A new high-resolution 11-mm diagonal image sensor for still-picture photography

The author describes a novel CCD (charge coupled device) frame-transfer image sensor is designed to be used in high-resolution cameras for still-picture photography. The device has the capability of capturing both TV fields at the same time and storing the data in two independently addressable field memories. The novel architecture permits operation in various modes ranging from the movie to a high-resolution mode with 968 lines. Additional features include operation in both an interlaced or sequential line-scanning mode and in an electronic-shutter mode if a small amount of image smear is tolerated or electronically subtracted from the signal. The image sensing area has an 11-mm diagonal, 486 lines, and 1134 active pixels in each line. The sensor fabrication is based on the virtual-phase technology with electron-hole recombination antiblooming. This allowed an easy implementation of a relatively complex charge domain multiplexing into three signal channels. The device can be used for color-sensing applications if a striped-color filter is attached to the chip or directly fabricated on the chip. The characterization results confirm the expected high device performance and demonstrate that the new concept is a viable alternative to existing architectures developed for similar applications.