Abstract: A back-illuminated solid-state imaging element includes a semiconductor substrate which has a front surface and a back surface provided with a recess, and in which a thinned section, which is a bottom section of the recess, is an imaging area, a signal read-out circuit formed on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate, a boron layer formed on at least the back surface of the semiconductor substrate and a lateral surface of the recess, a metal layer formed on the boron layer, and provided with an opening opposing a bottom surface of the recess, and an anti-reflection layer formed on the bottom surface of the recess.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solid-state imaging device comprises a first step of preparing an imaging element having a second principal surface having an electrode arranged thereon, and a photoelectric converter part configured to photoelectrically convert the incident energy line so as to generate a signal charge; a second step of preparing a support substrate, provided with a through hole extending in a thickness direction thereof, having a third principal surface; a third step of aligning the imaging element and the support substrate with each other so that the electrode is exposed out of the through hole while the second and third principal surfaces oppose each other and joining the imaging element and the support substrate to each other; and a fourth step of arranging a conductive ball-shaped member in the through hole and electrically connecting the ball-shaped member to the electrode after the third step.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solid-state imaging device comprises a first step of preparing an imaging element having a second principal surface having an electrode arranged thereon, and a photoelectric converter part configured to photoelectrically convert the incident energy line so as to generate a signal charge; a second step of preparing a support substrate, provided with a through hole extending in a thickness direction thereof, having a third principal surface; a third step of aligning the imaging element and the support substrate with each other so that the electrode is exposed out of the through hole while the second and third principal surfaces oppose each other and joining the imaging element and the support substrate to each other; and a fourth step of arranging a conductive ball-shaped member in the through hole and electrically connecting the ball-shaped member to the electrode after the third step.

Abstract: Each pixel region PX includes a photoelectric conversion region S1, a resistive gate electrode R, a first transfer electrode T1, a second transfer electrode T2, a barrier region B positioned directly beneath the first transfer electrode T1 in a semiconductor substrate 10, and a charge accumulation region S2 positioned directly beneath the second transfer electrode T2 in the semiconductor substrate 10. An impurity concentration of the barrier region B is lower than an impurity concentration of the charge accumulation region S2, and the first transfer electrode T1 and the second transfer electrode T2 are electrically connected to each other.

Abstract: An image sensor for short-wavelength light includes a semiconductor membrane, circuit elements formed on one surface of the semiconductor membrane, and a pure boron layer on the other surface of the semiconductor membrane. An anti-reflection or protective layer is formed on top of the pure boron layer. This image sensor has high efficiency and good stability even under continuous use at high flux for multiple years. The image sensor may be fabricated using CCD (charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology. The image sensor may be a two-dimensional area sensor, or a one-dimensional array sensor.

Abstract: A back-illuminated solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor substrate, a shift register, and a light-shielding film. The semiconductor substrate includes a light incident surface on the back side and a light receiving portion generating a charge in accordance with light incidence. The shift register is disposed on the side of a light-detective surface opposite to the light incident surface of the semiconductor substrate. The light-shielding film is disposed on the side of the light-detective surface of the semiconductor substrate. The light-shielding film includes an uneven surface opposing the light-detective surface.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solid-state imaging device comprises a first step of preparing an imaging element including a second principal surface having an electrode arranged thereon, and a photoelectric converter part configured to photoelectrically convert the incident energy line so as to generate a signal charge; a second step of preparing a support substrate, provided with at least one through hole extending in a thickness direction thereof, having a third principal surface; a third step of aligning the imaging element and the support substrate with each other so that the one electrode is exposed out of the one through hole while the second and third principal surfaces oppose each other and joining the imaging element and the support substrate to each other; and a fourth step of embedding a conductive member in the through hole after the third step.

Abstract: An image sensor for short-wavelength light includes a semiconductor membrane, circuit elements formed on one surface of the semiconductor membrane, and a pure boron layer on the other surface of the semiconductor membrane. An anti-reflection or protective layer is formed on top of the pure boron layer. This image sensor has high efficiency and good stability even under continuous use at high flux for multiple years. The image sensor may be fabricated using CCD (charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology. The image sensor may be a two-dimensional area sensor, or a one-dimensional array sensor.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes a light receiving section formed by such exposure as to stitch a plurality of patterns in a first direction on a semiconductor substrate. The light receiving section includes a plurality of pixels disposed in a two-dimensional array in the first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Electric charges are transferred in the second direction in each of pixel columns consisting of a plurality of pixels disposed in the second direction, among the plurality of pixels.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes a plurality of photoelectric converting units and a plurality of charge-accumulating units each accumulating a charge generated in the corresponding photoelectric converting unit. The photoelectric converting unit includes a photosensitive region that generates the charge in accordance with light incidence, and an electric potential gradient forming unit that accelerates migration of charge in a second direction in the photosensitive region. The charge-accumulating unit includes: a plurality of regions (semiconductor layers) having an impurity concentration gradually changed in one way in the second direction, and electrodes adapted to apply electric fields to the plurality of regions. Each of the electrodes is disposed over the plurality of regions having the impurity concentration gradually varied.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes photoelectric converting sections transfer sections first buffer sections second buffer sections first output sections, and second output sections. The photoelectric converting sections generate electric charges in response to incidence of light. The transfer sections transfer the generated electric charges in a first direction or in a second direction opposite thereto in response to three-phase or four-phase drive signals. The first buffer sections and the second buffer sections acquire the electric charges transferred in the first and second directions, respectively, by the transfer sections and transfer the acquired electric charges in the first and second directions, respectively, in response to two-phase drive signals. The first output sections and the second output sections acquire the electric charges transferred from the first buffer sections and from the second buffer sections respectively, and output signals according to the acquired electric charges.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is a charge multiplying solid-state imaging device, and includes an imaging area 10 that generates a charge according to the amount of incident light, an output register unit 20 that receives the charge from the imaging area 10, and a multiplication register unit 28 that multiplies the charge from the output register 20, and performs feed-forward control of the multiplication factor of the multiplication register unit 28 according to the charge amount from the imaging area 10.

Abstract: A solid-state image pickup element is provided with a semiconductor substrate having a photosensitive region, a plurality of first electrode pads arrayed on a principal face of the semiconductor substrate, a plurality of second electrode pads arrayed in a direction along a direction in which the plurality of first electrode pads are arrayed, on the principal face of the semiconductor substrate, and a plurality of interconnections connecting the plurality of first electrode pads and the plurality of second electrode pads in one-to-one correspondence. The plurality of interconnections connect the first and second electrode pads so that each interconnection connects the first electrode pad and the second electrode pad in a positional relation of line symmetry with respect to a center line perpendicular to the array directions of the plurality of first and second electrode pads.

Abstract: A semiconductor substrate is provided with a plurality of photosensitive regions on a first principal surface side. An insulating film has a third principal surface and a fourth principal surface opposed to each other, and is arranged on the semiconductor substrate so that the third principal surface is opposed to the first principal surface. A cross section parallel to a thickness direction of the semiconductor substrate, of a region corresponding to each photosensitive region in the first principal surface is a corrugated shape in which concave curves and convex curves are alternately continuous. A cross section parallel to a thickness direction of the insulating film, of a region corresponding to each photosensitive region in the third principal surface is a corrugated shape in which concave curves and convex curves are alternately continuous corresponding to the first principal surface. The fourth principal surface is flat.

Abstract: An imaging lens includes, from an object side to an image side: a first positive lens having a convex object-side surface; an aperture stop; a second negative lens as a meniscus double-sided aspheric lens having a concave object-side surface; and a third positive lens as a meniscus double-sided aspheric lens having a concave image-side surface, wherein the second lens has a diffractive optical surface on the object side, the aspheric object-side and image-side surfaces of the third lens have pole-change points off an optical axis, and conditional expressions (1) to (4) below are satisfied: 8.0<fdoe/f<26.0??(1) 20<vd1?vd2<40??(2) 20<vd3?vd2<40??(3) 0.8<ih/f<0.95??(4).

Abstract: A compact imaging lens suitable for a high pixel density image pickup device which properly corrects chromatic aberration and other types of aberrations and ensures high image quality, low f-number, and low cost. A first lens, second lens, third lens, fourth lens, and fifth lens are arranged in order from the object side and both sides of all the lenses are aspheric surfaces and a diffractive optical surface with a chromatic aberration correction function is formed on one of the surfaces from the object side surface of the first lens to the object side surface of the second lens and on one of the surfaces from the object side surface of the third lens to the object side surface of the fifth lens. All the lenses are made of a plastic material.

Abstract: Designed for a solid-state image sensor, it includes, in order from an object side to an image side: a first positive lens having a convex object-side surface; a second negative lens having a concave image-side surface; a third positive meniscus lens having a convex image-side surface; and a fourth negative lens having concave object-side and image-side surfaces near an optical axis. A first diffraction optical surface is formed on one lens surface of the first to third lenses, and a second one is formed on the fourth lens object-side surface. The imaging lens satisfies a conditional expression below, 0.0<r6/r7<0.1, where r6 denotes the curvature radius of the third lens image-side surface, and r7 denotes that of the fourth lens object-side surface.

Abstract: In a solid-state imaging device 1, an overflow gate (OFG) 5 has a predetermined electric resistance value, while voltage application units 161 to 165 are electrically connected to the OFG 5 at connecting parts 171 to 175. Therefore, when voltage values V1 to V5 applied to the connecting parts 171 to 175 by the voltage application units 161 to 165 are adjusted, the OFG 5 can yield higher and lower voltage values in its earlier and later stage parts, respectively. As a result, the barrier level (potential) becomes lower and higher in the earlier and later stage parts, so that all the electric charges generated in an earlier stage side region of photoelectric conversion units 2 can be caused to flow out to an overflow drain (OFD) 4, whereby only the electric charges generated in a later stage side region of the photoelectric conversion units 2 can be TDI-transferred.

Abstract: Each pixel region PX includes a photoelectric conversion region S1, a resistive gate electrode R, a first transfer electrode T1, a second transfer electrode T2, a barrier region B positioned directly beneath the first transfer electrode T1 in a semiconductor substrate 10, and a charge accumulation region S2 positioned directly beneath the second transfer electrode T2 in the semiconductor substrate 10. An impurity concentration of the barrier region B is lower than an impurity concentration of the charge accumulation region S2, and the first transfer electrode T1 and the second transfer electrode T2 are electrically connected to each other.

Abstract: An optical detection unit AR is divided so as to have a plurality of pixel regions PX aligned in a column direction. Signals from the plurality of pixel regions PX are integrated for each optical detection unit AR, and output the signal as an electrical signal corresponding to a one-dimensional optical image in time series. Each of the pixel regions PX includes a resistive gate electrode R which promotes transfer of charges in the photoelectric conversion region and a charge accumulation region S2. A drain region ARD is adjacent to the charge accumulation region S2 through a channel region.