Patent ID: 7944493

Claim:
An imaging device formed in a semiconductor substrate, the imaging device comprising: a plurality of photodiodes arranged in rows and columns, each photodiode for a given row of photodiodes formed in a corresponding active region of the semiconductor substrate; a transfer gate disposed over the first active region so as to define an associated photodiode on one side of the transfer gate and an associated floating diffusion element on another side of the transfer gate; an amplifier transistor; a reset transistor; a first wire electrically connecting the associated floating diffusion element to a gate electrode of the amplifier transistor; a second contact hole connecting a drain of the reset transistor to a third wire disposed over the first semiconductor substrate; a third contact hole connecting the associated floating diffusion element to the first wire; and a fourth contact hole connecting the gate electrode of the amplifier transistor to the first wire, wherein: the amplifier transistor is formed in another active region which is separated from the corresponding active region where the associated floating diffusion element connected to the gate of the amplifier transistor is formed, the first wire is disposed in a column direction between the associated floating diffusion element and the gate electrode of the associated amplifier transistor, and the second, third and fourth contact holes are aligned substantially in a straight line.