An image pickup apparatus having a charge coupled device which comprises charge transfer channels having a photoelectric conversion function and a charge transfer function of the present invention has the structure that the charge transfer channels comprise transfer electrodes formed and arranged on a channel layer for transferring signal charges along with a charge transfer direction and a barrier layer formed on a part of the channel layer region underneath the transfer electrodes, and further comprising a driver for applying the CCD, in a case of taking image, a pinning voltage to the all transfer electrodes, whereby signal charges generated by incident light are accumulated in potential wells equivalent to pixels generated in the channel layer region where the barrier layer is not formed, and in a case of transferring charges, for applying two-phase clock having a "L" level of a pinning voltage and a "H" level of a predetermined voltage higher than the pinning voltage is applied to the transfer electrodes to mix signal charges accumulated in the adjacent two potential wells, whereby each mixed signal is isolated and transferred.
A solid-state image pickup device of the frame transfer system is designed to provide two types of image signals. A light receiving section of the solid-state image pickup device adopts a six-phase drive in which second and fifth transfer clocks .phi.2 and .phi.5 are set high at a first image pickup operation so that a potential well is formed respectively under the corresponding transfer electrodes. After completion of the first image pickup operation, information charges in the potential well under the transfer electrode corresponding to the second transfer clock .phi.2 are transferred to the potential well under the transfer electrode corresponding to the fifth transfer clock .phi.5. At a second image pickup operation, the second and fifth transfer clocks .phi.2 and .phi.5 are again set high so that a potential well is formed respectively under the corresponding transfer electrodes. After completion of the second image pickup operation, the respective potential wells are transferred and output independently.
A charge coupled device of this invention includes photodiodes, VCCDs for shifting the image charges generated in the photodiodes in one direction or in the reverse direction, first HCCD formed on one sides of the VCCDs transmitting the image charges from the VCCDs in one direction, and second HCCD formed on the other side of the VCCDs transmitting the image charges to the VCCDs in the reverse direction.
A driving method for a solid-state image sensing device having a plurality of sensor portions being disposed two-dimensionally in a horizontal and a vertical directions, and a vertical charge transfer portion being disposed between said plurality of sensor portions and being provided with transfer electrodes of a plurality of systems disposed along its disposed direction, including the steps of; selectively applying high level driving pulses to the transfer electrodes of said plurality of systems in respective sectional periods in a vertical transfer period, and transferring the signal charges read out from said plurality of sensor portions in the vertical direction, wherein a sectional period in a vertical transfer period, in which the number of systems of the transfer electrodes to be applied with high level driving pulses becomes minimum is set longer than that of the other sectional periods. It is thus made possible to increase the handling charge quantity in the vertical charge transfer portion without changing time for transfer in the vertical transfer period.
A driving method for a solid-state image sensing device having a plurality of sensor portions being disposed two-dimensionally in a horizontal and a vertical directions, and a vertical charge transfer portion being disposed between said plurality of sensor portions and being provided with transfer electrodes of a plurality of systems disposed along its disposed direction, including the steps of; selectively applying high level driving pulses to the transfer electrodes of said plurality of systems in respective sectional periods in a vertical transfer period, and transferring the signal charges read out from said plurality of sensor portions in the vertical direction, wherein a sectional period in a vertical transfer period, in which the number of systems of the transfer electrodes to be applied with high level driving pulses becomes minimum is set longer than that of the other sectional periods. It is thus made possible to increase the handling charge quantity in the vertical charge transfer portion without changing time for transfer in the vertical transfer period.
An image pick-up device including a plurality of photoelectric conversion cells, and a charge transfer device including charge transfer cells wherein the number of the charge transfer cells is greater than the number of the photoelectric conversion cells. The image pick-up device also includes a controller which controls the operation of transferring signal charges from the photoelectric conversion cells to the charge transfer device according to a procedure including, forming a plurality of potential wells by a plurality of charge transfer cells, and transferring a signal charge from each photoelectric conversion cell to a potential well formed at a position corresponding to each photoelectric conversion cell.
