Frame transfer image sensor with electronic shutter

An image sensing device with electronic shutter comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type;
• a buried channel layer of a second conductivity type disposed on the substrate;
• virtual phase electrodes in the buried channel layer, the virtual phase electrodes having the first conductivity type, the virtual phase electrodes forming virtual gate potential areas in the substrate below the virtual phase electrodes;
• an insulating layer on the substrate;
• conductive electrodes disposed on the insulating layer and located over portions of the substrate between the virtual phase electrodes, the conductive electrodes forming clocked gate potential areas in the substrate below the conductive electrodes, the virtual gate potential areas and the clocked gate potential areas forming charge transfer columns along which charge can be transferred to an end of the charge transfer column;
• a fast charge transfer mode wherein every other conductive electrode in a charge transfer column is clocked out of phase from the other conductive electrodes to provide fast charge transfer through the charge transfer column;
• and
• a slower charge transfer mode wherein every conductive electrode is clocked in phase allowing charge to be transferred through the charge transfer column while maintaining image information.

An image sensing device with electronic shutter comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type;
• a buried channel layer of a second conductivity type disposed on the substrate;
• virtual phase electrodes in the buried channel layer the virtual phase electrodes having the first conductivity type, the virtual phase electrodes forming virtual gate potential areas in the substrate below the virtual phase electrodes;
• an insulating layer on the substrate;
• conductive electrodes disposed on the insulating layer and located over portions of the substrate between the virtual phase electrodes, the conductive electrodes forming clocked gate potential areas in the substrate below the conductive electrodes, the virtual gate potential areas and the clocked gate potential areas forming charge transfer columns along which charge can be transferred to an end of the charge transfer column;
• a fast charge transfer mode wherein every other conductive electrode in a charge transfer column is clocked out of phase from the other conductive electrodes to provide fast charge transfer through the charge transfer column;
• and
• an antiblooming feature wherein every other conductive electrode is pulsed while the other conductive electrodes are held at a low potential in order to provide antiblooming through electron-hole recombination.

An image sensing array comprising:

• an image sensing device with electronic shutter having:
• a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type;
• a buried channel layer of a second conductivity type disposed on the substrate;
• virtual phase electrodes in the buried channel layer, the virtual phase electrodes having the first conductivity type, the virtual phase electrodes forming virtual gate potential areas in the substrate below the virtual phase electrodes;
• an insulating layer on the substrate;
• conductive electrodes disposed on the insulating layer and located over portions of the substrate between the virtual phase electrodes, the conductive electrodes forming clocked potential areas in the substrate below the conductive electrodes, the virtual gate potential areas and the clocked gate potential areas forming charge transfer columns along which charge can be transferred to an end of the charge transfer column;
• a fast charge transfer mode wherein every other conductive electrode in a charge transfer column is clocked out of phase from the other conductive electrodes to provide fast charge transfer through the charge transfer column for providing the electronic shutter;
• a slower charge transfer mode wherein every conductive electrode is clocked in phase allowing charge to be transferred through the charge transfer column while maintaining image information;
• and
• a memory device coupled to the image sensing device for receiving charge from the image sensing device.

A method for detecting an image comprising:

• collecting electrical charge carriers responsive to incident light in an image area array;
• transferring the electrical charge carriers from the image area array to a charge drain by clocking image area gates out of phase;
• and
• transferring the electrical charge carriers from the image area array to a memory array by clocking the image area gates in phase.

A method for detecting an image comprising:

• collecting electrical charge carriers responsive to incident light in an image area array;
• transferring the electrical charge carriers from the image area array to a charge drain by clocking image area gates out of phase;
• transferring the electrical charge carriers from the image area array to a memory array by clocking the image area gates out of phase;
• and
• clocking every other image area gate while applying a low potential to other image area gates to reduce blooming.