Patent ID: 7173228

Claim:
An image sensor device, comprising: a substrate, formed in CMOS technology, with an integrated semiconductor structure (ASIC) and spatially adjacent pixels in each case being formed in a horizontal plane of the image sensor device, which pixels each have an optoelectronic transducer for converting incident light into an electrical current proportional to an incident quantity of light and also a capacitor assigned to the optoelectronic transducer, the charge state of which capacitor can be varied in a manner dependent on the light incident on the assigned optoelectronic transducer; wherein the capacitor is assigned first and second limiting means for defining in each case a maximum voltage for the capacitor and a minimum voltage for the capacitor and the optoelectronic transducer; wherein the first limiting means is a semiconductor switch by means of which a reset voltage can be applied to the capacitor in order to define the maximum voltage for the capacitor and the optoelectronic transducer; wherein the second limiting means is the semiconductor switch having a control connection which is held at a potentials while the semiconductor switch is in a non-conducting state and the capacitor is being discharged by the detector current of the optoelectronic transducer, such that the semiconductor switch transfers from the non-conducting state to a conducting state in response to a voltage of the capacitor reaching a voltage at which the potential held at the control connection is greater than a pure reverse voltage of the switch.