Patent ID: 7550793

Claim:
An image pickup device comprising: plural pixels, each pixel including: a photoelectric conversion unit arranged in a semiconductor substrate; a first transfer MOS transistor for transferring carriers generated in the photoelectric conversion unit through a channel in a vicinity of a gate insulation film of the first transfer MOS transistor to a carrier accumulation region, the channel being formed when the first transfer MOS transistor is turned on; a first conductivity type semiconductor region arranged under a gate electrode of the first transfer MOS transistor; and a second transfer MOS transistor for transferring at least a part of carriers overflowing from the photoelectric conversion unit through a path to a storage capacitor at a time when the first transfer MOS transistor is turned off, the second transfer MOS transistor being arranged between the carrier accumulation region and the storage capacitor, wherein the path is arranged between the photoelectric conversion unit and the carrier accumulation region and deeper in the semiconductor substrate than a depth of the channel formed when the first transfer MOS transistor is turned on, wherein the path is surrounded by the first conductivity type semiconductor region and a well of the first conductivity type along a sectional plane in a direction of a channel width of the first transfer MOS transistor, wherein the path is shorter than a width of the gate electrode of the first transfer MOS transistor in the direction of the channel width of the first transfer MOS transistor, and wherein the pixel generates a pixel signal based on both the carriers transferred by the first transfer MOS transistor and the carriers that overflow from the photoelectric conversion unit through the path.