JP2006287912A - Solid-state imaging element and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a solid-state imaging element and an imaging apparatus capable of mixing signal electric charges and reading the resulting electric charges in response to a photographing request. <P>SOLUTION: In a CCD imaging element 10, vertical transfer paths 14 are formed every other column to reduce the number of the vertical transfer paths 14, the free regions through the configuration of the vertical transfer paths 14 are used for photosensing regions 16 of light receiving elements 12 to extend the photosensing regions 16 thereby sufficiently producing signal electric charges even when the number of pixels is increased, four light receiving elements 12 located to upper/lower/left/right parts with the remained vertical transfer paths 14 inbetween are used in the unit of one set, the signal electric charges stored in the four light receiving elements 12 are sequentially read from a transfer gate 18, and the remained vertical transfer paths 14 are shared to transfer the signal electric charges. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device and an imaging apparatus. The solid-state imaging device of the present invention is a sensor that receives incident light with a plurality of light receiving elements, generates an electrical signal according to the amount of incident light, and outputs it. The imaging device of the present invention is a technology in the fields of an electronic still camera, an image input device, a movie camera, a mobile phone, and the like that capture and record information as an image using, for example, a solid-state imaging device.

  In the solid-state imaging device of Patent Document 1, in the rows of light receiving elements adjacent to each other, the arrangement of the light receiving elements located in one row is approximately 1 / of the arrangement interval with respect to the arrangement of the light receiving elements located in the other row. Two vertical transfer paths are arranged between the light receiving elements adjacent to each other in the row direction, and one column vertical transfer path is arranged between the light receiving elements adjacent to each other in the oblique direction. A configuration is adopted in which the vertical transfer path is formed on the semiconductor substrate so as to meander between the light receiving elements so as to be arranged. This optimizes the spatial sampling points of the image and allows all pixels to be read simultaneously.

  This solid-state imaging device uses a signal of a light receiving element positioned above and below a light receiving invalid area to generate a signal in the invalid area as a virtual pixel, so that a signal equivalent to twice the number of light receiving elements can be obtained. Processing is possible, and false signals such as moire are suppressed. A high quality image signal can be obtained from this solid-state image sensor.

  Since the solid-state imaging device is arranged in the above-described light receiving device, options for the shape of the color filter and the microlens are increased, the light receiving efficiency can be improved, the light receiving invalid region is eliminated as much as possible, and high integration is brought about.

  In addition, this solid-state imaging device can eliminate unevenness in characteristics between the light receiving elements due to the relative positional deviation between the light receiving element and the vertical transfer path that occurs in the manufacturing process. Manufacture is easy because it can be made using a conventional manufacturing technique of a two-layer superimposed electrode structure.

  In addition, the solid-state imaging device, the driving method thereof, and the camera system disclosed in Patent Document 2 have a large number of pixels when the number of pixels of a color CCD (Charge Coupled Device) imaging device is increased for higher resolution. The signal processing takes time, the recording time on the recording medium becomes longer, and the number of recordings on the recording medium decreases.

The solid-state image sensor, for example, obtains a signal obtained by adding signals of the two pixels of the same color of the CCD image sensor at the time of signal processing of the CCD image sensor of M rows and N columns having a color filter in which the color G is arranged in two vertical repeats. , M / 2 rows N / 2 columns color coding (A) where only G is arranged, and M / 2 rows N / 2 columns color coding (B) where R / B are arranged, and these Processing is performed by regarding signals from two image sensors each having color filters of color coding (A) and (B). Thus, the color interpolation process can be reduced and the signal processing time can be shortened. Further, since a high-quality signal can be obtained with a small amount of data, the recording time on the recording medium can be shortened and the number of recorded sheets can be increased.
JP-A-10-136391 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-97066

  By the way, it is desired that the solid-state imaging device has higher pixels. Higher pixels mean a smaller cell size. The miniaturization of the cell size deteriorates the ratio and processing accuracy of the channel stop separating the light receiving element and the vertical transfer path. Therefore, it becomes difficult to maintain the characteristics of the imaging signal as described above. Regarding the characteristics of the imaging signal, in particular, the sensitivity of the light receiving element decreases in proportion to the reduction in cell size. This means that an image is originally generated with a small number of electrons due to a decrease in quantum efficiency, so that it is difficult to ensure image quality with high sensitivity.

  However, in normal photography, not only the light receiving elements provided, that is, all the pixels are used as recording pixels, but also the number of recording pixels is reduced and the number of recordings is used in many cases. The latter case is generally handled by resizing the size of the captured image or performing pixel addition or thinning out by signal processing. Such processing has problems such as processing time and time to read out all pixels, and these have not been improved at present.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a solid-state imaging device and an imaging apparatus that can eliminate such drawbacks of the prior art and can mix and read out signal charges in accordance with imaging requirements.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention has a plurality of light receiving elements that generate signal charges by photoelectric conversion of incident light on a semiconductor substrate, and in this arrangement, the arrangement intervals of the light receiving elements in one row are adjacent to each other. Column transfer means for transferring the signal charges accumulated in each of the light receiving elements in the column direction and the signal charges from the column transfer means in the row direction. The column transfer means is formed on one side of every other column of the light receiving elements, and the solid state imaging elements are further formed every other column. The four light receiving elements positioned on the top, bottom, left and right across the column transfer means are handled as a set unit, and gate means for reading signal charges from the four light receiving elements to the column transfer means is provided.

  In the solid-state imaging device according to the present invention, the column transfer means is formed every other row, the number of the column transfer means is reduced by half, and the empty area generated by this formation is used as the photosensitive area of the light receiving element to widen the photosensitive area. Thus, even if the number of pixels is increased, signal charges can be sufficiently generated, and the four light receiving elements positioned on the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the formed column transfer means are handled as a set unit and the signals accumulated in the four light receiving elements are stored. By reading the charges sequentially from the gate means and transferring the signal charges by using the formed column transfer means, the time required for reading the signal charges can be shortened and reading without color mixing can be realized.

  Further, in order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention includes a plurality of light receiving elements that generate signal charges by photoelectrically converting incident light from an object field. In this arrangement, the light receiving elements in one row are arranged. The arrangement interval is relatively deviated with respect to the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements in other adjacent rows, and column transfer means for transferring the signal charges accumulated in each of the light receiving elements in the column direction, and signals from the column transfer means A solid-state image pickup device including a row transfer means for transferring charges in the row direction; a drive means for generating a drive signal for driving the solid-state image pickup element; supplying the drive signal to the solid-state image pickup element; Timing generating means to be provided, control means for controlling the operation of the timing generating means, operating means for instructing the control means to operate, and signal processing for signals output from the solid-state imaging device In the image pickup apparatus including the signal processing means, the column transfer means is formed on one side of every other light receiving element of the light receiving elements, and the solid-state image pickup device further includes a column transfer means formed every other row. The four light receiving elements positioned on the top, bottom, left and right sides are handled as a set unit, and gate means for reading signal charges from the four light receiving elements to the column transfer means is provided.

  In the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the column transfer means is formed every other row, the number of the column transfer means is reduced by half, and the photosensitive area of the light receiving element can be widened by using the empty area generated by this formation as the photosensitive area. Even if the number of pixels is increased, signal charges can be sufficiently generated even when the number of pixels is increased, and four light receiving elements positioned on the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the formed column transfer unit are handled as a set of four light receiving elements. It is possible to read out the signal charges stored in the gate sequentially from the gate means, transfer the signal charges using the formed column transfer means and read them out, and read out the signal charges that are not mixed, and shorten the time required for this reading. To.

  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.

  In this embodiment, the solid-state imaging device of the present invention is applied to a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) imaging device 10. The illustration and description of parts not directly related to the present invention are omitted. In the following description, the signal is indicated by the reference number of the connecting line in which it appears.

  The CCD image pickup device 10 is arranged by shifting the light receiving device 12 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 in one row is basically shifted relative to the arrangement of the light receiving elements 12 in the other row by 1/2. . The light receiving elements 12 are densely arranged by this arrangement. Usually, a vertical transfer path 14 is formed between the light receiving elements 12 in the CCD.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the CCD image pickup device 10 of this embodiment is limited to the formation of vertical transfer paths 14 meandering every other line as compared with the conventional vertical transfer path. That is, a vertical transfer path has been formed on one side of the light receiving elements in which the light receiving elements are arranged in the vertical direction. As a result, the number of vertical transfer paths in the CCD image pickup device 10 of the present embodiment is half that of the conventional one. In the CCD image pickup device 10, an empty area, which has conventionally had a vertical transfer path, is used as the photosensitive area 16 in the light receiving element 12. Therefore, the photosensitive area 16 is expanded in the lateral direction as compared with the conventional photosensitive area, and the photosensitive area is increased. The enlargement of the photosensitive region 16 can increase the saturation amount of the signal charge accumulated in the light receiving element 12. This is because when the number of pixels in the CCD image sensor 10 is increased, that is, when the number of light receiving elements is increased, the photosensitive area of the conventional light receiving element decreases, but the photosensitive area 16 of the light receiving element 12 in this embodiment is It is possible to compensate for the decrease in the photosensitive area and further increase the amount of signal charge to be generated. In other words, in the light receiving element 12, for example, in the conventional photosensitive region, the sensitivity up to ISO 200 can be increased to a signal charge amount of ISO 80 to about 100 in this embodiment.

  The opening has the same structure as the conventional one. The color filter segment covering the opening uses a G square RB complete checkered pattern. The light receiving element 12 corresponds to a pixel. By expanding the opening shape to the left and right, it is possible to reduce the amount of squeezing due to the condensing characteristic and to enhance the shading.

  As described above, the vertical transfer path 14 is formed in half compared to the conventional CCD image sensor. In order to effectively use the vertical transfer path 14, the transfer gate 18 of the light receiving element 12 is formed on the side in contact with the shared vertical transfer path 14. The transfer gate 18 is represented by a black circle symbol in this embodiment.

  However, the transfer gate 18 in the present embodiment is not formed at a predetermined position as in the prior art. This is based on the fact that, in the color filter segment of the G square RB perfect checkered pattern, one vertical transfer path 14 handles four light receiving elements in one unit as shown in FIG. This set in the present embodiment is a set unit having light receiving elements 12 of color G arranged vertically and light receiving elements 12 of color R and color B arranged orthogonally to the left and right in the horizontal direction. This group unit is indicated by a bold line 20. Further, although not shown, as another set, the light receiving elements 12 of the color G arranged vertically and the light receiving elements 12 of the colors B and R arranged in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the right and left may be used.

  In order to deal with the group unit indicated by the thick line 20, the present embodiment is characterized in that the transfer gates 18 in the four light receiving elements 12 are formed at positions different from the normal. As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer gate 18 of the light receiving element 12 of the color G located on the upper side outputs the signal charge accumulated according to the off / on state to the CCD of the transfer electrode E4. When signal charges are transferred through one vertical transfer path 14, the transfer gate 18 is originally formed so that the light receiving element 12 of color R outputs to the vertical transfer path 14 adjacent to the left side. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the transfer gate 18 of the light receiving element 12 of the color R is originally formed at a position opposite to the above-described position to be formed, and the signal charge accumulated according to off / on is transferred to the transfer electrode E2. Output to the CCD.

  The transfer gate 18 of the light receiving element 12 of the color B outputs the signal charge accumulated according to the off / on of the transfer electrode E1 to the CCD of the transfer electrode E4. Further, the transfer gate 18 of the light receiving element 12 of the color G located on the lower side outputs the signal charge accumulated according to the transfer electrode E3 being turned on / off to the CCD of the transfer electrode E2.

  The CCD image pickup device 10 is provided with a horizontal transfer path 22 orthogonal to the plurality of vertical transfer paths 14, and transfers the signal charges supplied from the vertical transfer path 14 toward the horizontal transfer path 22. The signal charge transferred to the horizontal transfer path 22 is horizontally transferred toward the amplifier 24. The amplifier 24 is a floating diffusion amplifier.

  Further, the CCD image pickup device 10 is shown in FIG. The CCD image sensor 10 of FIG. 2 is preferably designed so that the shapes of the light receiving element 12 and the vertical transfer path 14 are optimized and the area ratio of both is the same. Thereby, as described above, the shape connecting the pixel centers can be the same as the conventional shape.

  Further, the CCD image pickup device 10 of FIG. 2 is characterized in that the color filter segments of the set unit are the same color and a G square RB complete checkered pattern based on the set unit is formed. When the resolution of the actual number of pixels is only about 1/4 or 1/2, signal charge readout from the light receiving element 12 is read according to either 4 pixels or 2 pixels. In the vertical transfer path 14, signal charges are synthesized in accordance with this reading. In this case, even if they are combined in the vertical transfer path 14, the signal charges that are read out are the same color, so that color mixing can be prevented.

  Next, the operation of the CCD image sensor 10 to which the present invention is applied will be described. The conventional CCD image sensor reads the accumulated signal charge at once by all pixel readout. However, the CCD image pickup device 10 of the present embodiment cannot read out all pixels as described above because the vertical transfer path 14 is half of the conventional one. In the transfer, drive signals V1 to V4 are applied to the transfer electrodes E1 to E4. In the present embodiment, signal charge readout from the light receiving element 12 is applied in the order of drive signals V3, V1, V2 and V4 supplied with field shift pulses to each field. This application is performed according to the high level. The read signal charge is read to the horizontal transfer path 22 by normal transfer. Therefore, in the case of the color filter pattern of FIG. 1, the signal charges of all the pixels are read out from the CCD image sensor 10 in order to obtain four fields in order to obtain an image of one frame.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, when the color filter segments are arranged in units of four light receiving elements in the thick line 20, the field shift pulse is applied to all of the drive signals V1 to V4 simultaneously. Controls read drive. Further, in the signal charge reading, the reading drive is controlled so that the field shift pulse is simultaneously applied to the driving signals V1 and V3. These signal charge readings are preferably linked to the recording mode.

  In this signal charge readout, the signal charges are mixed in the vertical transfer path 14 and can be read out in the same color order as that of the conventional CCD solid-state imaging device. Therefore, the conventional signal processing, that is, pre-processing, AF (Automatic Exposure) ), AF (Automatic Focus) and moving image mode (MOVE; live view display mode). In particular, the sensitivity can be improved by mixing the signal charges in the pre-processing stage where resolution is not required, and the signal charge readout time can be shortened. That is, the signal charge reading in FIG. 2 takes a quarter of the time compared to the signal charge reading in FIG.

  Further, when the color filter array shown in FIG. 2 is applied, the CCD image pickup device 10 matches the position where the micro lens 26 is disposed with the opening shape of the light receiving element 12 and the position where the light receiving device 12 is formed as shown in FIG. It is desirable to include. Specifically, signal charge reading from the light receiving element 12 and mixing thereof are performed according to the zoom position. In general, many digital cameras equipped with the CCD image sensor 10 have a zoom mechanism in an optical system that takes in incident light from an object field and forms an image. When the angle between the image plane on which the incident light forms an image at the standard position and the light beam passing through the edge of the exit pupil tends to be narrow, it is said to be an acute angle, that is, on the wide scope side. In addition, when this formed angle tends to be wide, it is said to be on the obtuse angle, that is, on the telescope side.

  Here, the opening shape in the light receiving element 12 of the present embodiment is a hexagonal shape having a larger photosensitive area than the conventional regular octagon and extending in the lateral direction. For example, the microlens 26 for the light receiving elements 12 arranged in the same row and in the horizontal direction in the center of FIG. 3 is formed slightly shifted to the left as compared with the positions of the microlenses 26 in other adjacent rows in FIG. Yes. That is, it is shifted toward the center of the image plane. With this formation, obliquely incident light can be incident without deviating from the photosensitive region of the light receiving element 12. Further, since the light receiving elements 12 arranged in the same row and in the vertical direction are near the center, the microlenses 26 are formed so as to cover all the photosensitive regions. This is because the formation position of the light receiving element 12 in FIG. 3 is assumed to be the center right end side of the CCD image pickup element 10.

  At an acute angle, a field shift gate pulse is simultaneously applied to the drive signals V1 and V2 in FIG. 2 from the transfer electrodes E1 and E2 to the field shift gate 18. By this application, the signal charge accumulated in the light receiving element 12 is read out, and the signal charge is synthesized or mixed. At the obtuse angle, a field shift gate pulse is simultaneously applied to the drive signals V3 and V4 in FIG. By this application, the signal charge accumulated in the light receiving element 12 is read out, and the signal charge is synthesized or mixed.

  In this way, by shifting the position where the microlens 26 is formed according to the position where the light receiving element 12 is formed, the influence on the peripheral pixel region due to the incident angle is mitigated, and the occurrence of color shading of incident light is prevented or improved. Can do. In particular, in the moving image mode, since real-time reading and signal processing are required, it is effective to shorten the time by mixed reading.

  Next, the digital camera 30 to which the CCD image sensor 10 is applied will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 4, the digital camera 30 includes an optical system 32, an imaging unit 34, a preprocessing unit 36, a signal processing unit 38, a system control unit 40, an operation unit 42, a timing signal generator 44, a driver 46, and a monitor 48. A storage IF (InterFace) circuit 50 and a storage 52.

  The optical system 32 has a function of forming incident light from the object scene on the imaging surface of the imaging unit 34 as an image having an angle of view according to the operation of the operation unit 42. The optical system 32 adjusts the angle of view and the focal length according to the zoom operation or half-press operation of the operation unit 42.

  The imaging unit 34 is provided with the CCD imaging device 10 described above. Here, one of the patterns shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is used for the color filter segment used in the CCD image pickup device 10. The imaging unit 34 using the color filter pattern of FIG. 1 is effective when acquiring an image with an emphasis on resolution, and outputs signal charges of all pixels in, for example, 2 or 4 fields. In addition, the image pickup unit 34 using the color filter pattern in FIG. 2 simultaneously reads out and transfers the signal charges to the vertical transfer path 14 so as not to mix colors, so that the image filter 34 in the color filter pattern shown in FIG. Compared to 1/4, that is, one field, the signal charge can be read out in a short time. However, in this color filter pattern, the spatial position information that originally has four pixels is collected into one position information. As a result, the resolution of the image is lower than the resolution based on the spatial information of the former image.

  In the case where the imaging unit 34 of the latter color filter pattern is provided, it is preferable that the operation is divided into a mode in which the resolution is important and a mode in which the importance is not important. When importance is attached to the resolution, for example, two fields are read out in the still image mode. If the resolution is not important, it is desirable to simultaneously read out the signal charges in pairs in each of AE, AF, and moving image mode (MOVE). Such mode switching is set by the operation unit 42 as described later.

  The imaging unit 34 is operated by various signals including drive signals V1 to V4 supplied from the driver 46. The driver 46 has a function of generating various drive signals in accordance with the timing signal from the timing signal generator 44. The imaging unit 34 outputs an analog electrical signal 54 obtained by the CCD imaging device 10 (not shown) to the preprocessing unit 36.

  The preprocessing unit 36 has an analog front end (AFE) function. This function includes noise removal for the analog electric signal 54 by correlated double sampling (CDS) and digitization of the analog electric signal 54 from which noise has been removed, that is, A / D conversion. The preprocessing unit 36 outputs the digitized image data 56 to the signal processing unit 38 via the bus 58 and the signal line 60.

  The signal processing unit 38 has a function of synchronizing based on supplied image data and generating a Y / C signal using the synchronized image data. The signal processing unit 38 also has a function of converting the generated Y / C signal into, for example, a liquid crystal monitor signal. Further, the signal processing unit 38 has a function of compressing the Y / C signal generated according to the recording mode and decompressing and restoring and reproducing based on the compressed signal. The recording mode includes JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), RAW mode, and the like. The signal processing unit 38 supplies the image data processed in the recording mode to the media I / F circuit 50 from the signal line 60, the bus 58, and the signal line 62. Further, the signal processing unit 38 outputs a liquid crystal monitor signal 64 to the monitor 48.

  The system control unit 40 has a function of generating various control signals according to an operation signal 66 from the operation unit 42 described later. The system control unit 40 particularly has a function of generating a control signal in accordance with various settings such as a still image mode, an AE mode, and an AF mode. The system control unit 40 takes in the evaluation data obtained by the signal processing unit 38. The evaluation data is taken into the system control unit 40 via the signal line 60, the bus 58, and the signal line 68. The system control unit 40 generates and outputs a control signal 70 corresponding to the setting mode and the evaluation data to the timing signal generator 44.

  The operation unit 42 includes a power switch, a zoom button, a menu display changeover switch, a selection key, a moving image mode setting unit, a continuous shooting speed setting unit, and a release shutter button (not shown). The operation unit 42 has a function of sending an operation signal 66 as a user operation instruction to the system control unit 40. The power switch brings the digital camera 30 on / off. The zoom button changes the angle of view of the object field including the subject and adjusts the focal length of the subject according to the change. The menu display changeover switch is a switch for changing over the menu displayed on the liquid crystal monitor and moving the selection cursor, such as a cross key. The selection key is a key for selecting the selected menu item.

  The moving image mode setting unit determines whether to display the moving image on the liquid crystal monitor, for example, by setting a flag value. With this setting, the digital camera 30 displays the scene image captured on the monitor 48 as a through image.

  The release shutter button has a function of selecting an operation timing and an operation mode of the digital camera 30 according to a half-press / full-press operation. The release shutter button operates the digital camera 30 in the AE mode and the AF mode in response to a half-press operation. In these operations, an appropriate aperture, shutter speed, and in-focus distance are obtained using an image obtained by moving image display. The release shutter button sends the recording start / recording end timing to the system control unit 40 by a full-press operation, and provides the operation timing according to the setting mode of the digital camera 30. Setting modes include still image recording and moving image recording.

  The timing signal generator 44 has a function of generating various timing signals such as vertical and horizontal synchronizing signals, field shift gate signals, vertical and horizontal timing signals, and OFD (Over-Flow Drain) signals for the imaging unit 34. . This function generates various timing signals 72 in response to a control signal 70 from the system control unit 40. The timing signal generator 44 outputs various timing signals 72 to the driver 46.

  The driver 46 has a function of generating vertical and horizontal drive signals and the like corresponding to drive modes using various timing signals 72 supplied. The driver 46 outputs a drive signal 74 corresponding to the supplied control signal to the above-described CCD image pickup device (not shown) of the image pickup unit 34. In addition, the driver 46 operates in accordance with a control signal supplied to the object that the optical system 32 forms, that is, a zoom operation drive signal that operates on the telephoto side that narrows the field of view or operates at a wide angle that widens the field of view. Although not shown, it is also output to the zoom mechanism of the optical system 32.

  The media I / F circuit 50 has an interface control function for controlling recording / reproduction of image data according to, for example, a recording medium to be handled. The media I / F circuit 50 controls the writing / reading of the image data 76 with respect to the PC (Personal Computer) card which is a semiconductor recording medium and the writing / reading control with the built-in USB (Universal Serial Bus) controller. Can do. The storage 52 has various semiconductor card standards.

  As the monitor 48, a liquid crystal monitor or the like is used. The monitor 48 displays the image signal 64 supplied from the signal processing unit 38.

  Next, the operation of the CCD image sensor in the digital camera 30 will be briefly described. Any one of the CCD imaging devices 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is mounted on the imaging unit 34. Here, as described above, the items to be emphasized differ depending on the type of the CCD image pickup device 10 to be mounted, and as a result, the mode to be controlled is different.

  The image pickup unit 34 using the CCD image pickup device of FIG. 1 is driven by 2 or 4 field readout with an emphasis on resolution in still image shooting. Further, the image pickup unit 34 to which the CCD image pickup device of FIG. 2 is applied can read one field because it can be read simultaneously. Since the signal charge is read out according to the CCD image pickup device arranged in this way, the operation unit 42 sets and sets a program to make use of the feature.

  The system control unit 40 is supplied with an operation signal 66 that is an instruction signal from the operation unit 42. The system control unit 40 generates a control signal 70 corresponding to the operation signal 66 and supplies it to the timing signal generator 44. The timing signal generator 44 outputs a timing signal 72 corresponding to the control to the driver 46. The driver 46 supplies a driving signal 74 corresponding to the supplied timing signal 72 to the imaging unit 34 to operate it.

  With this configuration, the element isolation region can be reduced, and the opening shape of the light receiving element can be kept large even if the light receiving element is downsized as the number of pixels increases. Thereby, even if the number of pixels is increased, a sufficient signal charge can be obtained, and a high-quality image can be obtained in response to image quality degradation. When operated according to the type of CCD image sensor used at this time, signal charges can be read out in a plurality of fields or read out in one field. In other words, it is possible to provide a digital camera that emphasizes resolution and a digital camera that enables high-speed readout with respect to signal charge readout, although the resolution is inferior to that of this digital camera.

  Needless to say, the imaging apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the application to the digital camera 30, but can be applied to a mobile phone, an image input apparatus, and the like including the components of the digital camera 30.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the CCD solid-state image sensor in the Example to which the solid-state image sensor which concerns on this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the structure from which the color filter arrangement | sequence differs in the CCD solid-state image sensor of FIG. It is a figure explaining the color shading correspondence by the CCD solid-state image sensor of FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a digital camera to which an imaging apparatus of the present invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

10 CCD image sensor
12 Light receiving element
14 Vertical transfer path
22 Horizontal transfer path
24 amplifiers

Claims (10)

A plurality of light receiving elements that generate signal charges by photoelectric conversion of incident light are arranged on a semiconductor substrate, and in this arrangement, the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements in one row is relative to the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements in another adjacent row. A solid-state imaging device having column transfer means for transferring signal charges accumulated in each of the light receiving elements in the column direction and row transfer means for transferring signal charges from the column transfer means in the row direction. In
The column transfer means is formed on one side of every other column of the light receiving elements,
The solid-state imaging device further handles four light receiving elements positioned on the top, bottom, left, and right across the column transfer means formed every other row as a set unit, and the four light receiving elements to the column transfer means A solid-state imaging device having gate means for reading out signal charges.   2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the solid-state imaging device corresponds to color filter segments of color G with respect to the light receiving elements positioned above and below the four light receiving elements, and to the light receiving elements positioned right and left. A solid-state imaging device, wherein the color filter segments of color R and color B or color B and color R are made to correspond to each other.   2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the solid-state imaging device has a color filter segment of the same color with respect to the light receiving element of the set unit, and the color filter segment of the set unit squares the color G. A solid-state imaging device, wherein the color filter segments of the color R and the color B are arranged in a checkered pattern in a grid pattern.   4. The solid-state image pickup device according to claim 3, wherein the solid-state image pickup device reads and mixes all or two light-receiving elements from the four light-receiving elements in the set unit according to a signal charge reading mode in the solid-state image pickup element. A solid-state imaging device characterized in that   5. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 4, wherein the solid-state imaging device emits the incident light according to a position on the imaging surface of the light receiving element formed with respect to a center of the imaging surface of the solid-state imaging device. A solid-state imaging device, wherein the solid-state imaging device is formed by shifting the position of the condensing means for condensing, and accurately sends the incident light to the photosensitive region to generate a signal charge. A plurality of light receiving elements that generate signal charges by photoelectrically converting incident light from the object field are arranged, in which the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements in one row is the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements in another adjacent row Including a column transfer unit that transfers signal charges accumulated in each of the light receiving elements in the column direction, and a row transfer unit that transfers signal charges from the column transfer unit in the row direction. An imaging device, a driving unit that generates a driving signal for driving the solid-state imaging device and supplies the driving signal to the solid-state imaging device, a timing generating unit that causes the driving unit to have an operation timing of the driving signal, and an operation of the timing generating unit In an imaging apparatus including control means for controlling, operating means for instructing the control means to operate, and signal processing means for performing signal processing on a signal output from the solid-state imaging device,
The column transfer means is formed on one side of every other column of the light receiving elements,
The solid-state imaging device further handles four light receiving elements positioned on the upper, lower, left and right sides of the column transfer means formed every other row as a set unit, and the four light receiving elements are transferred to the column transfer means. An imaging apparatus comprising gate means for reading signal charges.   7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the solid-state imaging element associates color filter segments of color G with respect to the light receiving elements positioned above and below the four light receiving elements, and colors the light receiving elements positioned on the left and right. An imaging device, wherein R and color B or color filter segments of color B and color R are made to correspond to each other.   7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the solid-state imaging device is formed with color filter segments of the same color with respect to the set of light receiving elements, and the color filter segment in the set of units displays a color G in a square lattice pattern. And the color filter segments of the color R and the color B are arranged in a completely checkered pattern between the colors G.   The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the solid-state imaging device reads and mixes all or two light-receiving elements from the four light-receiving elements in the set unit according to a signal charge reading mode in the solid-state imaging device, An image pickup apparatus for transferring.   The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the solid-state imaging element condenses the incident light according to a position on the imaging plane of the light receiving element formed with respect to a center of the imaging plane of the solid-state imaging element. An image pickup apparatus that is formed by shifting the position of the light condensing means that sends the incident light to the photosensitive region accurately and generates a signal charge.