JPS63105578A - Solid-state image pickup element and its driving method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a smear component, by transferring signal charge form a horizontal CCD shift register to be scanned to a vertical CCD shift register by driving all of the horizontal CCD registers and vertical CCD shift registers. CONSTITUTION:One horizontal scanning line is not scanned for almost all the time, but, at this time, no voltage is impressed on a transfer gate electrode 4, and a horizontal/vertical transfer, gate electrode 5, and no signal charge of a photoelectric converting area 1 is read out on the horizontal CCD shift register 2, and a pseudo signal charge such as smear, etc., is transferred on the horizontal CCD shift register 2, and is blocked by a potential barrier beneath the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5, then it is accumulated in an overflow drain area 22. Since excessive charge over the charge handling capacity of the area is absorbed in a substrate by vertical type overflow drain structure, and is generated in a considerable long scanning time compared with a scanning time, it is possible to prevent the signal charge from being expanded to another picture element area. In such way, electric charge generated due to the leakage of light to a transfer part at the incident part of intensified light, etc., is diffused in the area selectively, and it is possible to suppress the smear that is one of the pseudo signal proper to the solid-state image pickup element in which a linear white part in a direction of the transfer part on a reproducing picture is generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a CCD solid-state image pickup device in which a large number of photoelectric conversion regions and means for extracting signals from each region are integrated on a semiconductor substrate, and a method for driving the same.

(Prior art) In a conventional incline transfer CCD solid-state image sensor, a transfer section that transfers signal charges photoelectrically converted by two-dimensionally arranged photoelectric conversion regions to the outside is adjacent to the photoelectric conversion regions. A vertical CCD shift register is connected to one end of the shift register, and a horizontal CCD CD shift register is connected to one end of the shift register. In frame accumulation mode, the signal charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion area is transferred alternately between odd-numbered photoelectric conversion areas and even-numbered photoelectric conversion areas in the vertical direction, and in field accumulation mode, the signal charge is transferred to all photoelectric conversion areas in the vertical direction. is the total vertical C within the vertical blanking period for each field.
This is done in a CD shift register. Each vertical CCD
The signal charges transferred to the shift register are transferred column by column in the vertical direction within the horizontal blanking period, and are transferred to the horizontal CCD.
A signal corresponding to one scanning line is transferred to the shift register. The signal transferred to the horizontal CCD shift register is transferred horizontally within one horizontal scanning period and detected by an output circuit.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Blooming and smear are false signals specific to solid-state imaging devices. In the former case, the excess charge generated when the part of the photoelectric conversion area where strong light is incident is saturated and diffuses into the adjacent potential well through the semiconductor substrate, causing a circular white area to appear on the playback screen.
This is a phenomenon in which the light is selectively diffused along the transfer section, and a linear white area in the direction of the transfer section appears on the playback screen. The latter is a phenomenon in which charges generated due to light leakage into the transfer section in the area where strong light is incident are selectively diffused into that area, and a linear white area in the direction of the transfer section appears on the playback screen. . Pluming can be suppressed by providing an overflow drain mechanism to the photoelectric conversion region. However, regarding smear, conventional incline transfer CCD
In solid-state imaging devices, it takes a long time for the signal charges to be transferred or for the potential well of the transferred vertical CCD shift register to pass through the incident portion of strong light, reducing smear components mixed into the signal charges. It was difficult. An object of the present invention is to provide a solid-state imaging device that suppresses such smearing and a simple method for driving the same.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The means provided by the first invention of the present application are as follows: (A1) As a transfer unit that transfers signal charges photoelectrically converted by two-dimensionally arranged photoelectric conversion regions to the outside. of,
a horizontal CCD shift register adjacent to the photoelectric conversion area and a vertical CCD shift register connected to one end of the shift register; (A3) A transfer gate electrode that enables the signals of each photoelectric conversion region to be transferred simultaneously to the horizontal CCDCD shift register; (A4) a scanning circuit (hereinafter referred to as a transfer gate electrode scanning circuit) that makes it possible to select a horizontal column of photoelectric conversion regions in which the signal transfer is performed; (A4) provided for each horizontal CCD shift register; Angular horizontal CCD shift register to vertical CCD
A scanning circuit (hereinafter referred to as a scanning circuit) that selectively applies a voltage to the gate electrode of the transfer section to the shift register and a part thereof to selectively transfer data from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register. (referred to as a horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode and a horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode scanning circuit, respectively); and (A5) a vertical type provided between each horizontal CCD shift register and a transfer section from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register. This is a solid-state image sensor configured to include a region having an overflow drain structure (hereinafter referred to as an overflow drain region).

The means provided by the second invention of the present application is a method for driving the solid-state image sensor of the first invention of the present application, in which one generally used horizontal scanning line signal corresponds to one horizontal column of the photoelectric conversion area. In the first case, where two horizontal scanning lines are formed from a parallel sum of signals or signals of two adjacent horizontal columns and whose scanning order is consecutive, one horizontal scanning line signal is formed from the signals of one horizontal column. 2 horizontal rows every other row or 2 consecutive rows
In the second case, one horizontal scan line signal is formed from the parallel sum of the signals of two adjacent horizontal columns, the first horizontal column, the second horizontal column, and the second horizontal column is formed from a horizontal column. , a third horizontal column, and a fourth horizontal column. (B1) The driving speed of the vertical CCD shift register and all horizontal CCD shift registers is synchronized with the scanning speed of the horizontal scanning line. (B2) The above two horizontal rows in the first case, or the first horizontal row and the third horizontal row, or the second horizontal row and the fourth horizontal row in the second case.
a first time interval at which a voltage is applied to the corresponding transfer gate electrode between each two horizontal columns to transfer the signal of the photoelectric conversion region to the horizontal CCD shift register; a second time interval in which a voltage is applied to the gate electrode of the transfer section from the corresponding horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register to enable transfer from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register; If the scanning order of the horizontal scanning line group is the same as the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register, each horizontal scanning period corresponds to the horizontal scanning line that is scanned first among the two horizontal columns. The time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer the signal from the position in the vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the horizontal column to be scanned next of the two horizontal columns. Yes, and if the scanning order of the horizontal scanning line group is in the opposite direction to the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register, from one horizontal scanning period, the vertical scanning line corresponding to the horizontal scanning line to be scanned later among the two horizontal columns. This is the time obtained by subtracting the time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer a signal from the position in the CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register position corresponding to the horizontal column of the horizontal scanning line scanned first among the two horizontal columns. (B3) the second time corresponding to each horizontal scan line is either simultaneous with the first time or precedes the first time by a certain amount of time that is less than or equal to one horizontal blanking period; In this case, the first time and the second time in the first horizontal column or the third horizontal column are horizontally When the scanning order of the scanning line group is the same as the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register, each vertical CCD corresponding to the first horizontal column and the second horizontal column
Horizontal scanning is performed by the time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer signals between locations in the shift register or between locations in each vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the third horizontal tally and the fourth horizontal column. It is characterized in that when the scanning order of the line group is in the opposite direction to the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register, it is delayed by the corresponding time.

(Function) The transfer gate electrode scanning circuit applies a voltage only to the transfer gate electrode corresponding to the horizontal row of photoelectric conversion regions to be scanned, and transfers only the signal charge of the horizontal row of the photoelectric conversion region to the corresponding horizontal CCD shift register. transport,
Each horizontal CCD is controlled by a horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode scanning circuit.
Among the horizontal and vertical transfer gate electrode groups provided for each shift register, a voltage is applied only to the gate electrode corresponding to the horizontal column, and the horizontal CCD shift register is transferred from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD.
1m in which only transfer to the shift register can be performed selectively
Then, by driving all the horizontal CCD shift registers and the vertical CCD shift register, transfer from the scanning horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register is performed.

Such an operation first of all significantly reduces the time it takes for the potential well of the horizontal CCD shift register, in which the signal charge is transferred or has been transferred, to pass through the incident part of the intense light, compared to conventional methods. Therefore, the smear component mixed into the signal charge can be significantly reduced. In other words, if the number of pixels in the transfer direction, that is, in the vertical direction, of the incident part of strong light that would cause smear in the conventional method is n, then the well at the vertical CCDCD shift register where the signal charge is transferred or transferred will be affected by the strong light. The time it takes for light to pass through the incident area is horizontal scanning period x n.In contrast, in the present invention, the number of effective pixels in the horizontal direction is fixed to N, and the transfer direction of the incident area of strong light that causes smear, that is, the horizontal scanning period, is Assuming that the number of pixels in the direction is n, the time it takes for the potential well of the horizontal CCD shift register in which the signal charge is transferred or has been transferred to pass through the incident part of strong light is approximately the horizontal scanning period X n /N. Compared to the conventional method, the strength of the hydraulic smear is approximately - the number of effective pixels in the horizontal direction. Currently, the number of effective pixels in the horizontal direction is about B00 or more, so this significantly reduces the intensity of smear.

As a second effect of the above operation, charges of smear components also generated in the horizontal CCD shift registers that are not scanned are transferred to the overflow drain region provided for each horizontal CCD shift register. As a result, if the number of vertical pixels including the number of pixels in the vertical direction for the vertical blanking period is M, then among the charges of the smear component generated over a long period of horizontal scanning period Excess charge exceeding the signal charge handling capacity of the substrate can be absorbed into the substrate through the vertical overflow drain.

Generally used scanning methods include one in which two consecutive horizontal scanning lines are scanned every other horizontal scanning line, and one horizontal scanning signal is formed from one horizontal signal in the photoelectric conversion area. There is a field accumulation mode/interlaced scanning method in which one horizontal row scanning signal is formed from the parallel sum of two adjacent horizontal rows of signals in the photoelectric conversion area, and the scanning order is There is a non-interlaced scanning method in which two consecutive horizontal scanning lines are formed from two consecutive horizontal columns. The frame accumulation mode/interlaced scanning method uses spatially consecutive first horizontal row, second horizontal row, and third horizontal row.
horizontal row, and a fourth horizontal row. The field accumulation mode interlaced scanning method and non-interlaced scanning method in which one horizontal scanning line signal is formed from the signal of one horizontal column of the photoelectric conversion area are described in the claims or means for solving the problem. In the first case, a frame accumulation mode interlaced scanning system in which one horizontal scanning line signal is formed from the parallel sum of the signals of two adjacent horizontal columns of the photoelectric conversion area solves the scope of the claims or problems described above. This is the second case mentioned in the section on the means for doing so. By means (Bl) and (B2) for solving the problems described above, it is possible to extract signals having the same accumulation time from each photoelectric conversion area in the same time series format as a normal television video signal.

That is, by the time each horizontal scanning line signal reaches the output section, the vertical C
By correcting the transfer time difference between each horizontal scanning line signal that occurs in the CD shift register, it is possible to make the horizontal scanning line signal period and the horizontal blanking period the same length as the video signal required by the television. Now, as mentioned above in the means for solving the problem (B1), all the horizontal shift registers are driven all the time, and when the signals extracted from the photoelectric conversion area are not transferred, the horizontal CCD shift register Transfers false signal charges such as smear generated in the overflow drain region to the overflow drain region, absorbs excess charges exceeding the signal charge handling capacity of the region into the substrate by the vertical overflow drain, and prevents the false signal charges from spreading to other pixel regions. However, false signal charges that do not exceed the signal charge handling capacity of the region remain in the region, and this becomes an obstacle when reading out the signal from the photoelectric conversion region and transferring it to the vertical CCD shift register. Therefore, the above-mentioned means (B3) for solving the problem is to transfer the residual false signal charge to the outside through a vertical CCD shift register within the horizontal blanking period and to remove it by subsequent signal processing. It is.

In other words, in the context of the first time and second time stated in the claims or means for solving problems, if the second time is later than the first time, the first time The residual false signal charge may be superimposed on the leading edge of the horizontal scanning line signal read out from the photoelectric conversion region, or the leading edge may not be read out, and the second time may be more horizontally blanked than the first time. If the lead exceeds the horizontal blanking period, the residual false signal charge may be superimposed on the trailing end of the preceding horizontal scanning line signal. Therefore, in order to transfer the residual false signal charge within the horizontal blanking period, the problem described above must be solved. Means for solving points (
As described in B3), it is necessary that the second time corresponding to each horizontal scanning line is either simultaneous with the first time or preceded by a certain period of time that is one horizontal blanking period or less. Furthermore, in the frame accumulation mode interlaced scanning method, which is the second case described in the claims or the means for solving the problem, the means for solving the problem (B4)
By which two adjacent horizontal columns of light form one horizontal scan line signal? When the signals of the five conversion regions are added in the vertical CCD shift register, the horizontal positions between the two horizontal columns can be made to match and the signals can be added in parallel.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a solid-state imaging device using an interline transfer method to which the first invention of the present application is applied. This solid-state image sensor has photoelectric conversion regions 1 arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions, and a horizontal CCD shift register 2 provided in common corresponding to the photoelectric conversion regions 1 on a common horizontal line, and each horizontal CCD shift register A vertical CCD shift register 3 is provided in common with the register 2 . A transfer gate electrode 4 is placed on a transfer gate region between a photoelectric conversion region 1 on a common horizontal line and a horizontal CCD shift register 2 commonly provided corresponding thereto, a horizontal CCD shift register 2 and a vertical CCD shift register. A horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5 is provided on the region between the register 3 and the transfer gate electrode 4 and the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5 are connected to a transfer gate electrode scanning circuit 6 and a horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode scanning circuit 7, respectively. ing.

The transfer electrodes of the CCD shift register 2.3 are omitted in the drawing. Figure 2 shows the horizontal CCD shift register 2 and the vertical CC
3 is a schematic top view of the area between the D shift register 3, and FIG. 3 is a potential distribution diagram along the transfer path A-A in FIG. 2, and (a) and (b) are horizontal and vertical transfer gates. Electrode 5
(C) and (d) are cases in which no voltage is applied to the horizontal and vertical transfer gate electrodes 5 and the potential in the region is shallow and forms a potential barrier. A case is shown in which data can be transferred from the horizontal CCD shift register 2 to the vertical CCD shift register 3. Here, a case is shown in which the CCD shift register 2.3 has a two-phase clock type configuration. Here, electrodes 20a and 20b are transfer electrodes extending vertically to each horizontal CCD shift register 2, electrodes 21a and 21b are transfer electrodes of the vertical CCD shift register 3, and 22 is an O/<-flow drain. A region 23 is a horizontal/vertical transfer section under the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5, and 24 is a channel stop region. One horizontal scanning line is not scanned most of the time, but at this time, no voltage is applied to the transfer gate electrode 4 and horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), and the horizontal CCD shift register 2 The signal charges in the photoelectric conversion area 1 cannot be read out completely, and false signal charges such as smear occur in the horizontal C.
The data is transferred through the CD shift register 2, blocked by a potential barrier under the horizontal and vertical transfer gate electrodes 5, and accumulated in the overflow drain region 22. Excess charge that exceeds the charge handling capacity of the area is absorbed by the substrate by the vertical overflow drain structure and is generated during a non-scanning time which is extremely long compared to the scanning time, so it is impossible to prevent signal charges from diffusing to other pixel areas. can. In the horizontal scanning line to be scanned, the corresponding transfer gate electrode 4 is first selected by the transfer gate electrode scanning circuit 6, a voltage is applied to the electrode, and the signal charge of the photoelectric conversion region 1 is read out to the horizontal CCD shift register 2. The corresponding horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5 is selected by the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode scanning circuit 7, a voltage is applied to the electrode, and the potential under the electrode deepens (FIG. 3(c), (d)). The signal charges in the photoelectric conversion region 1 are transferred from the horizontal CCD shift register 2 to the vertical CCD shift register 2.
Transferred to CD shift register 3.

In the conventional example, whose schematic configuration diagram is shown in FIG. Horizontal CCD connected to one end of shift register
It is composed of a shift register 2, and the signal charge is
In the frame accumulation mode, the odd-numbered photoelectric conversion areas and the even-numbered photoelectric conversion areas in the vertical direction alternate for each field, and in the field accumulation mode, the entire photoelectric conversion area is changed vertically for each field within the vertical blanking period. In the CCD shift register, the signal charges are transferred all at once to the vertical CCD/ftresist disk 3, and the signal charges transferred to each vertical CCD shift register are
After each row is transferred, a signal corresponding to one scanning line is transferred to the horizontal CCD shift register 2. The signal transferred to the horizontal CCD shift register 2 is transferred horizontally within one horizontal scanning period and detected by an output circuit. Compared to such conventional technology, in the present invention, as described in the operation section of this section, the signal charge is transferred from the photoelectric conversion region 1, or the potential well of the CCD shift register to which the signal charge is transferred is strong at the light incident portion. The time required for the signal charges to pass through the signal charge is significantly shortened, and the smear component mixed into the signal charges can be significantly reduced.

FIG. 5 is a partial diagram of an embodiment of the first invention of the present application shown for detailed explanation of the second invention of the present application. In the example of FIG. 5, the horizontal CCD shift register 2 and the vertical CCD shift register 3 are operated by two clock pulses ≠ and φ, as described in the above-mentioned means for solving the problem (B1). It is assumed that they are always driven synchronously. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the field accumulation mode/interlaced scanning method according to the second invention of the present application, and is a time chart showing the driving method. In the pulse applied to the transfer gate electrode 5, % I') 1% THII, tv are the horizontal scanning period, horizontal blanking period, the nth row and (n+2
) It is the time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer a signal between the positions in each vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the horizontal column of the row.

Further, FIGS. 7(a) to 7(e) schematically show the signal transfer states at each time point (1) to (2) in FIG. 6. As mentioned above in the means for solving the problem (B2), n
By setting the interval between the two pulses that open the transfer gate electrode scanning circuits corresponding to the horizontal column of the (n+2)th row to (Tg+tv), as shown in FIG. 7(e), The horizontal scanning signal of the (n+2)th row is continuous with a horizontal blanking period that ends after a time T)I from the beginning of the horizontal scanning signal of the nth row, and the period of the horizontal scanning period is T.
)l. Furthermore, as mentioned above in the means for solving the problem (B3), the time at which the horizontal and vertical transfer gates 23 are opened is determined by clock pulse ≠ 1 (or φ,) in this example.
As shown in FIG. 7(a), the false signal charge remaining in the overflow drain 22 of the n-th row becomes the horizontal scanning signal of the n-th row by 172 periods preceding the opening time of the transfer gate. The residual false signal charge signal charge in the (n+2)th row does not occur that 1 is added to the leading part of the signal or that the leading part is not read out, and as shown in FIG. 7(e), It is not superimposed on the rear end of the n-th horizontal scanning line signal, but on the last charge well of the horizontal blanking period and transferred to the outside through the vertical CCD shift register, which can be removed by later signal processing. It is.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the frame accumulation mode/interlaced scanning method according to the second invention of the present application, and is a time chart showing the driving method. This is a pulse applied to the transfer gate vL pole 5. Further, FIGS. 9(a) to 9(c) schematically show the signal transfer states at each time point (1) to (2) in FIG. 8. Means to solve problems (9)
As mentioned above, the times at which the n-th transfer gate electrode and the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5 are opened are set in the n-th row and the (n+1)-th horizontal column rather than the opening times of the n-th row transfer gate electrode 5 and the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5 in the (n+1)-th row. Vertical CC between locations in each corresponding vertical CCD shift register
By leading by the time required for the D shift register to transfer the signal (in this example, one period of clock pulse φ1 or φ) (FIG. 9(a)), n rows forming one horizontal scanning period number are When adding the signals of the photoelectric conversion regions of the second horizontal column of the 1st and (n+1) rows in the vertical CCD shift register, it is possible to match the horizontal positions between the two horizontal columns and add them in parallel. It is possible (Fig. 9(b),(C)
).

(Effects of the Invention) According to the solid-state image sensor and its S movement method of the present invention as described above, charges generated due to light leakage into the transfer section in the region where strong light is incident are selected in the region. It is possible to improve the performance of the imaging device by suppressing smear, which is one of the false signals peculiar to solid-state imaging devices, which is diffused and causes a linear white portion in the direction of the transfer section on the playback screen.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an interline transfer type solid-state image sensor according to the first invention of the present application, FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the main parts thereof, and FIG. A potential distribution diagram along line A-A' in the figure, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional interline transfer type solid-state imaging device, and FIG. 5 is a detailed diagram of the second invention of the present application. Partial diagram of the embodiment of the first invention of the present application shown for explanation, No. 6
8 and 8 are time charts for providing a detailed explanation of the second invention of the present application, and FIGS. 7 and 9 are schematic diagrams showing the signal transfer state at each point in time in FIGS. 6 and 8, respectively. It is a diagram. 1 is a photoelectric conversion area, 2 is a horizontal CCD shift register, 3 is a
is a vertical CCD shift register, 4 is a transfer gate pole, 5 is a horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode, 6.7 is a transfer gate electrode 4, and a horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5, respectively.
scanning circuits connected to 20a, 20b, 21
a, 21b are transfer electrodes, 22 is an overflow drain region, 23 is a horizontal/vertical transfer section under the horizontal/vertical transfer gate electrode 5, and 24 is a channel stop region.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A two-dimensionally arranged photoelectric conversion region, a transfer section that transfers the signal charge photoelectrically converted by the region to the outside, and a transfer gate electrode that transfers the signal of the photoelectric conversion region to the transfer section. In the solid-state imaging device, the transfer section includes a horizontal CCD shift register adjacent to the photoelectric conversion region and a vertical CCD connected to one end of the shift register.
Consisting of shift registers, each horizontal CC
Each D shift register has a transfer gate electrode provided in parallel thereto, which enables signals from each photoelectric conversion region connected to one horizontal CCD shift register to be simultaneously transferred to the horizontal CCD shift register. , further comprising a scanning circuit connected to the transfer gate electrode group to selectively apply a voltage to some of these to select a horizontal row of photoelectric conversion regions in which the signal transfer is to be performed. Specifically, the gate electrode of the transfer section from each horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register is provided for each horizontal CCD shift register, and a voltage is selectively applied to this to transfer the data from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register. A scanning circuit that enables selective transfer is provided, and a vertical overflow drain structure is provided between each horizontal CCD shift register and a transfer section from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register. A solid-state imaging device characterized by providing a region having the following characteristics. (2) A two-dimensionally arranged photoelectric conversion region, a transfer section that transfers the signal charge photoelectrically converted by the region to the outside, and a transfer gate electrode that transfers the signal of the photoelectric conversion region to the transfer section. and the transfer section is composed of a horizontal CCD shift register adjacent to the photoelectric conversion area and a vertical CCD shift register connected to one end of the shift register, and each horizontal CCD shift register is provided in parallel thereto, The signals of each photoelectric conversion region connected to one horizontal CCD shift register have transfer gate electrodes that enable them to be simultaneously transferred to the horizontal CCD shift register, and are further connected to the transfer gate electrode group to transfer these signals to the horizontal CCD shift register. A scanning circuit is provided which makes it possible to selectively apply a voltage to a part of the photoelectric conversion area to select a horizontal column of the photoelectric conversion area where the signal transfer is performed, and transfers the signal from each horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register. A gate electrode of the transfer section is provided for each horizontal CCD shift register,
It is equipped with a scanning circuit that selectively applies a voltage to the horizontal CCD shift register to selectively transfer data from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register.
A region having a vertical overflow drain structure is provided between the CD shift register and a transfer section from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register,
One horizontal scanning line signal is formed from the parallel sum of the signals of one horizontal column of the photoelectric conversion area or the signals of two adjacent horizontal columns, and the scanning order of two consecutive horizontal scanning lines is one horizontal scanning line signal. The first case is formed from one horizontal column of signals; the first case is formed from every other two horizontal columns, or two consecutive horizontal columns;
In the second case, where one horizontal scanning line signal is formed from the parallel sum of the signals of two adjacent horizontal columns, the first horizontal column, the second horizontal column, and the third horizontal column are spatially consecutive; In a method of driving a solid-state image sensor formed from a fourth horizontal column, a vertical C
The CD shift register and all horizontal CCD shift registers are constantly driven at a driving speed synchronized with the scanning speed of the horizontal scanning line, and the above two horizontal columns in the first case or the first horizontal column in the second case. A voltage is applied to the corresponding transfer gate electrode between each two horizontal columns, such as a column and a third horizontal column, or a second horizontal column and a fourth horizontal column, to horizontally CCD shift the signal of the photoelectric conversion region. By applying a voltage to the gate electrode of the transfer section from the horizontal CCD shift register to the vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the two horizontal columns and the first time interval for transferring to the register, If the second time interval for enabling transfer to the CCD shift register is in one horizontal scanning period when the scanning order of the horizontal scanning line group is in the same direction as the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register, A vertical CCD corresponding to the horizontal line of the horizontal scanning line to be scanned first among the two horizontal lines.
This is the time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer the signal from the position in the shift register to the position in the vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the horizontal column to be scanned next among the two horizontal columns, and the horizontal If the scanning order of the scanning line group is opposite to the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register, from one horizontal scanning period, the vertical CC corresponding to the horizontal scanning line to be scanned later among the two horizontal columns.
The time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer the signal from the position in the D shift register to the position in the vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the horizontal column of the horizontal scanning line to be scanned first among the two horizontal columns is subtracted. the second time corresponding to each horizontal scan line is simultaneous with the fourth time, or precedes the fourth time by a certain amount of time that is less than or equal to one horizontal blanking period; in addition, in the second case; In this case, the first
The first time and the second time of the horizontal column or the third horizontal column are vertical to the two times of the second horizontal column and the fourth horizontal column, respectively. In the case of the same direction as the transfer direction of the CCD shift register, between positions in each vertical CCD shift register corresponding to the first horizontal column and the second horizontal column, or corresponding to the third horizontal column and the fourth horizontal column. When the time required for the vertical CCD shift register to transfer signals precedes the positions in each vertical CCD shift register, and the scanning order of the horizontal scanning line group is in the opposite direction to the transfer direction of the vertical CCD shift register. is delayed by the amount of time.