Image sensor with anti-blooming gate
US10062725B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 21, 2014 |
| Grant date | Aug 28, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 21, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F39/803
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention concerns active-pixel electronic image sensors. The pixel comprises a photodiode (PH) designed in a semiconductor active layer (12) and maintained at a nil reference potential, and above the active layer an anti-blooming gate (G5) adjacent on one side to the photodiode and on another side to an evacuation drain (22). The sensor comprises means for applying to the anti-blooming gate, during most of the duration of integration, a blocking potential creating beneath the gate a potential barrier of a first height, and, during a series of brief pulses over the duration of integration, an anti-blooming potential creating a potential barrier of a second height, lower than the first. The fact of only applying the anti-blooming voltage during the brief pulses reduces the dark noise induced by tunneling effect by the electric field between gate and photodiode.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.