The present disclosure relates to a solid-state image pickup device and an electronic apparatus that are capable of preventing leakage of charges between adjacent pixels. A plurality of pixels perform photoelectric conversion on light incident from a back surface via different on-chip lenses for each pixel. A pixel separation wall is formed between pixels adjacent to each other, and includes a front-side trench formed from a front surface and a backside trench formed from the back surface. A wiring layer is provided on the front surface. The present disclosure is applicable to, for example, a backside illuminated CMOS image sensor.

The present disclosure relates to a solid-state image pickup device and an electronic apparatus that are capable of preventing leakage of charges between adjacent pixels. A plurality of pixels perform photoelectric conversion on light incident from a back surface via different on-chip lenses for each pixel. A pixel separation wall is formed between pixels adjacent to each other, and includes a front-side trench formed from a front surface and a backside trench formed from the back surface. A wiring layer is provided on the front surface. The present disclosure is applicable to, for example, a backside illuminated CMOS image sensor.

An imaging device includes: a solid-state imaging element having a plurality of pixel cells arranged in a matrix; and a control part configured to control the solid-state imaging element. The pixel cells each include an avalanche photodiode, a floating diffusion part configured to accumulate electric charges, a transfer transistor connecting a cathode of the avalanche photodiode and the floating diffusion part, and a reset transistor for resetting electric charges accumulated in the floating diffusion part. The control part controls the reset transistor to discharge electric charges exceeding a predetermined electric charge amount, of electric charges accumulated in the floating diffusion part from the cathode of the avalanche photodiode via the transfer transistor.

The invention concerns active-pixel electronic image sensors. The pixel comprises a photodiode (PH) designed in a semiconductor active layer (12) and maintained at a nil reference potential, and above the active layer an anti-blooming gate (G5) adjacent on one side to the photodiode and on another side to an evacuation drain (22). The sensor comprises means for applying to the anti-blooming gate, during most of the duration of integration, a blocking potential creating beneath the gate a potential barrier of a first height, and, during a series of brief pulses over the duration of integration, an anti-blooming potential creating a potential barrier of a second height, lower than the first. The fact of only applying the anti-blooming voltage during the brief pulses reduces the dark noise induced by tunneling effect by the electric field between gate and photodiode.

The invention relates to a method for avoiding pixel saturation in a group of pixels, each having a node, wherein a reference voltage is predetermined, and wherein a voltage change at the node of only one of the pixels compared to the predetermined reference voltage causes the synchronous reset of all pixels of the group.

The present invention provides a TDI line image sensor. The TDI line image sensor according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a pixel unit, which has N line sensors having M CCDs arranged in a line and being arranged horizontally to a scan direction, horizontally moves charges accumulated in the respective columns of the line sensors, and accumulates same; and an output unit for parallelly receiving as inputs the charges accumulated in the pixel unit from the respective columns, performing analog-to-digital conversion on and storing the charges, and then sequentially outputting same.

In a period in which a pixel signal of another pixel is read out from the pixel, a transistor connected to a floating diffusion region of a pixel not performing reading out of a pixel signal from the pixel is turned off.

Apparatus, systems, and methods are described to assist in reducing dark current in an active pixel sensor. In various embodiments, a potential barrier arrangement is configured to block the flow of charge carriers generated outside a photosensitive region. In various embodiments, a potential well-potential barrier arrangement is formed to direct charge carriers away from the photosensitive region during an integration time.

A pixel circuit includes a transfer transistor coupled between a photodiode and a floating diffusion to selectively transfer image charge accumulated in the photodiode to the floating diffusion. A selection circuit is coupled to select one of a first transfer control signal, a second transfer control signal, or a third transfer control signal to control the transfer transistor. The selection circuit is coupled to output the first transfer control signal in response to a precharge enable signal during a read out operation of a different row than a row in which the transfer transistor is included, to output the second transfer control signal in response to a sample enable signal during a read out operation of the row in which the transfer transistor is included, and output the third transfer control signal to partially turn on the transfer transistor during an idle state of the pixel circuit.

A radiation imaging apparatus acquires a radiation image from radiation detected by a radiation detection unit, corrects a first pixel that is a correction target in the radiation image by referring to a second pixel other than the first pixel, calculates an evaluation value that evaluates an increase in a noise level caused by correcting the first pixel, and performs processing of reducing the noise level for the first pixel after the correction based on the calculated evaluation value.