Vertical charge transport and charge-handling capability in junction charge-coupled devices

In junction charge-coupled devices (JCCDs), the substrate p-n-p transistor can be applied as a versatile charge-sensing element for analog outputs, in digital circuits, and as a charge-normalizing device in optical line sensors. For all these applications, operation is controlled by clock voltage waveforms and properties of the JCCD. In particular the charge-handling capability is strongly related to vertical charge flow through the substrate p-n-p. This vertical charge transport is analyzed, showing that charge-handling capability can be defined only by taking into account vertical charge flow. Several experiments that confirm the predicted behavior is given. In addition, a method to speed up the normalization of charge packets in logic applications have been performed