SEMICONDUCTOR PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERTING DEVICE

• US 3,617,753 A
• Filed: 01/12/1970
• Issued: 11/02/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Shigeharu Horiuchi, Shigeo Tsuji, Taketoshi Kato
• Original Assignee: Shigeharu Horiuchi, Shigeo Tsuji, Taketoshi Kato
• Inventors: Kato, Taketoshi, Horiuchi, Shigeharu, Tsuji, Shigeo
• Primary Examiner(s): Lawrence, James W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nelms, D. C.
• Application Number:
  US05/002,171
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 250/211J 317/235N,234 313/65,166,94 178/7.86,7.6,7.7
• US Class Current: 257/443
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 29/453 provided with diode arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/00 Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate details thereof H01L23/00, H01L29/00 - H10K10/00; assemblies consisting of a plurality of individual solid state devices H01L25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/10 including a plurality of individual components in a repetitive configuration

Abstract

A semiconductor photoelectric converting device comprising a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of PN-junctions separately formed therein in three groups according to their different depths so as to allow the red, green and blue components of a light from a foreground object to be separated by said groups respectively.

Claims

2. A semiconductor photoelectric converting device comprising a semiconductor substrate of one conductivity type, said substrate having a three-steplike light-receiving surface formed on the one side thereof and a flat scanning surface formed on the opposite side, and a plurality of separate, juxtaposed regions of the opposite conductivity type from said substrate, said regions extending from the flat surface into the substrate to the same depth to define PN junctions corresponding in number to the number of said regions divided into three groups in accordance with the different distances between said junctions and said steplike surface of the substrate, the three groups of the PN junctions storing information corresponding to the red, green and blue components respectively of light received from a foreground object upon said surface.

3. The device according to claim 2 which further includes a silicon oxide film deposited on said flat scanning surface of the substrate except on those parts of the substrate where there are formed said regions.

4. A semiconductor photoelectric converting device comprising a semiconductor substrate of one conductivity type, said substrate having a light-receiving surface and a scanning surface which are parallel to each other, a plurality of separate regions of the opposite conductivity type from said substrate juxtaposed in said substrate, said regions being divided into three groups in accordance with their different depths from said scanning surface and PN junctions formed between said regions and substrate, said PN junctions corresponding to said three groups of regions storing information corresponding to the red, green and blue components respectively of light received from a foreground object upon said light-receiving surface.

5. The device according to claim 4 which further includes a silicon oxide film formed on said scanning surface of the substrate except on those parts of the substrate where there are formed said regions.

6. The device according to claim 5 wherein three adjacent PN junctions that represent one of said groups constitute a set of junctions and there is provided an index electrode on said silicon Oxide film between adjacent ones of such sets of junctions.

7. A semiconductor photoelectric-converting device comprising a semiconductor substrate of one conductivity type, said substrate having a light-receiving surface and a scanning surface which are parallel to each other, a first group of cavities of the same depth extending from said scanning surface into the substrate, a second group of cavities of the same depth different from the depth of said first group extending from said scanning surface into the substrate, and a plurality of regions greater in number than the combined number of said first and second cavities all having the same thickness and the opposite conductivity type from said substrate, said regions being formed in the bottoms of said cavities and in said scanning surface of the substrate to define PN junctions between said regions and said substrate, said plurality of PN junctions being divided into three groups in accordance with the different distances measured from said junctions to said light-receiving surface to store information corresponding to the red, green and blue components respectively of light received from a foreground object upon said light-receiving surface.

8. The device according to claim 7 which further includes a silicon oxide film formed on said scanning surface of the substrate and the inner surface of the cavities except on these parts of the substrate where there are formed said regions.

9. The device according to claim 8 wherein three adjacent PN junctions that represent one each of said three groups constitute a set of junctions and there is provided an index electrode on said silicon oxide film between adjacent ones of such sets of junctions.

10. A semiconductor photoelectric-converting device comprising a semiconductor substrate of one conducting type, said substrate having a light-receiving surface, a plurality of planar transistor elements in said substrate, each element having an emitter and base region, PN junctions defined between said base regions and said substrate, a plurality of MOS-type transistors having source, drain regions and gate electrodes, the gate regions and source regions being electrically connected to one another respectively and each of said emitter regions being electrically connected to one of said drain regions, said PN junctions being divided into three groups in accordance with the different distances measured from said junction to said light-receiving surface to store information corresponding to the red, green and blue components respectively of light received from a foreground object upon said light receiving surface.