Patent ID: 6933976

Claim:
A solid-state image pickup device, comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a large number of photoelectric converters arranged on one surface of said semiconductor substrate in a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows, each of said columns and said rows including a plurality of photoelectric converters, said photoelectric converters in odd ones of said columns being shifted about one half of a pitch P 1 in a direction of said column relative to said photoelectric converters in even ones of said columns, said photoelectric converters in odd ones of said rows being shifted about one half of a pitch P 2 in a direction of said row relative to said photoelectric converters in even ones of said rows, each said photoelectric converter column including said photoelectric converters of only said odd rows or said even rows; a vertical charge transfer channel provided for each said photoelectric converter column on the surface of said semiconductor substrate, each said channel being adjacent to an associated photoelectric converter column, each said channel including a plurality of sections of different directions lying in a line, said channel generally extending, while meandering in a zigzag shape, in column direction; a plurality of transfer electrodes disposed on the surface of said semiconductor substrate to intersect in plan view said charge transfer channels, each said transfer electrode including a plurality of transfer path forming regions which are equal in number to said charge transfer channels, each said transfer path forming region covering one of said sections of said charge transfer channels, said transfer path forming region and said section disposed thereunder forming one charge transfer stage; each said transfer electrode generally extending in row direction, while two adjacent ones of said transfer electrodes sandwiching one of said photoelectric converter rows therebetween and determining one photoelectric converter region for every second one of said photoelectric converter columns by meeting each other and parting from each other to enclose in plan view every one of said photoelectric converters in said odd or even row; and a readout gate region disposed contiguous to each said photoelectric converter and to an associated one of said charge transfer channels, each said charge transfer channel having a first width at location where said channel is contiguous to said readout gate region and a second width at a location where said channel is separated from said readout gate region, said first width being less than said second width.