Patent ID: 6891144

Claim:
Photo-sensitive element for electro-optical sensors realized with CMOS technology, comprising at least a photo-sensitive reception member consisting of a diode connected to a conversion circuit to convert the current generated by said photo-sensitive reception member into a tension signal, and an amplification and reading circuit, said conversion circuit comprising at least two transistors, arranged in a diode configuration, each one having its drain short-circuited with its own gate, wherein said at least two transistors are of the N-type, the source of a first of said at least two transistors is connected with the drain of another of said at least two transistors, whose source is further connected with the cathode of said photo-diode to define a photo-sensitive node and to provide a logarithmic conversion of said current, photo-generated by said reception member into a corresponding tension, in continuous time and without requiring time to integrate the light, the amplification and reading circuit comprising at least a third transistor of the N-type, having its gate connected to said photo-sensitive node to achieve a first stage of amplification in tension of the signal by transferring the tension present on said photo-sensitive node to the source of said third transistor.