A new organization area image sensor with CCD readout through charge priming transfer

A new organization for an area image sensor with a wide dynamic range is proposed, in which an XY photodiode-MOS switch array is combined with an analog CCD readout shift register through a "charge priming transfer (CPT)" function. It is shown that use of the CPT makes the transfer of small signal charge from large capacitance vertical transport lines to the horizontal CCD strikingly efficient. The operating principle of the new device organization and some preliminary experimental results with a 404(H) × 256(V) element image sensor are reported.