| US 7,538,810 B2 | ||
| Solid-state image pickup device and control method thereof, and camera | ||
| Toru Koizumi, Yokohama (Japan); Akira Okita, Yamato (Japan); Katsuhito Sakurai, Machida (Japan); and Isamu Ueno, Hadano (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Jan. 13, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/332,734. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2005-008124 (JP), filed on Jan. 14, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0158539 A1, Jul. 20, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. H04N 3/14 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 348—308 | 7 Claims |
| 1. An image pickup device including a pixel comprising:
a photoelectric conversion unit, which generates carriers by photoelectric conversion and accumulates a part of the carriers;
a first capacitor, which is light-shielded, and which accumulates carriers that overflow from the photoelectric conversion
unit;
an amplifying unit, which amplifies a signal based on the carriers accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit and the
carriers accumulated in the first capacitor;
a first transfer transistor, which transfers the carriers accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit to the amplifying
unit; and
a second transfer transistor, which transfers the carriers accumulated in the first capacitor to the amplifying unit,
wherein the photoelectric conversion unit and the first capacitor have a same structure,
wherein the photoelectric conversion unit includes a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type for accumulating
the carriers and a second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type disposed in a surface side of the first semiconductor
region; and
wherein the first capacitor includes a third semiconductor region of the first conductivity type for accumulating a part of
the carriers that overflow from the photoelectric conversion unit, and a fourth semiconductor region of the second conductivity
type disposed in a surface side of the third semiconductor region.
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