Solid-state image sensor having its photosensitive cells broadened in area

摘要

An image pickup apparatus includes a solid-state image sensor having vertical transfer paths, which are formed every other column and therefore reduced in number to one-half of the conventional vertical transfer paths. The resulting idle regions are added to the photosensitive areas of photosensitive cells for thereby broadening the photosensitive areas, insuring sufficient signal charges even when the number of pixels is increased. Transfer gates each are positioned between a particular photosensitive cell and a particular column transfer path adjacent thereto at a side contacting the column transfer path, so that signal charges are vertically transferred without the mixture of colors.