A 1/4 inch 380 k pixel IT-CCD image sensor employing gate-assisted punchthrough read-out mode

Abstract

The authors propose a new cell structure employing a gate-assisted punchthrough read-out mode, which is suitable for a high packing density interline-transfer CCD (IT-CCD) image sensor. The new cell structure, fabricated through the use of high energy ion implantation technology, enables both deep photodiode formation and transfer-gate / channel-stop length reduction. The proposed structure has been applied to a 1/4 inch 380k pixel IT-CCD image sensor with reduced pixel size as small as 4.8 p (H) x 5.6 p (V), which attains a high sensitivity (35 mV/lx) and a large saturation signal (600 mv).