Patent ID: 8829637

Claim:
An image sensor comprising: a substrate layer of a first conductivity type; a first conductive contact pad configured to receive a potential; a second contact configured to receive an adjustable and programmable second potential; a third contact configured to receive an adjustable and programmable third potential; and a plurality of pixels with at least one pixel including: a front-side photodetector of the first conductivity type disposed in the substrate layer adjacent to a front-side of the substrate layer; a front-side pinning layer of a second conductivity type disposed in the front-side photodetector spanning the front-side photodetector, wherein the first conductive contact pad is directly electrically connected to the front-side pinning layer; a backside photodetector of the first conductivity type disposed in the substrate layer adjacent to a backside of the substrate layer; a backside pinning layer of the second conductivity type disposed in the backside photodetector spanning the backside photodetector, wherein the second contact is electrically connected to the backside pinning layer; and a buried layer of the second conductivity type (i) configured to form an electrostatic barrier between the front-side photodetector and the backside photodetector, (ii) disposed in the substrate layer between the front-side photodetector and backside photodetector, and (iii) electrically connected to the third contact, the buried layer of the second conductivity type and the front side pinning layer being separated by a region of the first conductivity type and being electrically independent, and the buried layer of the second conductivity type and the back side pinning layer being separated by a region of the first conductivity type and being electrically independent.