupled between a node and a ground, a transistor structure coupled between the node and a first predetermined voltage to provide a logarithmic response region, and a reset transistor coupled between the node and a second predetermined volt |
| 6278142 |
Semiconductor image intensifier |
August 21, 2001 |
| A charge carrier multiplier is disclosed in which a carrier that passes through a high-field region lying entirely within the depleted semiconductor volume causes a single-step impact ionization without avalanching. By spacing the high-field region sufficiently away from any substrat |
| 6266087 |
Circuit and technique for smear subtraction in CCD image sensors |
July 24, 2001 |
| The image sensing device includes an image sensing area 22 having an antiblooming drain structure; and a frame memory area 24 coupled to the image sensing area 22 for storing charge from the image sensing area, wherein during charge integration, the antiblooming drain is biased at a |
| 6243434 |
BCD low noise high sensitivity charge detection amplifier for high performance image sensors |
June 5, 2001 |
| The image sensor charge detection amplifier has a charge storage well 60, a charge sensor 32 for sensing charge levels in the charge storage well 60, a charge drain 28 adjacent to the charge storage well 60, and charge transfer structures for transferring charge from the charge storage w |
| 6229133 |
Image sensing device with delayed phase frequency modulation |
May 8, 2001 |
| An image sensing device includes: a light sensing element 20 for providing a signal in response to incident light; a comparator 24 coupled to the photo sensing element 20 for detecting when the signal reaches a reference level V.sub.REF ; a resetting device 22 coupled to the light sensin |
| 6091280 |
CMOS image sensor based on four transistor photocell |
July 18, 2000 |
| An image sensing cell includes: a light sensing device 18; a first transistor 10 having a first node coupled to the light sensing device 18; a second transistor 12 having a first node coupled to a second node of the first transistor 10; a third transistor 14 having a control node coupled |
| 6040569 |
Fixed-pattern-noise reduction in active pixel image sensors |
March 21, 2000 |
| A device for sensing light includes: an active pixel sensor 20; a holding capacitor 67 for storing a pixel signal from the active pixel sensor 20; a scanning switch 71 coupled between the holding capacitor 67 and a sense line 80; a switch control line 76 for turning the switch 71 on and |
| 5972733 |
Self-aligned barrier process with antiblooming drain for advanced virtual phase charged coupled |
October 26, 1999 |
| A method for making a virtual phase charge coupled device includes: forming a semiconductor region 24; forming a gate insulator layer 26 over the semiconductor region 24; forming a semiconductor layer over the gate insulator layer 26; forming first, second, and third openings in the |
| 5872484 |
High performance current output amplifier for CCD image sensors |
February 16, 1999 |
| The current output amplifier for a charge coupled device includes: a charge detection node 56; a first transistor 52 having a gate coupled to the charge detection node 56; a second transistor 50 having a gate coupled to a source of the first transistor 52 and a drain coupled to an output |
| 5837563 |
Self aligned barrier process for small pixel virtual phase charged coupled devices |
November 17, 1998 |
| The method for making a charge coupled device includes: forming a semiconductor region 24 of a first conductivity type; forming gate regions 28 and 30 overlying and separated from the semiconductor region 24; forming clocked barrier implants 36 and 38 of a second conductivity type in |
| 5726710 |
Low noise high performance charge detection system |
March 10, 1998 |
| The charge coupled device (CCD) charge detection system includes a first CCD register having N non-destructive charge readouts where N is an integer greater than one, and N second CCD registers coupled to the N non-destructive charge readouts where each of the N second CCD registers |
| 5652622 |
Charge coupled device/charge super sweep image system and method for making |
July 29, 1997 |
| Described is a new high performance CCD image sensor technology which can be used to build a versatile image sensor family with the sensors that have high resolution and high pixel density. The described sensor architectures are based on a new charge super sweep concept which was dev |
| 5567641 |
Method of making a bipolar gate charge coupled device with clocked virtual phase |
October 22, 1996 |
| The charge coupled device cell has a semiconductor layer 20 of a first conductivity type, a buried channel 22 of a second conductivity type on the semiconductor layer 20, a first virtual gate 24 in the buried channel 22, the first virtual gate is switched between at least two potential |
| 5546438 |
BCD low noise high sensitivity charge detection amplifier for high performance image sensors |
August 13, 1996 |
| The image sensor charge detection amplifier has a charge storage well 60, a charge sensor 32 for sensing charge levels in the charge storage well 60, a charge drain 28 adjacent to the charge storage well 60, and charge transfer structures for transferring charge from the charge storage w |
| 5528643 |
Charge coupled device/charge super sweep image system and method for making |
June 18, 1996 |
| Described is a new high performance CCD image sensor technology which can be used to build a versatile image sensor family with the sensors that have high resolution and high pixel density. The described sensor architectures are based on a new charge super sweep concept which was dev |
| 5502318 |
Bipolar gate charge coupled device with clocked virtual phase |
March 26, 1996 |
| The charge coupled device cell has a semiconductor layer 20 of a first conductivity type, a buried channel 22 of a second conductivity type on the semiconductor layer 20, a first virtual gate 24 in the buried channel 22, the first virtual gate is switched between at least two potential |
| 5500383 |
Method for fabricating a CCD image sensor with active transistor pixel |
March 19, 1996 |
| An image sensor element having at least one charge storage well 70 and 80, charge transfer structures for transferring charge from one charge storage well 70 to another charge storage well 80, and a charge sensor for sensing charge levels in a charge storage well 70 without removing the |
| 5491354 |
Floating gate charge detection node |
February 13, 1996 |
| The charge coupled device charge detection node includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type in the substrate; virtual gate regions of the first conductivity type formed in the second semiconductor layer, |
| 5471245 |
Bulk charged modulated device (BCMD) image sensors with increased dynamic range |
November 28, 1995 |
| An image array with improved dynamic range has at least one photosite, at least one column sense line and at least one column clamp transistor. A source of the photosite is coupled to the column sense line. A source of the column clamp transistor is coupled to the photosite source. A dra |
| 5464996 |
Process tracking bias generator for advanced lateral overflow antiblooming drain |
November 7, 1995 |
| The process tracking bias generator for antiblooming structures includes a lateral overflow antiblooming drain and bias circuitry coupled to the antiblooming drain for automatically adjusting a bias for the antiblooming drain independent of process variations. |
| 5453632 |
Advanced lateral overflow drain antiblooming structure for virtual gate photosites |
September 26, 1995 |
| The lateral overflow drain for virtual phase devices includes: a semiconductor region 72 of a first conductivity type; a drain region 24 of the first conductivity type formed in the semiconductor region 72; a threshold adjust region 22 formed in the semiconductor region 72 and surrou |
| 5436476 |
CCD image sensor with active transistor pixel |
July 25, 1995 |
| An image sensor element having at least one charge storage well 70 and 80, charge transfer structures for transferring charge from one charge storage well 70 to another charge storage well 80, and a charge sensor for sensing charge levels in a charge storage well 70 without removing the |
| 5430481 |
Multimode frame transfer image sensor |
July 4, 1995 |
| The imager includes a frame transfer image array 22 having a plurality of image cells, the image cells accumulating charge in response to input light and arranged in a plurality of image rows and image columns, odd numbered ones of the image rows constituting a first field and even n |
| 5428390 |
Apparatus and method for focal plane zoom and pan |
June 27, 1995 |
| The apparatus (10) performs pan and zoom functions in conjunction with an electronic image sensor (18) with an image area (72, 92, 112) in which a plurality of lines and columns of pixel data are generated by impinging light. Pan and zoom commands are generated by an input device (12) in |
| 5424223 |
Bulk charge modulated device photocell with lateral charge drain |
June 13, 1995 |
| The semiconductor image sensor element comprises a transistor gate potential well 102, a virtual potential well 100 adjacent the transistor gate potential well 102, a clear gate barrier 104 adjacent the virtual potential well 100, a clear drain 30 adjacent the clear gate barrier 104, |
| 5402459 |
Frame transfer image sensor with electronic shutter |
March 28, 1995 |
| An image sensing device with electronic shutter having a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type and a buried channel layer of a second conductivity type disposed on the substrate. Virtual phase electrodes in the buried channel layer having the first conductivity type fo |
| 5369047 |
Method of making a BCD low noise high sensitivity charge detection amplifier for high performanc |
November 29, 1994 |
| The image sensor charge detection amplifier has a charge storage well 60, a charge sensor 32 for sensing charge levels in the charge storage well 60, a charge drain 28 adjacent to the charge storage well 60, and charge transfer structures for transferring charge from the charge storage w |
| 5369039 |
Method of making charge coupled device/charge super sweep image system |
November 29, 1994 |
| Described is a new high performance CCD image sensor technology which can be used to build a versatile image senor family with the sensors that have high resolution and high pixel density. The described sensor architectures are based on a new charge super sweep concept which was develope |
| 5341008 |
Bulk charge modulated device photocell with lateral charge drain |
August 23, 1994 |
| The semiconductor image sensor element comprises a transistor gate potential well 102, a virtual potential well 100 adjacent the transistor gate potential well 102, a clear gate barrier 104 adjacent the virtual potential well 100, a clear drain 30 adjacent the clear gate barrier 104, |
| 5337340 |
Charge multiplying detector (CMD) suitable for small pixel CCD image sensors |
August 9, 1994 |
| Generally, and in one form of the invention, a method for multiplying charge in a CCD cell is disclosed comprising the step of causing impact ionization of charge carriers in the CCD cell.Other devices, systems and methods are also disclosed. |
| 5335015 |
Method for improved dynamic range of BCMD image sensors |
August 2, 1994 |
| The dynamic range of an image array photosite is improved by, first, turning on a column clamp transistor having a source coupled to a photosite transistor source and a drain coupled to a photosite transistor drain, wherein the column clamp transistor is turned on by a column clamp t |
| 5317174 |
Bulk charge modulated device photocell |
May 31, 1994 |
| A bulk charge modulated MOSFET for sensing light comprising a semiconductor substrate with a gate region of a first conductivity type formed in the substrate. The gate region forms a potential well for carriers of the first conductivity type. The well is formed at a substantial depth fro |
| 5290722 |
Method of making floating gate junction field effect transistor image sensor elements |
March 1, 1994 |
| A floating gate junction field-effect transistor image sensor element (10) is formed in a semiconductor layer (14). A drain region (20) of a first conductivity type of the elements (14) is formed adjacent a gate region (26). A potential barrier (98) is formed in the gate region (26) for |
| 5286990 |
Top buss virtual phase frame interline transfer CCD image sensor |
February 15, 1994 |
| A virtual phase image sensor has majority carriers supplied to a virtual gate 24 by a conductor 32 overlying the image sensor, the virtual gate 24 and the conductor 32 each in contact with a conductive channel stop region 30. |
| 5278656 |
Imaging system providing amplified electrical image signal with inhibited heat buildup for visua |
January 11, 1994 |
| For a buffer amplifier provided near a solid state imaging device for photoelectrically converting an optical image by an image forming optical system and amplifying the signal of the output end, the temperature rise of the solid state imaging device is reduced by reducing the electric |
| 5182623 |
Charge coupled device/charge super sweep image system and method for making |
January 26, 1993 |
| Described is a new high performance CCD image sensor technology which can be used to build a versatile image sensor family with the sensors that have high resolution and high pixel density. The described sensor architectures are based on a new charge super sweep concept which was dev |
| 5151380 |
Method of making top buss virtual phase frame interline transfer CCD image sensor |
September 29, 1992 |
| In one embodiment of the invention, a method for fabricating a virtual phase image sensor is disclosed comprising the steps of forming a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, forming a buried channel region of a second conductivity type in the substrate, forming a vir |
| 5142346 |
Floating gate JFET image sensor |
August 25, 1992 |
| A floating gate junction filed-effect transistor image sensor element (10) is formed in a semiconductor layer (14). a drain region (20) of a first conductivity type of the elements (14) is formed adjacent a gate region (26). A potential barrier (98) is formed in the gate region (26) fo |
| 5134087 |
Fabricating a two-phase CCD imager cell for TV interlace operation |
July 28, 1992 |
| A CCD imager cell (36, 38) is formed at a face of a semiconductor substrate (10) and has first (36) and second (38) phase regions. A first clocked well (14) is provided for receiving charge integrated in the first phase region (36). A second clocked well (16) is provided for receiving ch |
| 5101174 |
Advanced charge detection amplifier for high performance image sensors |
March 31, 1992 |
| A charge detection amplifier embodying the invention comprises a first amplification stage (Q10-Q15) coupled to an input terminal 70 and having an output node 72. Capacitive feedback is provided by a capacitor 82 coupled between an input node 71 and said output node 72. The operating |
| 4995061 |
Two-phase CCD imager cell for TV interlace operation |
February 19, 1991 |
| A CCD imager cell (36, 38) is formed at a face of a semiconductor substrate (10) and has first (36) and second (38) phase regions. A first clocked well (14) is provided for receiving charge integrated in the first phase region (36). A second clocked well (16) is provided for receiving ch |
| 4901129 |
Bulk charge modulated transistor threshold image sensor elements and method of making |
February 13, 1990 |
| A bulk charge modulated transistor threshold sensing element (12) comprises a first region (18) having an enclosed structure, a gate region (24) that is preferably generally endless in shape, and a second region (26) to the interior of the gate region (24). The gate region (24) is doped |
| 4831451 |
Horizontal scanner for image sensor arrays |
May 16, 1989 |
| A horizontal scanner (30) is formed on-chip with a sensor array (12). The scanner comprises a plurality of stages (114, 116) that preferably each have only four transistors (132, 122, 140 and 118). In one embodiment, dual sense lines (50, 52) are provided and a clocking scheme is used su |
| 4821081 |
Large pitch CCD with high charge transfer efficiency |
April 11, 1989 |
| A CCD structure wherein the patterned well implant and/or patterned barrier implant geometries are modified to exploit two dimensional potential modification effects to induce potential gradation along the length of the CCD pixel. Preferably these geometry modifications are in the form o |
