IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS

• US 20080211954A1
• Filed: 02/08/2008
• Published: 09/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: OTA, Motoari
• Granted Patent: US 8,054,356 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/311
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1462 Coatings
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14632 Wafer-level processed structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14643 Photodiode arrays; MOS imagers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14647 Multicolour imagers having a stacked pixel-element structure, e.g. npn, npnpn or MQW elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/00 Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/70 SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/76 Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors

Abstract

A lower electrode, a photoelectric conversion layer, and an upper electrode are stacked in order above a semiconductor substrate, and a charge storage section that stores charge generated in the photoelectric conversion layer is connected to the lower electrode. The charge stored in the charge storage section is swept away by a charge sweeping away section for a given time from the endpoint of exposure. The given time is a time taken until the residual image charge existing in the photoelectric conversion layer at the exposure end point time is sufficiently discharged to the outside of the photoelectric conversion layer in a state in which the same bias as that at the exposure start time point is applied to the photoelectric conversion layer.

Claims

1. An image pickup apparatus comprising an image pickup device,

the image pickup device comprising:

a semiconductor substrate;

a photoelectric conversion element stacked above the semiconductor substrate; and

a charge storage section in the semiconductor substrate, the charge storage section storing a charge generated in the photoelectric conversion element, to outputs a signal responsive to the charge stored in the charge storage section to an outside of the image pickup device,

wherein the photoelectric conversion element comprises;

a lower electrode above the semiconductor substrate;

a photoelectric conversion layer on the lower electrode; and

an upper electrode on the photoelectric conversion layer,

wherein the charge storage section is electrically connected to the lower electrode or the upper electrode,

wherein the image pickup apparatus further comprises;

a charge sweeping away section that sweeps away the charge stored in the charge storage section; and

an electrode potential fixing section that keeps a potential of the lower electrode or the upper electrode constant at least for a continuous given time period in a time period from end of an exposure time period of the image pickup device to start of a subsequent exposure time period,

wherein the given time period is a time longer than the minimum necessary time for the charge sweeping away section to sweep away the maximum amount of the charge in a state in which the maximum amount of the charge that can be stored in the charge storage section is stored in the charge storage section.

2. The image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a shading section that shades the image pickup device between the exposure time period and the subsequent exposure time period,

wherein the given time period is started at the end point of the exposure time period and is equal to an attenuation time constant of residual image charge in the photoelectric conversion layer when the residual image charge existing in the photoelectric conversion layer at the end point of the exposure time period is discharged to an outside of the photoelectric conversion layer in a state in which the same bias voltage as that at the start point of the exposure time period is applied to the photoelectric conversion layer.

3. The image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the charge sweeping away section is a reset transistor, and

wherein the electrode potential fixing section keeps the potential constant by applying a reset voltage to a gate electrode of the reset transistor for the given time period.

4. The image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 1,

wherein when the image pickup device is represented as an equivalent circuit, the electrode potential fixing section is a differential amplifier, the differential amplifier comprising an inverting input terminal connected to the lower electrode or the upper electrode and a non-inverting input terminal connected to fixed potential with a first capacitor corresponding to the charge storage section connected between the inverting input terminal and an output terminal, and always keeps the potential in the fixed potential during an operation time period of the image pickup device.

5. The image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a series circuit connected in parallel to the first capacitor between the inverting input terminal and the output terminal,

wherein the series circuit comprises a switch connected to the inverting input terminal and a second capacitor connected to the switch, the second capacitor being different from the first capacitor.

6. The image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a switch control section that performs control so as to turn on the switch for connecting the inverting input terminal and the second capacitor only if charge stored in the first capacitor exceeds a capacitance of the first capacitor as pre-photographing is performed before principal photographing is performed.