Abstract: A solid-state imaging device is provided with a plurality of photoelectric converting portions each having a photosensitive region and an electric potential gradient forming region, and which are juxtaposed so as to be along a direction intersecting with a predetermined direction, a plurality of buffer gate portions each arranged corresponding to a photoelectric converting portion and on the side of the other short side forming a planar shape of the photosensitive region, and accumulates a charge generated in the photosensitive region of the corresponding photoelectric converting portion, and a shift register which acquires charges respectively transferred from the plurality of buffer gate portions, and transfers the charges in the direction intersecting with the predetermined direction, to output the charges. The buffer gate portion has at least two gate electrodes to which predetermined electric potentials are respectively applied so as to increase potential toward the predetermined direction.

Abstract: An imaging lens includes, from the object side to the image side, an aperture stop, a first lens with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface near an optical axis, a second lens with positive refractive power having a convex image-side surface near the axis, a third lens with positive refractive power having a convex image-side surface near the axis, and a fourth lens with negative refractive power having a concave image-side surface near the axis, wherein all lens surfaces are aspheric, all lenses are made of plastic material, a diffractive optical surface is formed on at least one of the lens surfaces from the first lens image-side surface to the second lens image-side surface, and at least one of the three positive lenses satisfies 1.58<Ndi where Ndi is the refractive index of the i-th positive lens at the d-ray.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging device 1A includes a CCD-type solid-state imaging element 10 having an imaging plane 12 formed of M×N pixels that are two-dimensionally arrayed in M rows and N columns, N signal readout circuits 20 arranged on one end side in the column direction for each of the columns with respect to the imaging plane 12, and N signal readout circuits 30 arranged on the other end side in the column direction for each of the columns with respect to the imaging plane 12, a semiconductor element 50 for digital-converting and then sequentially outputting as serial signals electrical signals output from the signal readout circuits 20 for each of the columns, and a semiconductor element 60 for digital-converting and then sequentially outputting as serial signals electrical signals output from the signal readout circuits 30 for each of the columns.

Abstract: A solid state imaging device 1 is provided with a photoelectric conversion portion 2 having photosensitive regions 13, and a potential gradient forming portion 3 arranged opposite to the photosensitive regions 13. A planar shape of each photosensitive region 13 is a substantially rectangular shape composed of two long sides and two short sides. The photosensitive regions 13 are juxtaposed in a first direction intersecting with the long sides. The potential gradient forming portion 3 has a first potential gradient forming region to form a potential gradient becoming lower along a second direction from one of the short sides to the other of the short sides, and a second potential gradient forming region to form a potential gradient becoming higher along the second direction. The second potential gradient forming region is arranged next to the first potential gradient forming region in the second direction.

Abstract: To provide a high image-quality, low cost, and small sized imaging lens suitable for an imaging lens which is compact and which has high density pixels, and with aberrations corrected satisfactorily. An imaging lens is configured from a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, and a fourth lens arranged in the named order from an object side, wherein both surfaces of each lens are formed from aspheric surface, and a diffraction optics surface exerting chromatic aberration correction function is arranged on any one surface from a surface of the first lens on an object side to a surface of the third lens on the object side, and each lens is configured from plastic material.

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 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: 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) where fdoe: focal length of the diffractive optical surface, f: overall focal length of the imaging lens, vd1: first lens Abbe number at d-ray, vd2: second lens Abbe number at d-ray, vd3: third lens Abbe number at d-ray, and ih: maximum image height.

Abstract: An imaging lens which can be very compact and thin, corrects various aberrations properly and provides a small F-value and a wide view angle at low cost. In the imaging lens, designed for a solid-state image sensor, arranged in the following order from an object side to an image side are: a first positive (refractive power) lens with a convex object-side surface; a second positive lens; a third positive lens; a fourth positive lens; and a fifth negative lens with a concave image-side surface. None of these lenses is joined to each other and all the lens surfaces are aspheric. The object-side and image-side aspheric surfaces of the fifth lens have a pole-change point in a position other than a point of intersection with an optical axis. A diffractive optical surface is formed on one of three surfaces from the first lens image-side surface to the second lens image-side surface.

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 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 solid-state imaging device 2A includes a CCD-type solid-state imaging element 10 having an imaging plane 12 formed of M×N pixels that are two-dimensionally arrayed in M rows and N columns and N signal readout circuits 20 arranged on one end side in the column direction for each of the columns with respect to the plane 12 and for outputting electrical signals according to the magnitudes of charges taken out of the respective columns, respectively, a C-MOS-type semiconductor element 50 for digital-converting and sequentially outputting as serial signals electrical signals output from the circuits 20 for each of the columns, a heat transfer member 80 having a main surface 81a and a back surface 81b, and a cooling block 84 provided on the surface 81b, and the semiconductor element 50 and the surface 81a of the heat transfer member 80 are bonded to each other.

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: A solid state imaging device includes a P-type semiconductor substrate 1A, a P-type epitaxial layer 1B grown on the semiconductor substrate 1A, an imaging region VR grown within the epitaxial layer 1B, and an N-type semiconductor region 1C grown within the epitaxial layer 1B. The solid state imaging device further includes a horizontal shift register HR that transmits a signal from the imaging region VR, and a P-type well region 1D formed within the epitaxial layer 1B. The N-type semiconductor region 1C extends in the well region 1D. A P-type impurity concentration in the well region 1D is higher than a P-type impurity concentration in the epitaxial layer 1B. A multiplication register EM that multiplies electrons from the horizontal shift register HR is formed in the well region 1D.

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: In a back-illuminated solid-state image pickup device including a semiconductor substrate 4 having a light incident surface at a back surface side and a charge transfer electrode 2 disposed at a light detection surface at an opposite side of the semiconductor substrate 4 with respect to the light incident surface, the light detection surface has an uneven surface. By the light detection surface having the uneven surface, etaloning is suppressed because lights reflected by the uneven surface have scattered phase differences with respect to a phase of incident light and resulting interfering lights offset each other. A high quality image can thus be acquired by the back-illuminated solid-state image pickup device.

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: An imaging lens includes four lenses arranged in order from the object side to the image side: an aperture stop, positive (refractive power) first lens having a convex object-side surface near the optical axis, second lens having a positive meniscus shape near the axis, positive third lens having a convex image-side surface near the axis, and negative fourth lens having a concave image-side surface near the axis. All lens surfaces are aspheric. The image-side aspheric surface of the fourth lens has a pole-change point off the optical axis and conditional expressions (1) and (2) are satisfied: 0.75<TLA/(2IH)<0.90??(1) 0.90<TLA/f<1.30??(2) where TLA: distance on the optical axis from the first lens's object-side surface to the image sensor's image plane without a filter between the fourth lens and image sensor IH: maximum image height f: overall optical system focal length.

Abstract: A photodetector of an OCT device is provided with: a silicon substrate comprised of a semiconductor of a first conductivity type, having a first principal surface and a second principal surface opposed to each other, and having a semiconductor region of a second conductivity type formed on the first principal surface side; and charge transfer electrodes provided on the first principal surface and transferring generated charges. In the silicon substrate, an accumulation layer of the first conductivity type having a higher impurity concentration than the silicon substrate is formed on the second principal surface side, and an irregular asperity is formed in a region opposed to at least the semiconductor region, in the second principal surface. The region in which the irregular asperity is formed on the second principal surface of the silicon substrate is optically exposed.

Abstract: A solid state imaging device 1 is provided with a photoelectric conversion portion 2 having a plurality of photosensitive regions 7, and a potential gradient forming portion 3 having an electroconductive member 8 arranged opposite to the photosensitive regions 7. A planar shape of each photosensitive region 7 is a substantially rectangular shape. The photosensitive regions 7 are juxtaposed in a first direction intersecting with the long sides. The potential gradient forming portion 3 forms a potential gradient becoming higher along a second direction from one of the short sides to the other of the short sides of the photosensitive regions 7. The electroconductive member 8 includes a first region 8a extending in the second direction and having a first electric resistivity, and a second region 8b extending in the second direction and having a second electric resistivity smaller than the first electric resistivity.