Patent ID: 8513761

Claim:
A backside illumination semiconductor image sensor, wherein each photodetection cell comprises: a semiconductor body of a first conductivity type of a first doping level delimited by an insulation wall, electron-hole pairs being capable of forming in said body after a backside illumination; on a front surface side of said body, a ring-shaped well of a second conductivity type, the well delimiting a substantially central region having its upper portion of the first conductivity type of a second doping level greater than the first doping level; and means for controlling the transfer of charge carriers, resulting from backside illumination of a rear surface of said body, from said body to said upper portion, wherein said means for controlling includes at least one conductive region that surrounds said central region or said body, wherein the means for controlling is configured to control transfer of the charge carriers from said body to said upper portion in a transfer phase and to hold the charge carriers in said body in a photoconversion phase, and wherein the means for controlling is configured to control an electrostatic voltage in said central region relative to an electrostatic voltage in said body.