Estimation and Modeling of the Full Well Capacity in Pinned Photodiode CMOS Image Sensors

Alice Pelamatti (1) , Vincent Goiffon (1) , Magali Estribeau (1) , Paola Cervantes (1) , Pierre Magnan (1)

1 DEOS - Département Electronique, Optronique et Signal

This letter presents a simple analytical model for the evaluation of the full well capacity (FWC) of pinned photodiode (PPD) CMOS image sensors depending on the operating conditions and on the pixel parameters. While in the literature and technical documentations FWC values are generally presented as fixed values independent of the operating conditions, this letter demonstrates that the PPD charge handling capability is strongly dependent on the photon flux.

Mots clés: Active pixel sensor (APS); Charge transfer; CMOS Image Sensors (CIS); Full well capacity; Pinned photodiode (PPD); Pinning voltage; Semiconductor device modeling

Domaines: Optique / photonique

Alice Pelamatti, Vincent Goiffon, Magali Estribeau, Paola Cervantes, Pierre Magnan. Estimation and Modeling of the Full Well Capacity in Pinned Photodiode CMOS Image Sensors. IEEE Electron Device Letters, 2013, vol. 34, pp. 900-902. ⟨10.1109/LED.2013.2260523⟩. ⟨hal-00854018⟩