Patent ID: 7196312

Claim:
A solid state image pickup device comprising: a semiconductor substrate having a first layer of a first conductivity type; a second layer of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, said second layer being formed on the first layer, in said semiconductor substrate; a first region of the first conductivity type formed in said second layer and constituting a photodiode with said second layer, the first region being electrically floating and capable of storing charge carriers; a first gate structure including a charge storage region and a control gate, said first gate structure being formed on a surface of said semiconductor substrate adjacent to a portion of said first region, and said charge storage region being isolated from said first region; a second region of the first conductivity type formed in said second layer adjacent to said first gate structure on a side opposite to said first region, and constituting a non-volatile memory element with said first region and said first gate structure; a first wiring connected to said second region for applying a voltage to said second region; a light shielding film formed above said first gate structure and having an aperture above said first region; and a control circuit for applying a first write voltage to the control gate of said first gate structure, the first write voltage being a write voltage for tunneling and injecting charges accumulated in said first region into the charge storage region, wherein said control circuit applies a second write voltage to the control gate of said first gate structure and to the second region after the first write voltage is applied, the second write voltage being a write voltage for injecting charges accumulated in said first region into the charge storage region as hot carrier injection.