Patent ID: 7466003
Filing Date: 2008-12-16
Classification: H01L,H04N

Abstract:
1. An image pickup device including a plurality of pixels each comprising: a floating diffusion region; a photoelectric conversion unit; a first transfer transistor for transferring carriers accumulated in said photoelectric conversion unit into said floating diffusion region; a capacitor in which at least a part of the carriers which have overflowed from said photoelectric conversion unit can flow; and a second transfer transistor, arranged in parallel to the first transfer transistor, for transferring the carriers in said capacitor into the floating diffusion region, through a path separate from a path through which the carriers are transferred from said photoelectric conversion unit into the floating diffusion region, wherein a potential barrier between said photoelectric conversion unit and said capacitor is lower than that between said photoelectric conversion unit and a photoelectric conversion unit of a neighboring pixel adjacent to said photoelectric conversion unit.