Charge-coupled device
AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorsJacobus G. C. Bakker, Leonard J. M. Esser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A charge-coupled device comprising two clock electrodes (4,5) on the two opposite sides of the charge transport channel (3) and which extend the entire length of the channel. Charge storage regions (6-9) are located zigzagwise on both sides of the channel, as a result of which during charge transport the charge is transferred from one side to the other. Due to the separation of the electrodes the parasitic capacitance between them is low, achieving low power dissipation. The electrodes are located in grooves at the sides of the channel, leaving the surface of the channel unobstructed. The device can therefore serve as an image sensor of high sensitivity.
Claims9
A charge-coupled semiconductor device comprising:
- a charge transport channel at a major surface of a semiconductor body and in which discrete charge packets can be transported in successive steps from a first position at one end of the channel to a second position at the other end thereof, such channel having regions therein for storing such discrete charge packets;
- and
- electrodes adjacent such storage regions for transferring charge packets from said first position to said second position in response to alternating control voltages applied to such electrodes;
- characterized in that:
- said electrodes consist of first and second continuous elongated conductive strips coextensively disposed on opposite sides of the charge transport channel and extending along a plurality of storage regions;
- said storage regions in the charge transport channel are progressively situated on opposite sides of such channel between said first position and said second position, and extend transversely into said channel to a depth less than half the thickness thereof, thereby leaving a central region of said channel unobstructed between said first position and said second position;
- and
- the charge transport channel has a thickness and doping concentration such that when said alternating control voltages are applied to said electrodes and electrical field is produced in said transport channel in a direction from said first position to said second position.
A charge-coupled device as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the charge transport channel comprises a layer of substantially uniform doping concentration and a row of zones of a first conductivity type progressively positioned zigzagwise on opposite sides of such layer between the first and the second position, said zones being alternately connected to alternate ones of said electrodes and being mutually separated by parts of said layer of substantially uniform doping concentration, each of said zones having a charge transfer part thereof of comparatively low doping concentration and an adjoining charge storage part thereof of comparatively high doping concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.