A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel having a photoelectric conversion element which generates a charge in response to incident light, a first transfer gate which transfers the charge from the photoelectric conversion element to a charge holding section, and a second transfer gate which transfers the charge from the charge holding section to a floating diffusion. The first transfer gate includes a trench gate structure having at least two trench gate sections embedded in a depth direction of a semiconductor substrate, and the charge holding section includes a semiconductor region positioned between adjacent trench gate sections.

The optical device comprises a first substrate comprising at least one optical structure comprising a main portion and a surrounding portion at least partially surrounding said main portion. The device furthermore comprises non-transparent material applied onto said surrounding portion. The opto-electronic module comprises a plurality of these optical devices comprised in said first substrate.

The method for manufacturing an optical device comprises the steps of a) providing a first substrate comprising at least one optical structure comprising a main portion and a surrounding portion at least partially surrounding said main portion; and b) applying a non-transparent material onto at least said surrounding portion.

Said non-transparent material is present on at least said surrounding portion still in the finished optical device.

A method of clocking an image sensor which eliminates well bounce effects caused by global current flow in large image sensors during frame readout and line transfer is described. During charge transfer operations in which voltages are applied to VCCD gate contacts that are adjacent to the photodiodes, a compensating voltage may be applied to the lightshield that is associated with, and at least partially formed over the photodiode. Depending on polarity, the compensating lightshield pulse allows holes to locally flow from under the VCCD gates to the photodiode P+ pinning region or vice-versa, and in such a manner to eliminate the global flow of hole current. Lightshields may also be biased during electronic shuttering operations.

The present disclosure provides techniques for improving the rate and efficiency of charge transfer within an integrated circuit configured to receive incident photons. Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to integrated circuits that are configured to induce one or more intrinsic electric fields that increase the rate and efficiency of charge transfer within the integrated circuits. Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to integrated circuits configured to induce a charge carrier depletion in the photodetection region(s) of the integrated circuits. In some embodiments, the charge carrier depletion in the photodetection region(s) may be intrinsic, in that the depletion is induced even in the absence of external electric fields applied to the integrated circuit. Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to processes for operating and/or manufacturing integrated devices as described herein.

The present disclosure relates to an imaging device and an electronic device that make it possible to obtain a better pixel signal. A photoelectric conversion part that converts received light into a charge; a holding part that holds a charge transferred from the photoelectric conversion part; and a light shielding part that shields light between the photoelectric conversion part and the holding part are provided. The photoelectric conversion part, the holding part, and the light shielding part are formed in a semiconductor substrate. The light shielding part of a transfer region that transfers the charge from the photoelectric conversion part to the holding part is formed as a non-penetrating light shielding part that does not penetrate the semiconductor substrate. The light shielding part other than the transfer region is formed as a penetrating light shielding part that penetrates the semiconductor substrate. The present technology is applicable to an imaging device.

A NIR spectrometry device that includes different NIR PIN diodes (NPDs) and a guard PIN diode (VLPD) that are operated in a fully depletion mode. The different NPDs are located at different lateral positions corresponding to absorption depths of different NIR wavelengths. Each NPD is configured to collect electron-hole pairs (EHPs) generated by radiation that passes through a side edge of the device at a wavelength having an absorption depth that corresponds to a lateral position of the NPD. The VLPD is located at a lateral position that corresponds to a distance from the side edge that exceeds an absorption depth of visible light. The VLPD is configured to collect EHPs generated by unwanted radiation that passed through the side edge of the NIR spectrometry device and to prevent the EHPs generated by unwanted radiation to reach any of the different NPDs.