Patent ID: 9406718
Filing Date: 2016-08-02
CPC Classification: H01L,H04N

Claim Text:
1. A pixel cell, comprising: a photodiode coupled to photogenerate image charge in response to incident light; a deep trench isolation structure disposed proximate to the photodiode to provide a capacitive coupling to the photodiode through the deep trench isolation structure, wherein the deep trench isolation structure includes a conductive material, and an oxide material lining an interior of the deep trench isolation structure; an amplifier transistor coupled to the deep trench isolation structure to generate amplified image data in response to the image charge read out from the photodiode through the capacitive coupling provided by the deep trench isolation structure; a row select transistor coupled to an output of the amplifier transistor to selectively output the amplified image data to a column bitline coupled to the row select transistor; a floating diffusion coupled to the amplifier transistor; a transfer transistor coupled between the photodiode and the floating diffusion to selectively couple the floating diffusion to the photodiode; a reset transistor coupled to the floating diffusion to selectively reset charge in the floating diffusion and the photodiode; and a switch transistor coupled between the deep trench isolation structure and the floating diffusion, wherein the amplifier transistor and the reset transistor are selectively coupled to the deep trench isolation structure through the switch transistor.