Patent ID: 7554592

Claim:
A solid-state imaging apparatus, comprising: a semiconductor substrate defining a two-dimensional surface; a multiplicity of photo electric conversion elements positioned on lattice points of a first lattice of a tetragonal matrix and of a second lattice of which each lattice point is positioned at a center of the first lattice in a light receiving region of the semiconductor substrate; a vertical electric charge transfer device having a plurality of vertical electric charge transfer channels arranged vertically between rows of the photo electric conversion elements and a plurality of transfer electrodes horizontally arranged over the vertical electric charge transfer channels; reading out parts, each comprising a reading out electrode also serving as one of the transfer electrodes, corresponding to each one of the multiplicity of the photo electric conversion elements, and reading out a signal electric charge accumulated in the corresponding photo electric conversion element to the vertical electric charge transfer channels adjoining in a horizontal direction; and a driving device that imposes a first voltage to the reading out electrode for reading out the accumulated signal electric charge from the photo electric conversion elements to the transfer channels in a reading out period and at a same time during the reading out period imposes a second voltage to at least one of the transfer electrodes adjoining to the reading out electrode for each photo electric conversion element for accumulating the signal electric charge in the vertical electric charge transfer channel under the one of the transfer electrode.