CCD imager with concentric transfer electrodes and its method of operation

摘要

A sensor device (30) of the type for sensing incident radiation by charge generation, has a substrate within which charge may be generated by incident radiation. A plurality of electrodes (32) are arranged to cover an image area of the substrate and are selectively connectable to supplied DC voltages such that an electric field is created across the image area to sweep charge across multiple electrodes from the image area (30) to an output (34). The voltage applied to one of the electrodes (32) may be a voltage of a level so as to present a barrier to charge within the image area (30). The sensor (30) thus has a variable sample area defined by the barrier voltage level.