Imaging sensor with near-infrared absorber
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsMinseok Oh, Satyadev Hulikal Nagaraja, Cyrus Soli Bamji
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Abstract
An example imaging sensor comprises a bulk silicon substrate and a pixel array. The pixel array comprises an active pixel region including an active pixel subarray, an optical black pixel region including an optical black pixel subarray, and an optical black dummy pixel region including an optical black dummy pixel subarray, the optical black dummy pixel region positioned between the active pixel region and the optical black pixel region. A near-infrared absorber is positioned between the active pixel region and the optical black pixel region, the near-infrared absorber comprising a material having a higher near-infrared absorption coefficient than that of silicon.
Claims20
An imaging sensor, comprising:
- a pixel array comprising:
- an active pixel region including an active multi-tap pixel subarray;
- and
- an optical black pixel region including an optical black multi-tap pixel subarray;
- and a controller configured to:
- supply a clocking signal to integrate light at a tap of a first optical black multi-tap pixel of the optical black multi-tap pixel subarray to generate a signal;
- and
- apply a dark current correction to a first active multi-tap pixel of the active multi-tap pixel subarray based at least in part on the signal and a predetermined dark current ratio of the first optical black multi-tap pixel.
An imaging sensor, comprising:
- a pixel array comprising:
- an active pixel region including an active multi-tap pixel subarray;
- and
- an optical black pixel region including an optical black multi-tap pixel subarray;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- supply a clocking signal to integrate light at a first tap of a first active multi-tap pixel of the active multi-tap pixel subarray to generate a first signal, and to integrate light at a second tap of the first active multi-tap pixel to generate a second signal;
- and
- apply a dark current correction to the first signal based at least in part on the second signal and a predetermined dark current ratio between the first tap and the second tap.
A method for operating an image sensor, comprising:
- supplying a clocking signal to integrate light at a first photogate of a first pixel for a first duration of an integration period to generate a first signal, and to integrate light at a second photogate of the first pixel for a second duration of the integration period to generate a second signal, the second duration shorter than the first duration;
- and
- applying a dark current correction to a second pixel, the dark current correction based at least in part on the second signal and a predetermined dark current ratio between the first photogate and the second photogate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.