Charge coupled imaging device having selective wavelength sensitivity

A charge coupled device for converting an electromagnetic radiation pattern in a certain wavelength range into electrical signals comprising means for reading charge and a semiconductor body having a semiconductor layer of one conductivity type in which pattern information in the form of discrete packets of majority charge carriers can be generated and transported via the interior of the semiconductor layer to said means for reading the charge, the layer comprising a concentration of at least one shallow level doping impurity characteristic of the one conductivity type and a concentration of at least one deep level doping impurity which provides deep level centers for trapping majority charge carriers which can be released upon excitation by radiation in said wavelength range, said shallow level doping impurity concentration and the deep level doping impurity concentration being such that depletion regions can be formed extending through the thickness of the layer while avoiding breakdown only as a result of substantially all the deep level centers within the depletion regions being full of majority charge carriers characteristic of the one conductivity type, and the deep level doping impurity concentration being formed by defects introduced into the crystal lattice of at least part of the layer of the one conductivity type.