Patent ID: 6873361

Claim:
An image sensor, comprising: a plurality of chips; each of the plurality of chips respectively having: a plurality of converters for converting incident beams into electric signals; a plurality of electric signal storages; and an input/output section, said converters being arranged in a plurality of rows in the vicinity of a first end portion of the chip, said electric signal storages respectively having electric signal-storage elements for storing said electric signals, each electric signal storage extending from the plurality of converters to a second end portion opposite to the first end portion of the chip, and said input/output section being arranged in the vicinity of the second end portion of the chip, wherein the first end portion of each chip is shifted relative to the first end portion of an adjacent chip so that the row of the converters of the respective chips are stepwise exposed, wherein the second end portion of each chip is shifted relative to the second end portion of an adjacent chip so that the input/output sections of the respective chips are stepwise exposed, wherein said plurality of converters are arranged above an end portion of each respective electric signal storage, and wherein each electric signal storage is arranged diagonally across the arrangement of said plurality of converters such that each converter is connected in the same position to an input gate of a respective electric signal storage.