Method and apparatus for biasing a CMOS active pixel sensor above the nominal voltage maximums for an IC process
US6246043A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 22, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jun 12, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 22, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N25/76
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An active pixel sensor is operated with voltages that exceed the nominal operating voltages for a particular integrated circuit process. Voltages that exceed the nominal operating voltages are employed during the reset, integration and readout periods in the operating cycle of the active pixel sensor. The lower limit of the voltage representing the capture of photocharge in the active pixel sensor is fixed by setting the voltage applied to the gate of a reset transistor in the active pixel sensor to a level during integration which prevents the voltage across the dielectric of a transfer transistor from exceeding a preselected value. Read disturb caused by impact ionization current from a readout transistor to a storage node is reduced by lowering the voltage applied to the drain of a readout transistor to reduce the Vds of the readout transistor at the start of a readout period.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.