Abstract: A light receiving element is provided with a phototransistor and a light receiving MOS diode proximate thereto and having a gate electrode covering a portion of the base region of the phototransistor. The gate electrode permits transmission of a portion of received light. The light receiving MOS diode forms an inversion layer in a substrate adjacent the base of a phototransistor during the time photo charges are stored, and generated photo charges are stored in the inversion region and the base region of the phototransistor. During the storage state, the potential of the inversion region and the base region of the phototransistor is limited, so that the intensity of an electric field applied to an insulating film between the electrode and the semiconductor substrate is 0.7 MV/cm or less. Alternatively, the potential of the electrode in a waiting state is fixed or made floating, so that an electric field is not applied, and recombination at the surface of the semiconductor substrate is made stable.

Abstract: A voltage at an output terminal of a photodiode is reset to a fixed voltage and an output signal of the photodiode and a dummy signal matching a dark output signal is output by a dummy photodiode comprising an identical component as that of the photodiode. The voltage difference between an input side and an output side of an amplifier is made to match the difference between a reset voltage of the photodiode and a reset voltage of a common signal line and a reset voltage of an output terminal to optimize the size of a MOS transistor forming the amplifier. The offset voltage is set to a constant which does not depend on the size of the MOS transistor. The amplifier is formed with CMOS devices and is selectively operated only during an output operation to suppress the current consumption.

Abstract: A linear image sensor IC comprising a plurality of switching circuits each connected to a plurality of light receiving elements in series; scanning circuits for sequentially switching said switching circuits; and driving circuits for operating said scanning circuits, wherein a LOCOS isolation layer is formed between an edge in the main scanning direction of the linear image sensor IC which is closest to an array of the light receiving elements and a light receiving portion of the light receiving element. The inventive image sensor IC is mounted by devising so that the circuit can be put into a thin and long pattern in the scanning direction, so that the chip having a width thinner than a thickness thereof which had been beyond expectation by the prior art can be realized. The use of this very thin IC allows a compact IC assembling substrate having less fluctuation among ICs to be manufactured at low cost.

Abstract: A photoelectric converter device having improved residual image characteristics and composed of a transistor having a control electrode region made of a semiconductor of a first conductivity type for accumulating carriers generated by an electromagnetic wave emitted by an object to be detected, a first main electrode region made of a semiconductor of a second conductivity type, and a second main electrode region made of a semiconductor of the second conductivity type, for performing an operation to accumulate the carriers, an operation of reading signals based on the carriers, and an operation of extinguishing the carriers, wherein carriers other than those generated by the electromagnetic wave emitted by the object to be detected are generated in or injected into the control electrode region. Thus, since the amount of excess majority carriers in the control electrode region after the extinguishing operation is always kept substantially constant, improved residual image characteristics are obtained.

Abstract: An image sensor of the contact type is comprised of a plurality of image sensor chips arranged linearly with one another. Each chip has an array of picture elements arranged at a given constant pitch which is set slightly smaller than a standard reading pitch in a main scanning direction, thereby ensuring uniform output performance of the image sensor.

Abstract: A method of inspecting and a method of manufacturing image sensors formed on a surface of a semiconductor wafer. A semiconductor wafer is provided having image sensors formed on its surface. Grooves are cut at boundaries between image sensors to be inspected, so that each groove has a depth that is smaller than the thickness of the semiconductor wafer. The grooves are cut in the boundaries between the image sensors so that photoN sensing carriers generated in the boundary regions, that are not generated by the image sensor being inspected, do not affect the inspection of the image sensor. The characteristics of the image sensors are inspected before cutting through the semiconductor wafer to form individual image sensors. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the electrical characteristics of the image sensors can be accurately ascertained either before or after separation from the semiconductor wafer.

Abstract: An improved image sensor comprises a plurality of photo-sensing elements each comprising an impurity diffusion layer formed in a surface of a semiconductor substrate and arrayed linearly. The photo-sensing elements are of an opposite conductivity type than that of the semiconductor substrate. A transparent insulating film is formed on the photo-sensing elements and the surface of the semiconductor substrate. A non-light transmitting shading film is formed over the transparent insulating film and has photo-sensing windows which overlay a part of each of the photo-sensing elements. The shape and area of each of the photo-sensing elements is equal. The area of each of the photo-sensing windows is equal, but the shape of the first and last photosensing windows is different from that of the remaining photosensing windows. By this arrangement, the amount of photoexcited carriers generated is uniform at all photo-sensing regions, since the area of all photo-sensing windows is equal.

Abstract: The solid state imaging device having an array of bit units formed in a semiconductor substrate. Each bit unit is comprised of a phototransistor having a collector formed of the semiconductor substrate an emitter and a base, a switching transistor of the MOS type having a drain connected to the emitter of the phototransistor, an initializing transistor of the MOS type having a drain connected to the base of the phototransistor, a source receptive of a first reference voltage, and a gate connected to the emitter of the phototransistor, and a resetting transistor of the MOS type having a drain connected to the emitter of the phototransistor, a source receptive of a second reference voltage, and a gate receptive of a reset signal. The resetting transistor operates in the reset signal to enable the initializing transistor to initialize the phototransistor. The switching transistor drives the initialized phototransistor to effect reading of image.