Patent ID: 8009218

Claim:
A method of driving a semiconductor device for physical quantity distribution sensing, the semiconductor device including, in a semiconductor substrate, charge generating sections arranged in a matrix for generating signal charge responsive to an input electromagnetic wave, a first charge transfer section for successively transferring in one direction the signal charge generated by the charge generating section, a second charge transfer section for successively transferring the signal charge, transferred by the first charge transfer section, in another direction different from the one direction, an output section for converting the signal charge transferred by the second charge transfer section into an electrical signal, and a charge storage section arranged between the first charge transfer section and the second charge transfer section, the method comprising the steps of: transferring the signal charge of a predetermined unit in the other direction generated by the charge generating section to the charge storage section by driving the signal charge in the one direction within an effective transfer period of the other direction, and transferring the signal charge of a predetermined unit in the other direction transferred to the charge storage section to the second charge transfer section by driving the signal charge outside the effective transfer period of the other direction; and supplying a predetermined location of the semiconductor substrate with a noise correction signal reverse in phase from noise on the semiconductor substrate by driving the signal charge within the effective transfer period of the other direction.