Patent ID: 8592931

Claim:
A sensor comprising: a photoelectric conversion element comprising: a pair of electrodes; a photoelectric conversion layer between the pair of electrodes; a charge-blocking layer between one of the pair of the electrodes and the photoelectric conversion layer, wherein the charge-blocking layer is capable of suppressing injection of a charge from the one of the pair of electrodes into the photoelectric conversion layer upon application of a voltage across the pair of electrodes, and the charge-blocking layer contains in a single layer a mixture of an insulating material and an electrically conductive material; a semiconductor substrate above which a photoelectric conversion portion including the pair of electrodes, the photoelectric conversion layer, and the charge-blocking layer is stacked; a charge accumulating portion provided within the semiconductor substrate and accumulating a charge generated in the photoelectric conversion layer; and a connecting portion that electrically connects one of the pair of electrodes for collecting the charge to the charge accumulating portion, and a voltage applying part which applies a voltage of 1.0×10 5 V/cm to 1.0×10 7 V/cm to the photoelectric conversion layer upon irradiation of light, wherein the insulating material includes an organic high molecular polymer and the electrically conductive material includes an electron transporting material containing fullerene C60, fullerene C70 or fullerene oxide.