Patent ID: 8134190

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising: a photoelectric conversion element, which includes a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type and a second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type forming a junction with the first semiconductor region; a floating diffusion region of the second conductivity type, to which an output signal from the photoelectric conversion element is transferred; a third semiconductor region of the first conductivity type, which has an impurity concentration higher than that of the first semiconductor region and which is arranged in the first semiconductor region, wherein the third semiconductor region is connected to a conductor that defines the potential of the first semiconductor region; an element isolation region, formed from an insulator, and provided between the third semiconductor region and the second semiconductor region; a conductive layer provided on the element isolation region; a channel stop region of the first conductivity type, which is arranged under the element isolation region, wherein the channel stop region is laterally connected or contacted to the third semiconductor region, not through the first semiconductor region; and a side wall spacer positioned at a side of the conductive layer, such that a width c of the element isolation region, a width b of the side wall spacer, and a distance a between an end of the element isolation region at a side of the third semiconductor region and an end of the conductive layer at the side of the third semiconductor region satisfy a relation c>a≧b.