Patent ID: 7436038

Claim:
A MOS or CMOS based visible/near infrared sensor array comprising: A) a substrate, B) a plurality of MOS or CMOS pixel circuits fabricated in or on said substrate, each pixel circuit comprising: 1) a charge collecting electrode for collecting electrical charges and 2) a plurality of transistors for monitoring periodically charges collected by said charge collecting electrode, C) a continuous un-pixelated photodiode layer of charge generating material located above said pixel circuits for converting into electrical charges electromagnetic radiation in the visible and near infrared spectral ranges, said photodiode layer comprising at least an n-layer, an intrinsic layer and a p-layer, wherein each of the n-layer, the intrinsic layer and the p-layer of the continuous un-pixelated photodiode layer are continuous with no gaps between pixels, and wherein one of said n-layer or said p-layer is adjacent to the charge collecting electrodes in each of the pixel circuits to define a bottom layer; and wherein the bottom layer comprises sufficient carbon to increase its electrical resistance to more than 2×10 7 ohm-cm to minimize pixel-to-pixel crosstalk; and D) a surface electrode in the form of a grid or thin transparent layer located above said layer of charge generating material.