Blooming control and reduced image lag in interline transfer CCD area image sensors

Claim 1

In an interline area image sensor which eliminates image lag while providing antiblooming protection and has a substrate having two and bottom surface in which is fabricated an array of photodiodes, a plurality of vertical CCDs for transferring charge in said image sensor including a plurality of transfer gate electrodes, each transfer gate electrode being formed over the substrate top surface and corresponding to a particular photodiodes and extending over a substrate transfer region positioned adjacent to a corresponding photodiode and responsive to a voltage signal for transferring charge from its corresponding photodiode to its particulate CCD, the improvement comprising: a) the substrate having an n-conductive portion, a laterally uniformly lightly doped p-well formed in the n-conductive portion and spaced from the top surface of the substrate, a laterally uniformly lightly doped n-well formed in the substrate on top of the uniform p-well, a plurality of localized n-layers formed in the n-well in an array corresponding to the array of the photodiodes and a separate localized p-layer formed in each n-layer to complete a photodiode for collecting photocharge, and such p-layers being connected to a predetermined potential, so as to provide a vertical antiblooming overflow drain having a maximum point of potential barrier which is confined to be in the uniform p-well to maintain high quantum efficiency; and b) a plurality of p-stripes formed in the uniform lightly doped n-well adjacent the photodiodes and having a portion formed under each CCD and a thermally diffused portion providing sufficient doping beneath a transfer gate electrode but not extending to an adjacent photodiode such that when the voltage signal is applied to the transfer gate electrode, signal charge collected in the photodiode is transferred to it's CCD leaving the photodiode completely depleted, said p-stripes being connected to the predetermined potential.