Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Imaging device, operating method thereof, and electronic device
-
Application No.: US15206695Application Date: 2016-07-11
-
Publication No.: US09887218B2Publication Date: 2018-02-06
- Inventor: Takuro Ohmaru
- Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
- Applicant Address: JP Kanagawa-ken
- Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
- Current Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
- Current Assignee Address: JP Kanagawa-ken
- Agency: Robinson Intellectual Property Law Office
- Agent Eric J. Robinson
- Priority: JP2015-142019 20150716
- Main IPC: H01L27/146
- IPC: H01L27/146 ; H04N5/232 ; H04N5/3745 ; H04N5/374 ; H04N5/369 ; H04N5/355 ; H04N5/353

Abstract:
An imaging device whose dynamic range is broadened is provided. The imaging device includes a pixel including a first photoelectric conversion element and a first circuit including a second photoelectric conversion element. The first circuit switches the operation mode of the pixel to a normal imaging mode or a wide dynamic range mode and switches the operation region of the first photoelectric conversion element to a normal region or an avalanche region in accordance with the illuminance of light with which the second photoelectric conversion element is irradiated. When the illuminance of light with which the first photoelectric conversion element is irradiated is increased, the increase rate of a writing current flowing to the pixel is higher in the avalanche region than in the normal region. However, in the wide dynamic range mode, the increase rate of current can be lowered, and thus the dynamic range can be broadened.
Public/Granted literature
- US20170018587A1 IMAGING DEVICE, OPERATING METHOD THEREOF, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE Public/Granted day:2017-01-19
Information query
IPC分类: