Patent ID: 7067860

Claim:
A solid-state imaging device, comprising: a pixel array having a plurality of unit pixels, each of the unit pixels including a photo diode and an insulated gate field effect transistor that detects photocharges; and a control circuit that controls the operation of the pixel array, wherein: the photo diode and the insulated gate field effect transistor share a well region of a first conductivity type that is formed in a semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type, the semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type being formed on a semiconductor substrate of the first conductivity type; an accumulation region that accumulates charges of a given conductivity type generated in response to light incident on the photo diode that is formed in the well region of the insulated gate field effect transistor; and the control circuit configured to forward bias a junction region between the semiconductor substrate and the semiconductor layer so as to accumulate a predetermined amount of the charges of the given conductivity type during pre-charging regardless of an amount of the charges of the given conductivity type before pre-charging in the accumulation region, and discharges the charges of the given conductivity type accumulated in the accumulation region thereafter.