Charge coupled device including a slow-wave structure for providing charge transfer

Claim 1

In a charge coupled device having means for injecting charge signals and means for collecting said charge signals comprising: a semiconductor substrate of one conductivity type; a layer of dielectric material overlying the surface of said substrate and having a region of predetermined thickness, length and width, under which charge signals are adapted to move from said injecting means to said collecting means; a slow-wave means, including a meander line electrical transmission line formed from a layer of metallization having a continuous serpentine configuration describing a plurality of interconnected line segments crossing the lengthwise dimension of said region at regularly spaced intervals in a parallel fashion and wherein said parallel line segments have a constant width dimension and equal separation therebetween and wherein said width dimension of said line segments is equal to said separation, configured to propagate an electromagnetic wave therealong, for producing an electric drift field under said dielectric layer in said region for controlling the movement of said charge signals from said injecting means to said collecting means; and means coupling a periodic signal of regularly varying amplitude to said slow-wave structure for launching said electromagnetic wave therealong; the improvement wherein: said line segments traverse said region normal to said length dimension of said region and have a respective length dimension substantially greater than said width dimension of said region.