Visible/infrared imaging device with stacked cell structure
First Claim
1. A solid-state image sensing device comprising:
- a semiconductive substrate having a cell region;
a first photosensing section, which is formed on said substrate and within the cell region thereof, said second section comprising means for generating a first charge packet or signal charge by sensing an infrared image light component contained in input light;
a second photosensing section, which is stacked over said first photosensing section to be included in the cell region of said substrate, said second section comprising means for generating a second charge packet or signal charge by sensing a visible image light component which is contained in the input light; and
readout means connected to said first and second photosensing sections, for reading out the first and second signal charges, said readout means comprising,a transfer channel layer which is formed in said substrate, said transfer channel layer comprising means to transfer the first and second signal charges, anda gate electrode layer which is formed over said transfer channel section and partially overlap with said first and second photosensing sections, said gate electrode layer comprising means for receiving a pulse signal and for shifting the first and second signal charges into said transfer channel section in response to the pulse signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solid-state image sensing device such as an IT-CCD has first and second photosensing sections which are stacked so that they separately sense visible and infrared image light components contained in input light. The visible image light component contained in image light irradiated through a transparent layer is absorbed by a silicon amorphous layer, thereby sensing a visible image. The remaining light component is transmitted through an insulative layer, and is irradiated into an n+ diffusion layer which consists of a Schottky diode and serves as the second photosensing section. The infrared image light component is absorbed in the Schottky diode, thereby sensing the infrared light image.
126 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A solid-state image sensing device comprising:
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a semiconductive substrate having a cell region; a first photosensing section, which is formed on said substrate and within the cell region thereof, said second section comprising means for generating a first charge packet or signal charge by sensing an infrared image light component contained in input light; a second photosensing section, which is stacked over said first photosensing section to be included in the cell region of said substrate, said second section comprising means for generating a second charge packet or signal charge by sensing a visible image light component which is contained in the input light; and readout means connected to said first and second photosensing sections, for reading out the first and second signal charges, said readout means comprising, a transfer channel layer which is formed in said substrate, said transfer channel layer comprising means to transfer the first and second signal charges, and a gate electrode layer which is formed over said transfer channel section and partially overlap with said first and second photosensing sections, said gate electrode layer comprising means for receiving a pulse signal and for shifting the first and second signal charges into said transfer channel section in response to the pulse signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A solid-state image sensing device comprising:
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a semiconductive substrate having a cell region; a first photosensing section, which is formed on said substrate and within the cell region thereof, said first section comprising means for generating a first charge packet or signal charge by sensing infrared image light component contained in input light; a second photosensing section, which is formed over said first photosensing section to be included in the cell region of said substrate, said second section comprising means for generating a second charge packet or signal charge by sensing visible image light component which is contained in the input light; and a transparent plate which is formed between said first and second photosensing sections and has a thickness corresponding to a focal shift between the visible and infrared images wherein the thickness of said transparent plate is so determined as to cause the visible and infrared image light components contained in the input light to be focused on said first and second photosensing sections, respectively, and to obtain a desired temperature gradient formed between said first and second photosensing sections. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification