Solid-state image pickup device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
- a photosite disposed on a substrate, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, andan incident light control layer disposed over a light incident side of said photosite, for modulating light transmitted through said incident light control layer in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced byvariation in quantity of incident light received by said photosite, anda first transparent electrode located on a light incident Side of said incident light control layer and electrically connected to said photosite through said incident light control layer.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An image pickup device capable of controlling the quantity of incident light. The device has a liquid crystal layer with upper and lower transparent electrodes disposed over a photosite. A fixed bias voltage is applied to the upper transparent electrode, while another voltage is applied to the lower transparent layer. The photosite converts incident light into electrons, and then stores a signal charge produced by the conversion of the incident light. A variation in the stored signal charge varies the voltage applied to the lower transparent layer. Thus, the liquid crystal layer modulates the incident light in response to a variation of the signal charge quantity.
70 Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
-
a photosite disposed on a substrate, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, and an incident light control layer disposed over a light incident side of said photosite, for modulating light transmitted through said incident light control layer in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation in quantity of incident light received by said photosite, and a first transparent electrode located on a light incident Side of said incident light control layer and electrically connected to said photosite through said incident light control layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29)
-
-
9. A solid-state image pickup device, comprising:
-
a photosite disposed on a substrate, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, and an incident light control layer disposed over a light incident side of said photosite, for modulating light transmitted through said incident light control layer, such that variation in quantity of a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by variation of incident light received by said photosite is applied directly to said incident light control layer through layers of material interposed between said incident light control layer and said photosite to operate said incident light control layer, thereby controlling incident light received by said photosite to vary a quantity of said photo-electrically converted signal charge. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27)
-
-
10. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
-
a plurality of photosites, disposed on a substrate in a matrix arrangement, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, and a plurality of incident light control layer areas, each of said incident light control layer areas being disposed over a light incident side of at least one of said plurality of photosites, for modulating light transmitted therethrough in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge quantity produced by variation in an amount of light incident on said photosite, wherein at least one of said incident light control layer areas has a first transparent electrode disposed at a light incident side of said incident light control layer area and a second transparent electrode disposed at a photosite side of said incident light control layer area, said first transparent electrode is supplied with a bias first voltage and has an aperture section narrower than an aperture section of said photosite, light transmitted through said at least one incident light control layer area is modulated in response to variation in a second voltage applied to said second transparent electrode, and said second transparent electrode is in a floating condition such that a second voltage applied to said second transparent electrode varies in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation in quantity of light transmitted through said at least one incident light control layer area.
-
-
11. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
-
a plurality of photosites, disposed on a substrate in a matrix arrangement, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, and a plurality of incident light control layer areas, each of said incident light control areas being disposed over a light incident side of at least one of said plurality of photosites, for modulating light transmitted therethrough in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation in an amount of light incident on said photosite, wherein at least one of said incident light control layer areas has a first transparent electrode disposed at a light incident side of said at least one incident light control layer area and a second transparent electrode disposed at a photosite side of said at least one incident light control layer area, said first transparent electrode is supplied with a bias first voltage, light transmitted through said at least one incident light control layer area is modulated in response to variation in a second voltage applied to said second transparent electrode, said second transparent electrode has an aperture section narrower than an aperture section of said photosite and is in a floating condition such that a second voltage applied to said second transparent electrode varies in response to variation of a quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation of a quantity of light transmitted through said at least one incident light control layer area.
-
-
12. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
-
a plurality of photosites, disposed on a substrate in a matrix arrangement, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, a plurality of incident light control layer areas, each of said incident light control layer areas being disposed over a light incident side of at least one of said plurality of photosites, for modulating light transmitted therethrough in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation in an amount of said light incident on each said photosite, wherein at least one of said incident light control layer areas has a transparent member which passes therethrough and which is disposed above said photosite, so as to form a permanent window in said incident light control layer.
-
-
13. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
-
a plurality of photosites, disposed on a substrate in a matrix arrangement, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, and plurality of incident light control layer areas, each of said incident light control layer areas being disposed over a light incident side of at least one of said plurality of photosites, for modulating light transmitted therethrough in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation in an amount of light incident on said photosite, at least one of said it incident light control layer areas having a first transparent electrode disposed at a light incident side of said incident light control layer area and a second transparent electrode disposed at a photosite side of said incident light control layer area, wherein said first transparent electrode is supplied with a bias first voltage and has an aperture section narrower than a section of said photosite, light transmitted through said at least one incident light control layer area is modulated by a second voltage applied to said second transparent electrode, and said second transparent electrode is connected to a depletion impurity diffusion part of said photosite.
-
-
14. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
-
a plurality of photosites, disposed on a substrate in a matrix arrangement, for converting incident light to electrons and for storing a photo-electrically converted signal charge produced by said electrons, and a plurality of incident light control layer areas, each of said incident light control layer areas being disposed over a light incident side of at least one of said plurality of photosites, for modulating light transmitted therethrough in response to variation in quantity of a stored signal charge produced by variation in an amount of light incident on said photosite, at least one of said incident light control layer areas having a first transparent electrode disposed at a light incident side of said at least one incident light control layer area and a second transparent electrode disposed at a photosite side of said at least one incident light control layer area, wherein said first transparent electrode is supplied with a bias first voltage, light transmitted through said at least one incident light control layer area is modulated by a second voltage applied to said second transparent electrode, and said second transparent electrode has an aperture section narrower than a section of said photosite.
-
Specification