FAST GATING PHOTOSURFACE
First Claim
1. A method of gating a photosurface comprising a substrate on which photopixels and associated storage pixels are formed, the method comprising:
- applying a first voltage at a first time to the substrate to turn on the photosurface and initiate an exposure period of the photosurface;
applying a second voltage at a second time to the substrate to turn off the photosurface and end the exposure period; and
biasing the photopixels and associated storage pixels to move photocharge substantially upon its generation by light incident on a photopixel between the first and second times towards the photopixel'"'"'s storage pixel.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An embodiment of the invention provides a camera comprising a photosurface that is electronically turned on and off to respectively initiate and terminate an exposure period of the camera at a frequency sufficiently high so that the camera can be used to determine distances to a scene that it images without use of an external fast shutter. In an embodiment, the photosurface comprises pixels formed on a substrate and the photosurface is turned on and turned off by controlling voltage to the substrate. In an embodiment, the substrate pixels comprise light sensitive pixels, also referred to as “photopixels”, in which light incident on the photosurface generates photocharge, and storage pixels that are insensitive to light that generates photocharge in the photopixels. In an embodiment, the photosurface is controlled so that the storage pixels accumulate and store photocharge substantially upon its generation during an exposure period of the photosurface.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of gating a photosurface comprising a substrate on which photopixels and associated storage pixels are formed, the method comprising:
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applying a first voltage at a first time to the substrate to turn on the photosurface and initiate an exposure period of the photosurface;
applying a second voltage at a second time to the substrate to turn off the photosurface and end the exposure period; andbiasing the photopixels and associated storage pixels to move photocharge substantially upon its generation by light incident on a photopixel between the first and second times towards the photopixel'"'"'s storage pixel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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11. A method of operating a photosurface comprising a substrate on which photopixels and associated storage pixels are formed, the method comprising:
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gating on the photosurface to initiate an exposure period; and transferring photocharge generated by light incident on a photopixel from the photopixel to its associated storage pixel prior to gating off the photosurface to terminate the exposure period.
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Specification