Photodiode architectures and image capture methods having a plurality of photodiode with a shared electrode
US9595558B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 12, 2014 |
| Grant date | Mar 14, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 26, 2035 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F39/811
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A photodiode architecture comprises first, second, and third independent photodiodes, and a shared electrode. The first, second, and third photodiodes are each connected to respective sources of bias voltage and to a common shared electrode, whereby the photodiode architecture comprises at least one of a shared anode and shared cathode photodiode architecture. The photodiode architecture selectively reverse biases the first, second, and third photodiodes so that, during operation, at least one of the first, second and third photodiodes is always operating in a photoconducting mode, to enable capture and storage of charge from any photodiode in the architecture operating in photoconducting mode. Advantageously, the first photodiode can be configured to respond to a first wavelength of light and at least one of the second and third photodiodes can be configured to be responsive to a respective second or third wavelength of light shorter than the first wavelength of light.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.