(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,765,609 Bi
Kinoshita (45) Date of Patent: Jul. 20,2004
(54) SOLID-STATE IMAGE SENSOR AND
ANALYSIS SYSTEM USING THE SAME
(75) Inventor: Katsuyuki Kinoshita, Hamamatsu (JP)
(73) Assignee: Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.,
Shizuoka-ken (JP)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ol this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/577,622
(22) Filed: May 25, 2000
Related U.S. Application Data
(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. PCT/JP97/04365, filed on Nov. 28, 1997.
(51) Int. CI.7 H04N 5/228
(52) U.S. CI 348/222.1; 348/227.1;
348/162; 250/390.07
(58) Field of Search 348/164, 294,
348/250, 166, 227.1, 370, 162, 222.1; 378/20, 62, 98.2, 98.8, 63, 68, 98.5; 356/300, 326, 338, 303, 456; 250/370.09, 390.07, 370.08, 363.09, 390.03
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,931,462 A * 1/1976 Exton 348/162
4,917,492 A * 4/1990 Koishi 356/300
5,479,258 A * 12/1995 Hinnrichs et al 356/326
5,528,368 A * 6/1996 Lewis et al 356/456
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
IP 1-320441 12/1989
IP 05-129574 5/1993
IP 06-165039 6/1994
* cited by examiner
Primary Examiner—-Vu Le
Assistant Examiner—Chriss Yoder
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
(57) ABSTRACT
A solid-state image sensor, which has a two-dimensional matrix ol a plurality ol pixels used to sense the twodimensional spatial distribution ol radioactive rays, light rays, electrons, ions, or the like, is provided with an aperture that extends through a substrate at an image sensing unit on which the pixels are arranged, and a signal transler path that connects signal transler electrodes for reading images ol the respective pixels kept clear ol the aperture. Furthermore, the image sensing unit is divided into at least two regions by a boundary including the aperture, and these regions have individual signal read registers. With this structure, the image sensor serves as both an image sensor for sensing the two-dimensional distribution ol radiation or the like, and an aperture for passing such radiation.
17 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets
