Driving-gate charge-coupled device
AssigneeThomson-CSF Semiconducteurs Specifiques
InventorsSophie Caranhac, Yves Thenoz
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Abstract
The invention relates to a charge-coupled device. Such devices comprise at least one insulated conducting gate (3) connecting two semiconductor zones. According to the invention, each insulated conducting gate (3) has a width progressively increasing from the first semiconductor zone (1) to the second semiconductor zone (2). The width of each gate (3) is sufficiently narrow for the potential well created by the application of a voltage V to the gate to have a depth increasing progressively from the first zone (1) to the second zone (2), thus enabling the charges to be driven away. The invention applies to any type of charge-coupled device and particularly to photodiodes.
Claims8
A photosensitive device, comprising:
- a non-photosensitive storage region,
- at least one photosensitive region adjacent to said non-photosensitive storage region, said photosensitive region having a first portion adjacent to said storage region and a second portion remote from said storage region, wherein said storage region receives charges created in said photosensitive region during illumination thereof, and
- a drainage device located within said photosensitive second portion, wherein said drainage device drains towards said storage region charges created in said second portion during illumination, said drainage device including a potential well having a continuously varying depth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.