Active pixel sensor cell that reduces the effect of 1/f noise, increases the voltage range of the cell, and reduces the size of the cell

Abstract

The accuracy of an active pixel sensor cell is increased by utilizing a reset diode in lieu of the reset transistor that is conventionally used to reset the voltage on the photodiode of the cell. The reset diode, which is largely unaffected by 1/f noise, consistently resets the photodiode to a substantially constant voltage as opposed to the reset transistor which varies the reset voltage on the photodiode across integration periods due to the effect of 1/f noise. In the present invention, the photodiode is formed by forming a well region of a second conductivity type in a substrate of a first conductivity type. The reset diode is then formed by forming a reset region of the first conductivity type in the well region.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.