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The ISIS is an ultra-fast image sensor with in-pixel storage. The evolution of the ISIS in the past and in the near future is reviewed and forecasted. To cover the storage area with a light shield, the conventional frontside illuminated ISIS has a limited fill factor. To achieve higher sensitivity, a BSI ISIS was developed. To avoid direct intrusion of light and migration of signal electrons to the storage area on the frontside, a cross-sectional sensor structure with thick pnpn layers was developed, and named “Tetratified structure”. By folding and looping in-pixel storage CCDs, an image signal accumulation sensor, ISAS, is proposed. The ISAS has a new function, the in-pixel signal accumulation, in addition to the ultra-high-speed imaging. To achieve much higher frame rate, a multi-collection-gate (MCG) BSI image sensor architecture is proposed. The photoreceptive area forms a honeycomb-like shape. Performance of a hexagonal CCD-type MCG BSI sensor is examined by simulations. The highest frame rate is theoretically more than 1Gfps. For the near future, a stacked hybrid CCD/CMOS MCG image sensor seems most promising. The associated problems are discussed. A fine TSV process is the key technology to realize the structure.

Averaging of accumulated data is a standard technique applied to processing data with low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), such as image signals captured in ultra-high-speed imaging. The authors propose an architecture layout of an ultra-high-speed image sensor capable of on-chip signal accumulation. The very high frame rate is enabled by employing an image sensor structure with a multi-folded CCD in each pixel, which serves as an in situ image signal storage. The signal accumulation function is achieved by direct connection of the first and the last storage elements of the in situ storage CCD. It has been thought that the multi-folding is achievable only by driving electrodes with complicated and impractical layouts. Simple configurations of the driving electrodes to overcome the difficulty are presented for two-phase and four-phase transfer CCD systems. The in situ storage image sensor with the signal accumulation function is named Image Signal Accumulation Sensor (ISAS).

The ISIS is an ultra-fast image sensor with in-pixel storage. The evolution of the ISIS in the past and in the near future is reviewed and forecasted. To cover the storage area with a light shield, the conventional frontside illuminated ISIS has a limited fill factor. To achieve higher sensitivity, a BSI ISIS was developed. To avoid direct intrusion of light and migration of signal electrons to the storage area on the frontside, a cross-sectional sensor structure with thick pnpn layers was developed, and named ?Tetratified structure?. By folding and looping in-pixel storage CCDs, an image signal accumulation sensor, ISAS, is proposed. The ISAS has a new function, the in-pixel signal accumulation, in addition to the ultra-high-speed imaging. To achieve much higher frame rate, a multi-collection-gate (MCG) BSI image sensor architecture is proposed. The photoreceptive area forms a honeycomb-like shape. Performance of a hexagonal CCD-type MCG BSI sensor is examined by simulations. The highest frame rate is theoretically more than 1Gfps. For the near future, a stacked hybrid CCD/CMOS MCG image sensor seems most promising. The associated problems are discussed. A fine TSV process is the key technology to realize the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Averaging of accumulated data is a standard technique applied to processing data with low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), such as image signals captured in ultra-high-speed imaging. The authors propose an architecture layout of an ultra-high-speed image sensor capable of on-chip signal accumulation. The very high frame rate is enabled by employing an image sensor structure with a multi-folded CCD in each pixel, which serves as an in situ image signal storage. The signal accumulation function is achieved by direct connection of the first and the last storage elements of the in situ storage CCD. It has been thought that the multi-folding is achievable only by driving electrodes with complicated and impractical layouts. Simple configurations of the driving electrodes to overcome the difficulty are presented for two-phase and four-phase transfer CCD systems. The in situ storage image sensor with the signal accumulation function is named Image Signal Accumulation Sensor (ISAS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]