A 1 4-INCH 380 K PIXEL IT-CCD IMAGE SENSOR EMPLOYING GATE-ASSISTED PUNCHTHROUGH READ-OUT MODE/

A newly developed 1/4-inch 380 k pixel IT-CCD image sensor features a novel cell structure in which signal charges are read out from a photo diode (PD) to a vertical-CCD (V-CCD) in a gate-assisted punchthrough m ode. The cell structure, fabricated through the use of high energy ion implantation technology, enables both deep PD formation and transfer- gate (TG)/channel-stop (CS) length reduction, Deep PD formation helps increase sensitivity per PD unit area, and TG/CS length reduction wide ns both PD and V-CCD areas. Although the cell size is small (4.8 mu m (H) x 5.6 mu m (V)), the sensor achieves both high sensitivity (35 mV/ Ix) and a high saturation signal (600 mV).