Solid state image sensor with image sensing elements having charge coupled photocapacitors and a floating gate amplifier
First Claim
1. A solid state image sensing array comprising a plurality of image sensing elements, each of said elements comprising:
- a first MOS capacitor;
a second MOS capacitor disposed adjacent said first MOS capacitor; and
a floating gate FET, the floating gate of said FET being disposed beneath the electrode of said second MOS capacitor, whereby when a photocharge accumulated in said first MOS capacitor is shifted to said second MOS capacitor, the gate of said floating gate FET is modulated to provide a nondestructive amplified readout of said photocharge through said FET.
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Abstract
A solid state image sensing array has a plurality of imaging sensing elements comprising first and second charge coupled MOS capacitors and a floating gate FET. The floating gate of the FET is disposed beneath the electrode of the second capacitor. In operation, a potential well is formed under the first capacitor. When the element is exposed to radiation, photochargers are accumulated in the potential well. To readout the photocharge, the charge is shifted under the second capacitor, thereby modulating the conductivity of the floating gate FET to provide signal sensing and amplification at the image sensing element. After readout, the photocharge can be purged from the sensing element by removing the potential from both capacitors, or if nondestructive readout is desired, the photocharge can be shifted back under the first capacitor.
35 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A solid state image sensing array comprising a plurality of image sensing elements, each of said elements comprising:
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a first MOS capacitor; a second MOS capacitor disposed adjacent said first MOS capacitor; and a floating gate FET, the floating gate of said FET being disposed beneath the electrode of said second MOS capacitor, whereby when a photocharge accumulated in said first MOS capacitor is shifted to said second MOS capacitor, the gate of said floating gate FET is modulated to provide a nondestructive amplified readout of said photocharge through said FET. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A solid state image sensing array comprising a plurality of image sensing elements, each of said elements comprising:
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a body of lightly doped semiconductive material; a layer of insulating material disposed over the surface of said body of material; a first transparent electrode disposed over the surface of said insulating layer, forming a first MOS capacitor; a second electrode disposed over the surface of said insulating material adjacent said first electrode, forming a second MOS capacitor; a pair of highly doped regions in said body of semiconductive material of opposite conductivity type to said body for forming the source and drain of a field affect transistor disposed adjacent said second electrode; and a gate electrode disposed between said second electrode and said insulating layer, and extending over portions of said highly doped regions to form a field affect transistor. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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Specification