JP2006304248A - Solid-state imaging element and drive method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a solid-state imaging element which reads a signal by higher frame rate, as compared with former in moving video imaging and can obtain a high definition motion picture, and to provide a drive method of the element. <P>SOLUTION: In the solid-state imaging element 10, when signal charges are read from a light-receiving element 12 in which a plurality of transfer shift gates 22 and 24 are established, respectively, to a plurality of vertical transfer paths 14, signal charges generated by a certain light-receiving element 12 and an adjoining light-receiving element 12 in which an identical color component is arranged as given correlation are read to the vertical transfer path 14, which is shared through the transfer shift gates 22 and 24 which face each other, and read signal charges of the same color are transmitted to a horizontal transfer path 18. The horizontal transfer path 18 shares the vertical transfer path 14, in a mode which photos motion picture as compared with a mode which photos a still image, so that it ends with half use, and transfer is performed by high-speed frame rate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device and a driving method thereof. The solid-state imaging device of the present invention particularly relates to a solid-state imaging device in which pixels are arranged in a so-called honeycomb shape in which pixels are shifted from each other by 1/2 pitch with respect to the pixel center, and relates to an electronic still camera, an image input device, a movie. It is suitable for application to cameras and mobile phones. The solid-state imaging device driving method of the present invention relates to a driving method in a still image and moving image mode for operating the solid-state imaging device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an imaging device including a high-pixel solid-state imaging device, when realizing moving image shooting with high image quality and high frame rate, the moving image shooting is a pixel that is read from the solid-state imaging device by pixel thinning and pixel mixing in the vertical and horizontal scanning directions This has been achieved by reducing the number.

Patent Document 1 discloses a driving method of a solid-state imaging device, a solid-state imaging device, a solid-state imaging device, and an imaging camera. This is an example of horizontal pixel addition, that is, mixing pixels using a line memory. Patent Document 2 discloses a solid-state imaging device, a driving method thereof, and a camera system, which adds and reads out signal charges of two diagonal pixels by adding signal charges of two adjacent transfer stages. That is. In the solid-state imaging device, the driving method thereof, and the camera system of Patent Document 3, for example, in the moving image shooting mode, signal charges of two vertical pixels and two diagonal pixels in the vertical transfer unit are added, and the added signal charges are horizontal in line units The data is transferred to the transfer unit, and in this horizontal transfer unit, horizontal transfer is performed after adding a plurality of lines as necessary. Thus, Patent Documents 2 and 3 are characterized by pixel addition in the vertical transfer path. Furthermore, the solid-state image sensor of Patent Document 4 and a camera equipped with the same mix pixels in the horizontal direction using a line memory, reduce the number of pixels in the horizontal direction, and without causing moire or false signals, It outputs high-quality video signals at high speed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-115643 JP 2001-85664 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-156281 JP 2004-180284 JP

  By the way, the pixel mixing in the horizontal direction of Patent Documents 1 and 4 described above is processed in the horizontal blanking period or the like in the horizontal transfer path. Since the processing period or the time required for processing is limited in this way, the driving speed of the horizontal transfer path is almost the same as that during normal driving during still image capturing. As a result, it has been difficult to further increase the driving speed of the horizontal transfer path during moving image capturing. Further, Patent Documents 2 and 3 are intended to perform moving image / still image capturing with horizontal / vertical resolution while enabling arbitrary vertical compression. Although it can be said that Patent Documents 2 and 3 consider high speed in terms of vertical compression, the main purpose is to obtain a good balance between horizontal and vertical resolution. Therefore, Patent Documents 2 and 3 are not intended for high-speed data transfer.

  The present invention provides a solid-state imaging device capable of solving such drawbacks of the prior art and obtaining a high-quality moving image by reading out a signal at a higher frame rate than that of the conventional video imaging and a driving method thereof. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a plurality of light receiving elements that are arranged on a semiconductor substrate and are shifted from each other by about a half interval in the horizontal and vertical scanning directions and photoelectrically convert incident light to generate signal charges. And a plurality of corresponding gate means for reading out signal charges generated by the plurality of light receiving elements, and reading from the plurality of light receiving elements by the plurality of gate means. A plurality of vertical transfer means for transferring the received signal charges in the vertical scanning direction, a horizontal transfer means for transferring the signal charges transferred from the plurality of vertical transfer means in the horizontal scanning direction, and receiving light in the direction in which the incident light comes Color separation means for color-separating incident light into a plurality of color components corresponding to each element, arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a plurality of gate means for each of the plurality of light receiving elements. The gate means is further arranged at a position where the gate means of the adjacent light receiving elements having the same color segment as the color segment of the light receiving element face each other across the vertical transfer means. In the first photographing mode, the signal charges are read from the gate means on the same side of each of the plurality of light receiving elements to each of the plurality of vertical transfer means, and the read signal charges are transferred to the horizontal transfer means. In this photographing mode, the signal charge generated by the light receiving element having the same color segment is read out from the gate means arranged with the vertical transfer means interposed therebetween, and the signal read out by the vertical transfer means The charge is mixed and the mixed signal charge is transferred to the horizontal transfer means. The horizontal transfer means depends on the number of vertical transfer means in each of the first and second imaging modes. A signal charge supplied from each of the vertical transfer means, characterized in that to transfer.

  Further, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a plurality of light receiving elements that photoelectrically convert incident light to generate signal charges that are shifted by about a half interval in the horizontal and vertical scanning directions on the semiconductor substrate. Color separation means arranged in a predetermined pattern for color segments that color-separate incident light into a plurality of color components corresponding to the light receiving element in the direction in which the incident light arrives. Correspondingly, a plurality of gate means for reading signal charges generated by the light receiving elements are provided in each of the plurality of light receiving elements, and a plurality of signal charges read from the light receiving elements by the plurality of gate means in the vertical scanning direction. A solid-state imaging device that transfers signal charges transferred from the plurality of vertical transfer units in the horizontal scanning direction by the horizontal transfer unit, wherein the gate unit includes a plurality of light receiving elements. The gate means is further arranged at a position where the gate means of adjacent light receiving elements having the same color segment as the color segment of the light receiving element face each other across the vertical transfer means. In the first solid-state image sensor driving method, in the first imaging mode, this method reads out signal charges from the gate means on the same side of each of the plurality of light receiving elements to each of the plurality of vertical transfer means, and performs horizontal transfer. The signal charges read out are transferred to the means, and in the second photographing mode, the signal charges generated by the light receiving elements having the same color segment from the gate means arranged with the vertical transfer means interposed therebetween are transferred to the vertical transfer means. The signal charges read by the vertical transfer means are mixed, the mixed signal charges are transferred to the horizontal transfer means, and the horizontal transfer means Beauty respective second imaging mode according to the number of the vertical transfer means used is characterized in that for transferring the supplied signal charges from each of the vertical transfer means.

  According to the present invention, when the signal charge is read out to the plurality of vertical transfer means from the light receiving element provided with the plurality of gate means in the second mode, the same color component given as a correlation with a certain light receiving element Read out the signal charges generated by the adjacent light receiving elements provided to the vertical transfer means shared through the gate means facing each other, mix the signal charges of the same color read by this vertical transfer means, Transfer to the horizontal transfer means, and since the horizontal transfer means can use half the vertical transfer means in the second mode compared to the first mode, the signal charge can be faster than the normal read frame rate. Can be transferred to and output. Thereby, in the second mode, a signal can be read at a high frame rate and a high-quality image can be obtained.

  Next, an embodiment of a solid-state imaging device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a solid-state imaging device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view mainly showing an image pickup surface and a horizontal transfer path of the solid-state image pickup device 10. The solid-state imaging device 10 is a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) type imaging device. The light receiving element 12 is a photodiode (PD) having a photoelectric conversion function. The light receiving elements 12 are two-dimensionally arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions with the light receiving elements adjacent to each other being shifted by a 1/2 pixel pitch. Since the light receiving elements 12 are arranged in this manner, each of the vertical transfer paths 14 formed between the light receiving elements 12 has a CCD formed in a zigzag shape when viewed in the vertical direction. A horizontal transfer path 18 is connected to the vertical transfer path 14 via a transfer path separating barrier 16. A CCD is formed on the horizontal transfer path 18 when viewed in the horizontal direction. An output amplifier 20 that detects and outputs the transferred signal charge as an analog voltage signal is connected to the left end of the horizontal transfer path.

  In the solid-state imaging device 10 of the present embodiment, a transfer shift gate 22 that reads signal charges is formed on the lower left side of each light receiving device 12. In the light receiving element 12, a transfer shift gate 24 is also formed on the upper right side of the light receiving element 12. When a transfer shift gate pulse for reading out signal charges is applied to the transfer shift gates 22 and 24, signal charges are read out to a region of the vertical transfer path 14 arranged adjacent to the transfer shift gates 22 and 24.

  As described above, in the solid-state imaging device 10 in this embodiment, the transfer shift gates 22 and 24 are formed with respect to one diagonal position in the light receiving device 12 and connected to the adjacent vertical transfer path 14. As will be described later, the solid-state imaging device 10 controls one of the transfer shift gates 22 and 24 of the light receiving element 12 to be in an on state according to the operation mode, and the signal charge generated in the light receiving element 12 is transferred to one of the vertical transfer paths 14. Read to area.

  Next, FIG. 2 shows driving when the solid-state imaging device 10 is mounted on a digital camera. The digital camera has a still image shooting mode and a moving image shooting mode. In the still image shooting mode in the solid-state imaging device 10, for example, all-pixel reading is performed in which the signal charge generated in each pixel is read from the transfer shift gate 24 to one region of the vertical transfer path 14. The read signal charges are transferred toward the horizontal transfer path and shifted to the horizontal transfer path. The shifted signal charge is supplied to the output amplifier 20 in FIG. The output amplifier 20 is a floating diffusion amplifier. The reset pulse φRS applied to the reset gate of this amplifier alternately takes cycles of high level and low level corresponding to each vertical transfer path 14 to which the signal charge is shifted.

  In the moving image shooting mode of the solid-state imaging device 10 shown in FIG. 3, the signal charges are vertically transferred as dark dots as indicated by arrows through the two transfer shift gates 22 and 24 facing each other in the two light receiving elements 12 arranged diagonally to the left. Read to one area of path 14. The signal charge read out in this one region has a level obtained by adding two pixels. Such signal charge addition, that is, pixel addition, is preferably arranged with a correlation between the two light receiving elements 12 so as not to mix colors.

  At this time, the reset pulse φRS is alternately set to a high level and a low level for every one transfer path for a total of four sets of vertical transfer paths 14 from which signal charges are read and vertical transfer paths 14 from which signal charges are not read. The cycle is taken. Therefore, the cycle is two pixel cycles, which is twice that of the still image mode. By giving this reset pulse, the number of readout pixels in the horizontal transfer path is halved, and the transfer speed can be doubled because four pixels are moved in one cycle. That is, when the frequency of the reset signal is not changed, the same effect as doubling the horizontal drive frequency for horizontally transferring the signal is exhibited.

  Here, a signal charge transfer state when the solid-state imaging device 10 is driven by time difference readout will be described with reference to FIGS. For the sake of explanation, FIG. 4 shows the state in which signal charges are generated by receiving light from each light receiving element 12 by hatching. Next, when a field shift gate pulse (level “H”) TG, which is one of the vertical drive signals indicated by arrows, is applied to the field shift gate 24 of the light receiving element 12, the light is accumulated in the light receiving element 12 as shown in FIG. 5. The signal charge thus read is read out to a region of the adjacent vertical transfer path 14 via the field shift gate 24 indicated by the arrow. Here, the signal charge is represented by hatching.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the read signal charges are transferred and shifted in the direction of the one-step horizontal transfer path 18 in the packets of the vertical transfer path 14 by applying a vertical drive signal (not shown). Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the transfer shift is further performed below the one-step vertical transfer path 14. Here, in the state of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 8, when the transfer gate pulse TG indicated by the arrow is applied again to the field shift gate 22 of the light receiving element 12, the signal charge accumulated in the light receiving element 12 is Data is read out to a region of the vertical transfer path 14 via the field shift gate 22. As a result, the read signal charge is mixed with the signal charge transferred into the vertical transfer path 14. When the signal charges are mixed in this way, the color filter segment having the same color component as the light receiving element to be mixed is disposed on each light receiving element 12 in the light receiving element 12 of the mixing source. That is, the two diagonal pixels have the same color.

  Next, FIG. 9 shows an arrangement pattern of the color filter segments R, G, and B in consideration of the color attributes in the solid-state imaging device 10. In the pattern of FIG. 9 (a), colors R and B are alternately arranged when the light receiving element 12 is obliquely viewed to the left and viewed in the vertical direction with a pair of two pixels of the same color, and the adjacent pair of pixels is colored in the vertical direction. G is placed. As shown in the drawing, the light receiving element 12 on the upper left side and the light receiving element 12 on the lower right side where color filters of color R are arranged, that is, pixels that are mixedly read out in the moving image capturing mode from two pixels arranged diagonally to the left. In this arrangement pattern, two pixels in the diagonally left direction are treated as one set corresponding to one column, color R and color B are arranged in the column direction, and color G is arranged in an adjacent set of pixels. Accordingly, the vertical transfer paths 16 from which signal charges are read out are every other column. The vertical transfer path 16 reads and mixes the signal charges of the color R for two pixels and the color B for two pixels, respectively. The signal charges of the color G for two pixels and the color G for two pixels are respectively read out and mixed in the vertical transfer path 16 separated by one.

  In the pattern of FIG. 9 (b), when the light receiving element 12 is viewed in the vertical direction as a set of two pixels, the color R and the color G are alternately arranged, and the set of two adjacent pixels is the color G and the color B in the vertical direction. Allocated alternately. Further, in the pattern of FIG. 9C, the light receiving elements 12 are arranged in a vertical stripe in a group of two pixels. In this arrangement pattern, two pixels in the diagonally left direction are treated as one set, corresponding to one column, and arranged in the order of color RGB. In the moving image capturing mode, signal charges are read from two pixels arranged diagonally to the left. In the vertical transfer path 16, the signal charges of the colors R, G and B are read and mixed. When the color filter segments are arranged in this manner, signal charges can be transferred without being mixed even if they are read out to the vertical transfer path 16.

  Further, the solid-state imaging device 10 of FIG. 10 may be a group of two pixels of the same color diagonally to the right. FIG. 10 (a) shows a driving method in a set of two pixels. In the light receiving element 12 of the color B1, the field shift gate 24 is turned on. The signal charges of color B1 accumulated in one light receiving element 12 in this set are read out to the vertical transfer path 14 in the direction of the arrow 26. Thereafter, the signal charge of the color B1 read out to the vertical transfer path 14 is transferred to the position indicated by the other light receiving element 12 and arrow 28 in this set. The other light receiving element 12 turns the field shift gate 22 on. By this driving, the light receiving element 12 reads the signal charge accumulated in the color B2 to the vertical transfer path 16. This signal charge readout is indicated by an arrow 30. By this reading, the signal charges of the colors B1 and B2 are mixed in the vertical transfer path 16.

  In the pattern of Fig. 10 (b), color B (B1, B2) and color R (R1, R2) are alternately arranged adjacent to each other when the light-receiving element 12 is viewed diagonally to the right in a pair of two pixels of the same color. A color G (G1, G2) is arranged in the vertical direction of the set of two pixels. The pattern in FIG. 10 (c) shows that the light receiving element 12 is viewed in the vertical direction as a set of two pixels, and color B (B1, B2) and color G (G1, G2) are alternately arranged to form a set of two adjacent pixels. In the vertical direction, color G (G1, G2) and color R (R1, R2) are alternately arranged. The signal charges are read based on the driving shown in FIG. 10 (a) by mixing the same colors without mixing colors.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11, the solid-state imaging device 10 is arranged by shifting the light receiving elements 12 and 32 by pixels. In the pixel shift, in the rows of the light receiving elements 12 adjacent to each other, the arrangement of the light receiving elements located in one row is relative to the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements 12 and 32 located in the other row by 1/2. It is shifted. The light receiving elements 12 and 32 are densely arranged by this arrangement. As described above, in the case of a CCD, the vertical transfer path 14 is usually formed between the light receiving elements 12 and 32.

  The opening 34 is covered with either the color filter segment or the light shielding member. In the color filter segment arrangement pattern, two diagonal pixels on the right of the two lines are arranged in the same color, and the two lines are viewed in the horizontal direction as color RGRG ..., and the next two lines as color GBGB ... A color scheme is used. This arrangement pattern can be said to be an oblique stripe pattern of color RR / BB and color GGGG when two oblique pixels are viewed as one set (see FIG. 13).

  The light receiving element 12 covered with the color filter segment corresponds to an actual pixel. The light receiving element 32 has the same area as the photosensitive region of the opening 34 of the light receiving element 12, and is covered with a light shielding member. In the case of FIG. 11, the light receiving elements 32 are provided on the four lines above the horizontal transfer path 18.

  The light receiving element 12 is provided with one field shift gate 22 for reading the accumulated signal charge to the vertical transfer path 14. The light receiving element 14 is provided with two field shift gates 36 and 38 for reading the accumulated signal charges to the vertical transfer path 14 at diagonal positions. In the solid-state imaging device 10 of FIG. 11, the field shift gate 22 is normally provided on the diagonally lower right side, and the field shift gates 36 and 38 are provided at diagonal positions on the diagonally upper right side and the diagonally lower left side. The position of the field shift gate in the light receiving element 32 is not limited to the position described above, and can be set arbitrarily.

  In the vertical transfer path 16, transfer electrodes are disposed on the CCD as a component. On the vertical transfer path 14, the signal charges of the colors R, G, and B are read so as not to be mixed in the vertical direction. The read signal charges are transferred toward the horizontal transfer path 18 by normal transfer.

  However, the signal charge read to the vertical transfer path 14 can be returned to the light receiving element 32 in response to the supply of the field shift gate pulse applied to the transfer electrode in the region where the light receiving element 32 is provided. Unlike the gate control of the field shift gate 22 of the light receiving element 12, the field shift gates 36 and 38 disposed in the light receiving element 32 are independent. As a result, as indicated by arrows A, B, C, and D, it is possible to transfer in an oblique direction that is not possible with normal vertical transfer. Although not shown, the transfer of the arrow D is possible when the field shift gates 36 and 38 in FIG. 1 are operated only on the other diagonal side. This transfer is relatively advantageous in that a line shift including a horizontal transfer can be realized without driving the horizontal transfer path 18.

  The vertical transfer path 14 preferably has a larger potential well capacity in the region 42 in which the light receiving element 32 is disposed than in the region 40 in which the light receiving element 12 is disposed (see FIG. 13). This may be achieved by increasing the width of the transfer path or making the potential well deeper so that the signal charge does not overflow even when the signal charge is mixed.

  The solid-state imaging device 10 has a horizontal transfer path 18 in a direction orthogonal to the plurality of vertical transfer paths 14. It is difficult to drive the horizontal transfer path 18 in one direction by driving it in one direction. The solid-state imaging device 10 includes an amplifier 20 that converts the signal charge from the horizontal transfer path 18 into a voltage. The amplifier 20 is a floating diffusion amplifier.

  In the solid-state imaging device 10, the arrangement of the light receiving elements 32 is not limited to the immediate vicinity of the horizontal transfer path 18 as shown in FIG. 11, but may be provided in a line near the center of the screen as shown in FIG. When only one row of light receiving elements 32 is provided as shown in FIG. 12, interpolation can be performed from pixel data of 2 to 4 pixels located around one light receiving element 32. It is preferable to read out the pixel data at these positions without mixing them. By reading out in this way, pixel data of the light receiving element 32 can be obtained in the same manner as conventional methods of calculating virtual pixels and calculating flaw correction.

  Next, driving of the solid-state image sensor 10 will be described. A solid-state imaging device 10 is shown in FIG. The solid-state imaging device 10 in FIG. 13 includes a pixel region 40 of the light receiving element 12 and a light shielding region 42 of the light receiving element 32. The color filter segment of the pixel region 40 uses, for example, an oblique stripe pattern of the colors RR / BB and the colors GGGG in a honeycomb arrangement shifted by 1/2 pixel. Specifically, one right diagonal line is colored in color G, and the next adjacent right diagonal line is repeated with colors RRBB. From another point of view, this two-line diagonal stripe pattern shows the first two lines on the horizontal transfer path 18 side as the color GBGB in the horizontal direction and the color RGRG ... A pattern repeated in the order of is used.

  Next, the solid-state image sensor 10 is exposed. In the light receiving element 12, signal charges having a color attribute of a color filter segment corresponding to the intensity of incident light are accumulated. FIG. 14 shows the color attributes of the signal charges, that is, the colors R, B, and G. The color attributes of signal charges are represented by left diagonal hatching, right diagonal hatching, and dots, respectively. The accumulation state of the signal charge accompanying this exposure is the timing T1 in FIG. In FIG. 15, the signal levels of the vertical drive signals V1, V2, V3, V4 and the voltage barrier signal VB are levels “M”, “M”, “L”, “L” and “L”, respectively.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 15, all the signal charges accumulated in the light receiving element 12 are simultaneously read out to the vertical transfer path 14. Although not shown, this signal charge is read by setting the vertical drive signal V1 to the level “H” to turn on the field shift gate 22 so that the corresponding colors RGRG..., GBGB. Is read out.

  Next, at timing T2, the vertical drive signal V3 becomes level “H”, and as a result, the corresponding field shift gate 22 is turned on. FIG. 16 shows the readout state of this signal charge. Thereafter, as indicated by timing T3 in FIG. 15, the vertical drive signals V1, V2, V3, and V4 become levels “M”, “M”, “L”, and “L”. A potential well, that is, a packet is formed by the level “M” change of the vertical drive signals V1 and V2. At this time, the level of the vertical drive signal V3 changes from “M” to “L”, and the depth of the packet is reduced. As shown in FIG. 17, the signal charge read by the vertical drive signal V3 is moved to the positions of the vertical drive signals V1 and V2 along with this series of packet formation. As a result, the signal charges are arranged on one line.

  The signal charge read out to the vertical transfer path 14 is transferred toward the horizontal transfer path 20 as the same line for two packets in the vertical transfer path 14 as shown in FIG. 19 at timing T4 in FIG. At this time, the vertical drive signals V3 and V4 are at level "H". Therefore, the field shift gates 36 and 38 disposed in the light-receiving element 32 that is shielded from light are turned on. FIG. 19 shows a state where signal charges of the same color are mixed with the light receiving element 32 interposed therebetween.

  Next, at timing T5 in FIG. 18, signal charges for two pixels are collected in one vertical transfer path 14 and moved to a position corresponding to the vertical drive signals V1 and V2. FIG. 20 shows a state in which this signal charge has moved. The voltage barrier VB is at the level “L” and is in a state of preventing transfer to the horizontal transfer path 18.

  Next, at timing T6 in FIG. 18, the signal charges on the vertical transfer path 14 are transferred toward the horizontal transfer path 18 and the signal charges of the same color are collected in the light receiving element 32. Then, a signal level “H” signal is supplied to the voltage barrier VB. As a result, the voltage barrier VB becomes conductive. Therefore, the signal charge immediately before the voltage barrier VB is shifted to the horizontal transfer path 18 as shown in FIG. By operating in this way, the signal charges of each color are transferred from the vertical transfer path 14 to the horizontal transfer path 18 every other packet so as not to mix colors. Thus, the correspondence rule between the position where the signal charge is read out and the color attribute is known in advance.

  The signal charge output from the horizontal transfer path 18 is converted into an analog voltage signal, and one image can be reliably generated from the pixel data after the signal is digitized. When the light shielding area 42 is increased, the solid-state imaging device 10 enables signal charges to be transferred during a period other than the horizontal blanking period. This transfer eliminates the need for a line memory that has been used for horizontal pixel mixing. This transfer also eliminates horizontal blanking and enables high-speed reading.

  As described above, in the still image capturing mode and the moving image capturing mode, since the signal charge is read from the light receiving element by switching the driving method to the transfer gate, the vertical transfer path to be used can be reduced.

  Also, by adjusting the timing from the pixels with the correlation of neighboring light receiving elements with the same color component and reading the signal charge to the vertical transfer path and transferring it vertically, the signal charge is mixed in the transfer path without color mixing. Can be made. In this case, noise or the like is not generated as compared with the case where pixel mixing is performed in the subsequent stage, and sensitivity is also increased by pixel mixing.

  Furthermore, the time for reading the signal charge can be increased by switching the driving for the horizontal transfer path at a high speed in conjunction with the switching control as described above. Thus, high-speed and high-quality moving image shooting is realized.

It is a schematic plan view which shows the principal part of the structural example of the solid-state image sensor in the Example with which this invention was applied. It is a figure which shows the transfer state of the signal charge at the time of the still image imaging | photography mode in the solid-state image sensor of FIG. It is a figure which shows the transfer state of the signal charge at the time of the video recording mode in the solid-state image sensor of FIG. It is a figure explaining the state of the accumulated signal charge before reading a signal charge by a time difference reading method. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a part of the signal charge accumulated in FIG. 4 is read out. It is a figure explaining transfer of the read signal electric charge shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining transfer of the read-out signal charge shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining mixing of the read signal charge shown in Drawing 7, and the signal charge read from a photo acceptance unit. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement pattern of color filter segments and a signal charge reading direction in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. 1. It is a figure explaining the basic drive procedure of the arrangement pattern of the color filter segment in the solid-state image sensor of FIG. 1, and a solid-state image sensor. It is a top view which shows the example of a principal part structure of the solid-state image sensor which has a normal light receiving element and the light receiving element for light shielding. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing another configuration example of the main part of the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement pattern of color filter segments in the solid-state imaging device corresponding to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing color attributes of signal charges due to exposure in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 15 is a timing chart illustrating driving for reading signal charges from the solid-state imaging device in FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the position of a read signal charge at timing T2 in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the position of a read signal charge at timing T3 in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 15 is a timing chart for explaining transfer driving of signal charges read in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a transfer position of a read signal charge at timing T4 in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a transfer position of a read signal charge at timing T5 in the solid-state imaging device of FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a transfer position of a read signal charge at timing T6 in the solid-state imaging device of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 Solid-state image sensor
12, 32 Photo detector
14 Vertical transfer path
16 Transfer path separation barrier
18 Horizontal transfer path
20 Output amplifier
22, 36, 38 Field shift gate

Claims (8)

A plurality of light receiving elements that are arranged on a semiconductor substrate and are shifted by about a half interval in the horizontal and vertical scanning directions, and photoelectrically convert incident light to generate signal charges;
A plurality of corresponding gate means provided corresponding to each of the plurality of light receiving elements, and corresponding to reading signal charges generated by the plurality of light receiving elements;
A plurality of vertical transfer means for transferring signal charges read from the plurality of light receiving elements by the plurality of gate means in a vertical scanning direction;
Horizontal transfer means for transferring signal charges transferred from the plurality of vertical transfer means in a horizontal scanning direction;
Color separation means in which color segments for color-separating the incident light into a plurality of color components corresponding to each light receiving element in a direction in which the incident light arrives are arranged in a predetermined pattern;
The plurality of gate means are arranged diagonally for each of the plurality of light receiving elements,
The gate means is further disposed at a position where the gate means of the adjacent light receiving element having the same color segment as the color segment of the light receiving element is opposed to the vertical transfer means.
In the first imaging mode, for each of the plurality of light receiving elements, the signal charge is read from the gate means on the same side to each of the plurality of vertical transfer means, and the read signal charge is transferred to the horizontal transfer means,
In the second photographing mode, the signal charges generated by the light receiving elements having the same color segment are read out from the gate means arranged with the vertical transfer means interposed therebetween, and the vertical transfer means Mixing the read signal charges, transferring the mixed signal charges to the horizontal transfer means,
The horizontal transfer unit transfers a signal charge supplied from each of the vertical transfer units according to the number of the vertical transfer units in each of the first and second imaging modes. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the solid-state imaging device horizontally transfers the signal charge supplied to the horizontal transfer means in the first imaging mode at a normal rate,
A solid-state imaging device, wherein a signal charge supplied to the horizontal transfer means in the second photographing mode is horizontally transferred at a transfer rate that is approximately twice the normal rate.   3. The solid-state image pickup device according to claim 2, wherein, in the second imaging mode, charge reset is performed at a cycle of two pixels after the horizontal transfer means.   4. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the first shooting mode is a mode for shooting a still image, and the second shooting mode is a mode for shooting a moving image. Image sensor. A plurality of light-receiving elements that photoelectrically convert incident light to generate signal charges are arranged on a semiconductor substrate at intervals of approximately ½ in the horizontal and vertical scanning directions, respectively, and receive the light in the direction in which the incident light arrives Color separation means is provided in which color segments for color-separating the incident light into a plurality of color components corresponding to the elements are arranged in a predetermined pattern, and are generated by the light-receiving elements corresponding to the light-receiving elements. A plurality of gate means for reading the signal charges are provided in each of the plurality of light receiving elements, and the signal charges read from the light receiving elements by the plurality of gate means are transferred in the vertical scanning direction by the plurality of vertical transfer means, A solid-state imaging device for transferring signal charges transferred from the plurality of vertical transfer means in a horizontal scanning direction by a horizontal transfer means, wherein the gate means is provided for each of the plurality of light receiving elements. The gate means is further arranged at a position where the gate means of adjacent light receiving elements having the same color segment as the color segment of the light receiving element face each other across the vertical transfer means. In the solid-state image sensor driving method, the method includes:
In the first imaging mode, for each of the plurality of light receiving elements, the signal charges are read from the same one side gate means to each of the plurality of vertical transfer means, and the read signal charges are transferred to the horizontal transfer means,
In the second photographing mode, the signal charges generated by the light receiving elements having the same color segment are read out from the gate means arranged with the vertical transfer means interposed therebetween, and the vertical transfer means Mixing the read signal charges, transferring the mixed signal charges to the horizontal transfer means,
The horizontal transfer unit transfers a signal charge supplied from each of the vertical transfer units according to the number of the vertical transfer units used in each of the first and second photographing modes. Driving method. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the method horizontally transfers signal charges supplied to the horizontal transfer means in a first imaging mode at a normal rate,
A method for driving a solid-state imaging device, wherein the signal charge supplied to the horizontal transfer means in the second photographing mode is horizontally transferred at a transfer rate substantially twice the normal rate.   7. The method of driving a solid-state imaging device according to claim 6, wherein, in the second imaging mode, charge reset is performed at a two-pixel cycle after the horizontal transfer means.   8. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 5, wherein the first shooting mode is a mode for shooting a still image, and the second shooting mode is a mode for shooting a moving image. Driving method.