| US 7,491,920 B2 | ||
| Microlensed focal plane array (FPA) using sub-pixel de-selection for improved operability | ||
| Donald L. Lee, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (US); and William E. Tennant, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Feb. 02, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/347,536. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0176082 A1, Aug. 02, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. H01L 27/00 (2006.01); H04N 9/64 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 250—208.1 [348/246] | 18 Claims |
| 1. A focal plane array (FPA) having an array of pixels, wherein each pixel comprises:
a plurality of radiation detectors, each detector having a collection region, the detectors' collection regions overlapping
within each said pixel;
a lens element that concentrates incident radiation into a focal region that is covered by a union of the detectors' collection
regions; and
a plurality of switch elements connected to respective detectors, each said switch element being switchable between a first
state for transmitting a signal received from its corresponding detector to an output and a second state for blocking transmittal
of the signal for a de-selected detector,
wherein when the switch element is in the second state the de-selected detector floats to a photovoltage and re-emits some
of its accumulated photo charge into the neighboring detectors within the pixel.
|