Patent ID: 7548268

Claim:
A solid-state image sensing device having an unshielded photoreceptive element for storing an information charge generated in response to an incident light and a light-shielded charge-retaining element for retaining the information charge as it is, adjacently arranged on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, wherein the information charge can be bidirectionally transferred between the photoreceptive element and the charge-retaining element by a transfer clock signal, and wherein the solid-state image sensing device is used for a distance-measuring sensor for calculating the distance between the distance-measuring sensor and an object, by irradiating the object with an irradiating light having the brightness modulated into a predetermined frequency for a predetermined period, simultaneously image-sensing the object by repeating a state in which a potential is formed to store charges in the photoreceptive element and the charge-retaining element and a state in which a potential is formed to store charges in only the charge-retaining element while synchronizing the transfer clock signal with the irradiating light having the modulated brightness, and detecting a phase difference between the irradiating light and the reflected light from the object.