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Solid-state image pickup device in which charges overflowing a memory during a charge transfer period are directed to a floating diffusion and method of driving same

  • US 9,054,009 B2
  • Filed: 12/06/2011
  • Issued: 06/09/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2010
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:

  • (1) a plurality of pixels, each pixel including at least (a) a photoelectric transducer, (b) a charge holder configured to hold a charge that has been transferred from said photoelectric transducer, (c) a charge-voltage converter configured to convert the charge into a voltage, (d) a first transfer element configured to transfer the charge from said photoelectric transducer to said charge holder by setting a first potential barrier at a boundary between said photoelectric transducer and said charge holder, (e) a second transfer element configured to transfer the charge from said charge holder to said charge-voltage converter by setting a second potential barrier at a boundary between said charge holder and said charge-voltage converter, and (f) a resetter configured to reset the charge in said charge-voltage converter; and

    (2) a drive controller configured to control driving of the plurality of pixels, wherein,the drive controller is configured such that during a charge transfer period between exposure periods, said drive controller (a) first effects a reset of said charge-voltage converter and said charge holder by applying a reset voltage to said charge-voltage converter while applying a first transfer voltage to the second transfer element to cause the second potential barrier to allow all charges in the charge holder to flow into the charge-voltage converter, and (b) then effects a transfer of charge from said photoelectric transducer to said charge-voltage converter by applying a second transfer voltage to the first transfer element to set the first potential barrier to a level allowing all of the charges to flow from the photoelectric transducer to the charge holder while also applying to said second transfer element a third transfer voltage which sets the second potential barrier to a level such that some, but not all, of the charges flowing into the charge holder can overflow into the charge-voltage converter, andthe drive controller is configured such that, during the charge transfer period, the drive controller applies the second transfer voltage for a period of time that is shorter in duration than a period of time in which the drive controller applies the third transfer voltage.

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