WO2022210070A1 - 固体撮像素子 - Google Patents
固体撮像素子 Download PDFInfo
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- WO2022210070A1 WO2022210070A1 PCT/JP2022/012995 JP2022012995W WO2022210070A1 WO 2022210070 A1 WO2022210070 A1 WO 2022210070A1 JP 2022012995 W JP2022012995 W JP 2022012995W WO 2022210070 A1 WO2022210070 A1 WO 2022210070A1
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- 238000003384 imaging method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 35
- 239000003990 capacitor Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 33
- 238000009792 diffusion process Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 230000003321 amplification Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 10
- 238000003199 nucleic acid amplification method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 10
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 22
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 description 8
- 230000000875 corresponding effect Effects 0.000 description 7
- 230000007423 decrease Effects 0.000 description 6
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 6
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000009825 accumulation Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000035508 accumulation Effects 0.000 description 4
- 239000012535 impurity Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000010354 integration Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005381 potential energy Methods 0.000 description 2
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000007792 addition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000969 carrier Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001276 controlling effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002596 correlated effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000006866 deterioration Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000005669 field effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910021421 monocrystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005096 rolling process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005070 sampling Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N25/00—Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
- H04N25/70—SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith
- H04N25/76—Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors
- H04N25/77—Pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components
- H04N25/772—Pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components comprising A/D, V/T, V/F, I/T or I/F converters
- H04N25/773—Pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components comprising A/D, V/T, V/F, I/T or I/F converters comprising photon counting circuits, e.g. single photon detection [SPD] or single photon avalanche diodes [SPAD]
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N25/00—Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
- H04N25/70—SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith
- H04N25/76—Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors
- H04N25/77—Pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components
- H04N25/771—Pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components comprising storage means other than floating diffusion
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N25/00—Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
- H04N25/50—Control of the SSIS exposure
- H04N25/57—Control of the dynamic range
- H04N25/58—Control of the dynamic range involving two or more exposures
- H04N25/587—Control of the dynamic range involving two or more exposures acquired sequentially, e.g. using the combination of odd and even image fields
Definitions
- the present disclosure relates to solid-state imaging devices.
- the pixel cell array 20 is formed by arranging the pixel cells 10 in rows and columns. As will be described in detail later, the pixel cell 10 is composed of an APD1 (avalanche photodiode 1) and a plurality of transistors electrically connected to the APD1.
- APD1 active photodiode 1
- the pixel cell 10 has an APD 1, a transfer transistor 3 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as TRN-TR3), and a reset transistor 4 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as RST-TR4). is doing. Further, the pixel cell 10 includes a floating diffusion portion 2 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an FD portion 2), a count transistor 7 (hereinafter sometimes called a CNT-TR7) and a capacitor 8 (hereinafter sometimes called an MIM8). ) and The pixel cell 10 further has an amplification transistor 5 (hereinafter sometimes called SF-TR5) and a selection transistor 6 (hereinafter sometimes called SEL-TR6). Note that in the following description, when focusing on the circuit operation, each element in the pixel cell 10 may be generically called a pixel circuit.
- the TRN-TR3 is a field effect transistor (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a MISFET) whose source is connected to the cathode of the APD1 and whose drain is connected to the FD section 2.
- the drain of the TRN-TR3 and the FD section 2 is a common area.
- TRN-TR3 are N-channel MISFETs. That is, the source and drain are n-type impurity regions, and the region immediately below the gate is a p-type impurity region. Gates of TRN-TR3 are connected to the vertical scanning circuit 40 .
- SEL-TR6 is a MISFET whose drain is connected to the source of SF-TR5 and whose source is connected to VSL9. A gate of SEL-TR6 is connected to the vertical scanning circuit 40 . When the drive signal SEL is supplied from the vertical scanning circuit 40, the SEL-TR6 is turned on, and the output signal of the SF-TR5 is transferred to the VSL9 and further output to the readout circuit 50.
- FIG. 1 When the drive signal SEL is supplied from the vertical scanning circuit 40, the SEL-TR6 is turned on, and the output signal of the SF-TR5 is transferred to the VSL9 and further output to the readout circuit 50.
- Ec and EFN are displayed in each figure for reference.
- Ec indicates the lower end level of the conduction band of the semiconductor layer forming each part in the pixel cell 10 .
- E FN indicates the Fermi level of the n-type semiconductor layer forming each part.
- the vertical axis also shows the potential energy of electrons in each part in the pixel cell 10 . Since the potential energy of an electron is opposite to the magnitude relationship of the potential, the relationship of P3>P2>P1 is satisfied in each figure.
- the drive signal TRN is lowered to 0V, TRN-TR3 is turned off, and the exposure ends (period IV shown in FIG. 4).
- the driving signal CNT is lowered to 0V to turn off CNT-TR7 (period XI shown in FIG. 4).
- a voltage signal based on the amount of charge accumulated in the FD section 2 is output from the SF-TR5 and transferred to the VSL9 via the SEL-TR6.
- FIG. 7 shows an example of the relationship between the photon count number and the capacitor voltage in the exposure step.
- the potential VFD of the FD section 2 is adjusted to a predetermined level for each exposure period. . That is, when photons are incident on the APD 1 during one exposure period, the charge amount accumulated in the FD portion 2 is constant.
- the charge accumulated in the FD section 2 is redistributed to the MIM 8 according to the ratio between the capacitance CFD of the FD section 2 and the capacitance CMIM of the MIM 8. .
- the pixel cell 10 has at least a CNT-TR7 connected to the FD section 2 and an MIM8 having one terminal connected to the front CNT-TR7.
- the number of elements in the pixel cell 10 can be reduced by one compared to the conventional configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2.
- the first reset transistor in Patent Document 2 can be omitted.
- the size of the pixel cell 10 can be reduced, and the solid-state imaging device 100 with higher integration than the conventional configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2 can be realized.
- the number of transistors directly connected to the APD 1 can be reduced compared to the conventional configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2.
- the first reset transistor in Patent Document 2 can be omitted.
- the number of transistors directly connected to the APD 1 can be reduced, so the amount of dark current flowing into the APD 1 can be reduced compared to the conventional configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2. This makes it possible to suppress deterioration in image quality.
- the potentials of the terminals of the MIM 8 connected to the capacitor signal line 42 can be changed to different levels.
- the difference between the reset level and the signal level can be increased, noise components can be removed, and a large-amplitude photodetection signal can be obtained. This makes it possible to accurately detect the number of photons incident on the APD 1 .
- the vertical scanning circuit 40 is configured to be able to apply voltages of three or more different levels to the gate of the RST-TR4. By doing so, the potential VFD of the FD section 2 is adjusted, and the amount of charge accumulated in the FD section 2 when photons are incident during one exposure period, and thus the charge accumulated in the MIM 8 Amount can be constant. As a result, the number of incident photons to the APD 1 can be detected without providing a dedicated circuit such as an analog-digital conversion circuit. That is, it is possible to accurately detect the number of times that photons are incident on the APD 1 while configuring the solid-state imaging device 100 with a simple configuration.
- the charges generated by the APD 1 are accumulated in the MIM 8 via the FD section 2 during the exposure period.
- the vertical scanning circuit 40 causes the VSL 9 to read out a photodetection signal based on the charge amount accumulated in the MIM 8 . By doing so, the number of times photons are incident on the APD 1 can be accurately detected.
- the magnitude of the photodetection signal output from the solid-state imaging device 100 corresponds to the number of exposure periods during which photons are incident on the APD1.
- the number of times photons are incident on the APD 1 can be accurately detected without providing a dedicated circuit such as an analog-digital conversion circuit.
- the level changing circuit sets the voltage of the power supply 11 so that the APD 1 operates in the linear multiplication mode.
- the determination circuit and the level change circuit may be provided outside the solid-state imaging device 100 .
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Abstract
Description
[固体撮像素子の構成]
図1は、本実施形態に係る固体撮像素子の平面図を示す。なお、説明の便宜上、図1において、画素セル10内の回路構成及び画素セルアレイ20と周辺回路部30との接続関係の図示を省略している。また、図1において、周辺回路部30の一部のみを図示している。
図2は、画素セル内の回路の概略構成図を示し、図3は、画素セルとキャパシタへの電圧印加回路との接続関係の概略構成図を示す。
図4は、光検出時の画素回路の動作タイミングチャートを示す。図5A~5Hは、露光時の画素セル内の電位及びポテンシャルを模式的に示す。図6A~6Gは、信号読み出し時の画素セル内の電位及びポテンシャルを模式的に示す。なお、図5A~5H及び図6A~6Gのそれぞれにおいて、上側の図が、図2に示すA-A線に沿った電位及びポテンシャルを模式的に示し、下側の図が、図2に示すB-B線に沿ったポテンシャルを模式的に示している。また、図5A~5Hに示す電位及びポテンシャルは、図4に示す期間I~VIIIにそれぞれ対応し、図6A~6Gに示す電位及びポテンシャルは、図4に示す期間IX~XVにそれぞれ対応している。
図7は、露光ステップでのフォトンカウント数とキャパシタ電圧との関係の一例を示す
前述したように、1回の露光期間毎に、FD部2の電位VFDを所定のレベルに調整している。つまり、1回の露光期間でAPD1にフォトンが入射した場合、FD部2に蓄積される電荷量は一定となる。また、FD部2とMIM8とを導通状態にした場合、FD部2に蓄積された電荷は、FD部2の容量CFDとMIM8の容量CMIMとの比に応じてMIM8に再分配される。
以上説明したように、本実施形態に係る固体撮像素子100は、行列状に配置された複数の画素セル10と、複数の画素セル10の動作を制御する垂直走査回路(行制御回路)40とを少なくとも備えている。
以上のように、本出願において開示する技術の例示として、実施形態について説明した。しかしながら、本開示による技術は、これらに限定されず、本開示の趣旨を逸脱しない限り、適宜、変更、置き換え、付加、省略等を行った実施形態にも適用可能である。
2 フローティングディフュージョン部(FD部)
3 転送トランジスタ(TRN-TR)
4 リセットトランジスタ(RST-TR)
5 増幅トランジスタ(SF-TR)
6 選択トランジスタ(SEL-TR)
7 カウントトランジスタ(CNT-TR7)
8 キャパシタ(MIM)
9 垂直信号線(VSL)
10 画素セル
11 電源
12 リセットドレイン電源(第1電源)
13 ドレイン電源(第2電源)
11 電源(第2電源)
20 画素セルアレイ
30 周辺回路部
40 垂直走査回路(行制御回路)
41 アンプ
42 キャパシタ信号線
50 読み出し回路
60 水平走査回路
70 バッファアンプ
100 固体撮像素子
Claims (4)
- 行列状に配置された複数の画素セルと、前記複数の画素セルの動作を制御する行制御回路とを少なくとも備えた固体撮像素子であって、
前記画素セルは、
受光した光を電荷に変換するアバランシェフォトダイオードと、
前記アバランシェフォトダイオードで生成された電荷を蓄積するフローティングディフュージョン部と、
前記アバランシェフォトダイオードと前記フローティングディフュージョン部とにそれぞれ接続された転送トランジスタと、
第1電源と前記フローティングディフュージョン部とにそれぞれ接続されたリセットトランジスタと、
第2電源と前記フローティングディフュージョン部とにそれぞれ接続され、前記フローティングディフュージョン部に蓄積された電荷量に応じた電圧信号を出力する増幅トランジスタと、
前記増幅トランジスタに接続され、前記増幅トランジスタの出力信号を垂直信号線に転送する選択トランジスタと、
前記フローティングディフュージョン部に接続されたカウントトランジスタと、
一方の端子が前記カウントトランジスタに接続されたキャパシタと、
を少なくとも有し、
前記行制御回路は、前記キャパシタの他方の端子に互いに異なるレベルの電圧を供給可能に構成されていることを特徴とする固体撮像素子。 - 請求項1に記載の固体撮像素子において、
前記行制御回路は、さらに前記リセットトランジスタのゲートに3つ以上の互いに異なるレベルの電圧を印加可能に構成されていることを特徴とする固体撮像素子。 - 請求項1または2に記載の固体撮像素子において、
露光期間では、前記アバランシェフォトダイオードで発生した電荷を前記フローティングディフュージョン部を経由して前記キャパシタに蓄積し、
前記行制御回路は、前記露光期間を所定回数繰り返し実行した後に、前記キャパシタに蓄積された電荷量に基づいた光検出信号を垂直信号線に読み出させることを特徴とする固体撮像素子。 - 請求項3に記載の固体撮像素子において、
前記光検出信号の大きさは、前記アバランシェフォトダイオードにフォトンが入射された前記露光期間の回数に対応していることを特徴とする固体撮像素子。
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CN202280013571.1A CN116897542A (zh) | 2021-03-29 | 2022-03-22 | 固态成像元件 |
US18/448,673 US20230388676A1 (en) | 2021-03-29 | 2023-08-11 | Solid-state imaging sensor |
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WO2018216400A1 (ja) * | 2017-05-25 | 2018-11-29 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | 固体撮像素子、及び撮像装置 |
WO2019186838A1 (ja) * | 2018-03-28 | 2019-10-03 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | 固体撮像素子、固体撮像装置、固体撮像システム、固体撮像素子の駆動方法 |
WO2021044770A1 (ja) * | 2019-09-06 | 2021-03-11 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | 撮像装置 |
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WO2018216400A1 (ja) * | 2017-05-25 | 2018-11-29 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | 固体撮像素子、及び撮像装置 |
WO2019186838A1 (ja) * | 2018-03-28 | 2019-10-03 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | 固体撮像素子、固体撮像装置、固体撮像システム、固体撮像素子の駆動方法 |
WO2021044770A1 (ja) * | 2019-09-06 | 2021-03-11 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | 撮像装置 |
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