SS-14 RECENT ADVANCES IN THE IMAGE SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE IMAGE SENSORS

Abstract

The low sensitivity of the small pixel image sensors and the undesirable effects of the high noise floor of the existing charge detection amplifiers are both improved by inserting a low noise Charge Carrier Multiplier (CCM) into the CCD Charge transferring path. Furthermore, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by increasing the photocell Quantum Efficiency (QE) using the new design architecture. In the new photocells only a small portion of the active pixel area is sacrificed for the vertical charge transfer channels which utilize a resistive gate CCD. The vertical channels also serve as lateral drains for blooming control which further improves QE. The proposed new image sensor incorporating the CCM structure and the narrow resistive gate vertical charge transfer channels is called the Charge Super Sweep Device (CSSD).