Patent ID: 7315330

Claim:
A solid-state image pickup element comprising: a plurality of sensor sections arranged in a matrix of rows and columns for performing photoelectric conversion; a first charge transfer section for transferring signal charges read out from said plurality of sensor sections in a direction in which the rows are arranged; a second charge transfer section for transferring the signal charges transferred from said first charge transfer section in a direction in which the columns are arranged; and a discharge controlling section provided in a transfer stage which transfers the signal charges from said first charge transfer section to the second charge transfer section, said discharge controlling section stopping the transfer of, and instead discharging, the signal charges of a given set of columns selectively on a column-by-column basis, and those signal charges of the remaining columns selectively on a row-by-row basis, wherein said discharge controlling section comprises a drain section, a transfer channel, and a discharging gate section provided between said transfer channel and said drain section for selectively discharging the signal charges from said transfer channel into said drain section, and wherein said discharging gate section comprises an embedded channel, formed in the same profile as said transfer channel, and a gate electrode disposed over said embedded channel.