IMPROVING FULL FRAME CCD SENSITIVITY BY BIASING LATERAL OVERFLOW DRAIN

摘要

An imaging apparatus includes (a) a full-frame, charge-coupled device having (i) a conductive layer of a first dopant type; (ii) a plurality of pixels arranged as a charge-coupled device in the conductive layer that collects charge in response to incident light and transfers the collected charge; (iii) an overflow drain of a dopant type opposite the first type disposed in the conductive layer and laterally adjacent to each pixel; and the apparatus having (b) a voltage supply connected to the lateral overflow drain that is at a first voltage during readout and at a second voltage that is lower than the first voltage during integration.