Patent ID: 6638787
Filing Date: 2003-10-28
Classification: H01L,H04N

Abstract:
In a commercially finished fast frame-rate charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging device having a semiconductor chip with a single active photocell array field comprising an m-by-n array of CCD imaging photocells and an optical mask with a large aperture defining said single active photocell array, the improvement comprising:a fiberoptic block bonded directly to the semiconductor chip and optical mask, and over the m-by-n array of CCD imaging photocells; a plurality of parallel fiberoptic light pipes disposed in the fiberoptic block normal to said single active photocell array field, and with a pitch finer than the pixel spacing pitch of the imaging photocells in the active imaging area of said semiconductor chip; an optical epoxy disposed between the fiberoptic block and the semiconductor chip and optical mask, and providing for a permanent attachment, and such that any light leakage that occurs between pixels at an interface at an active imaging area is minimal; an occlusion disposed in the fiberoptic block such that a majority of such CCD imaging photocells are permanently darkened, and multiple whole image frames are provided for within the one previous active photocell array field; and a serial output of the thus-modified CCD device for providing a reinterpretation of more whole image frames than existed originally in said commercially finished CCD, at a multiple equal to the original array dimension divided by the new array dimension; wherein, a frame-rate multiplication during use is made possible by a clocking of photocell image information from a first plurality of unblocked CCD imaging photocells when a next image frame exposure occurs, and that can thereby operate faster than one hundred frames-per-second.