CCD & CMOS Image

Sensors
 Contents
1. What is an Image sensor
2. Possible uses for Image Sensors
3. CCD Image Sensors
4. CMOS Image Sensors
5. Main Advantages/Disadvantages
between CMOS and CCD
 What is an Image Sensor?
 An Image Sensor is a photosensitive
device that converts light signals into
digital signals (colours/RGB data).

 Typically, the two main types in common

use are CCD and CMOS sensors and are
mainly used in digital cameras and other
imaging devices.

 CCD stands for Charged-Coupled Device

and CMOS stands for Complementary
Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor
Mirror
Covering
Image Sensor Mirror Raised

Sensor
Exposed
Uses?
 Image sensors are not
only limited to digital
cameras.

 Image sensors are used

in other fields such as:
• Astronomy, most notably
in the Hubble Space
Telescope
• Machine vision/sensing
• UV Spectroscopy
• Etc.
How Image Sensors Work
 Both CCD and CMOS
sensors work by employing
photosensitive circuitry
that reacts to light and
stores the analog signals
as digital data, namely an
image.

 They both use different

methods to achieve this.

 First we will take a look at

CCD image sensors.
 CCD
 A CCD, or a Charged-Coupled Device, is a
photosensitive analog device that records light as a
small electrical charge in each of its pixels or cells.
In essence a CCD is an collection of CCD cells.

 The signal captured by the CCD requires additional

circuitry to convert the analog light data into a
readable digital signal.

 This is mainly layers of capacitors called Stages

which act as a way to transport the analog signal to
an array of flip-flops which store the data all
controlled by a clock signal.

 This is the definition of an Analog Shift Register.

 CCD
 When light strikes a CCD, it acquires an electrical
charge according to how much light has hit the
particular CCD cell.

 Each CCD cell can transfer its charge to its

neighboring cell and then off to external circuitry.

 The charge is then read off by an analog-to-

digital converter as an integer on a range of 0 to
4095 for most modern DSLR cameras. Lower
ranges exist, such as 0-255, for lower quality
cameras.
 CCD Structure - 1

Image area
(exposed to light)

Charge motion
Parallel (vertical) registers

Pixel

Serial (horizontal) register

Output amplifier
Charge motion
masked area
(not exposed to light)
 CCD Structure - 2
Channel stops to define the columns of the image

Plan View Transparent

horizontal electrodes
to define the pixels
One pixel vertically. Also
used to transfer the
charge during readout

Electrode
Insulating oxide
n-type silicon
Cross section
p-type silicon
 Basic CCD functions
 Charge generation
Photoelectric Effect
 Charge collection
Potential Well
 Charge transfer
Potential Well
 Charge detection
Sense Node Capacitance
 Photoelectric Effect - 1
Atoms in a silicon crystal have electrons
arranged in discrete energy bands:
 Valence Band

 Conduction Band
Increasing energy

Conduction Band

1.12 eV

Valence Band
 Photoelectric Effect - 2
 The electrons in the valence band
can be excited into the conduction
band by heating or by the absorption
of a photon

ton
pho

pho
ton

Hole Electron
 Potential Well - 1
Diode junction: the n-type layer contains an excess of electrons that diffuse into the
p-layer. The p-layer contains an excess of holes that diffuse into the n-layer (depletion
region, region where majority charges are ‘depleted’ relative to their concentrations
well away from the junction’).
The diffusion creates a charge imbalance and induces an internal electric field (Buried
Channel).

potential
Electric

Potential along this line shown

in graph above.
n

Cross section through the thickness of the CCD

 Potential Well - 2
During integration of the image, one of the electrodes in each pixel is held at a positive
potential. This further increases the potential in the silicon below that electrode and it is
here that the photoelectrons are accumulated. The neighboring electrodes, with their
lower potentials, act as potential barriers that define the vertical boundaries of the pixel.
The horizontal boundaries are defined by the channel stops.

Electric potential

Region of maximum
potential
n

p
Charge collection in a CCD - 1
Photons entering the CCD create electron-hole pairs. The electrons are then
attracted towards the most positive potential in the device where they
create ‘charge packets’. Each packet corresponds to one pixel

boundary

boundary
incoming
photons

pixel

pixel
n-type silicon Electrode Structure
Charge packet
p-type silicon SiO2 Insulating layer
 Charge transfer in a CCD
+5V
2
0V
+5V
1-5V
0V
+5V
3 -5V
1 0V
2
-5V
3
Time-slice shown in diagram
 +5V
2
0V
+5V
1 -5V
0V
+5V
3 -5V
0V
1
-5V
2
3
 +5V
2
0V
+5V
1 -5V
0V
+5V
3 -5V
0V
1
-5V
2
3
 +5V
2
0V
+5V
1 -5V
0V
+5V
3 -5V
0V
1
-5V
2
3
 +5V
2
0V
+5V
1 -5V
0V
+5V
3 -5V
0V
1
-5V
2
3
 +5V
2
0V
+5V
1 -5V
0V
+5V
3 -5V
0V
1
-5V
2
3
 (Thick) Front-side Illuminated
CCDs

Incoming photons
p-type silicon

n-type silicon

625  m Polysilicon electrodes

 low QE (reflection and absorption of light in the

surface electrodes)
 No anti-reflective coating possible (for electrode
structure)
 Poor blue response
 (Thin) Back-side Illuminated CCDs

Incoming photons
Anti-reflective (AR) coating
p-type silicon

n-type silicon
Silicon dioxide insulating layer
15m Polysilicon electrodes

 Silicon chemically etched and polished down to a thickness of about

15microns.
 Light enters from the rear and so the electrodes do not obstruct the
photons. The QE can approach 100% .
 Become transparent to near infra-red light and poor red response
 Response can be boosted by the application of anti-reflective coating on
the thinned rear-side
 Expensive to produce
CCD Analogy
Color CCD
How CCDs Record Colour
 Each CCD cell in the CCD array
produces a single value
independent of colour.

 To make colour images, CCD cells

are organized in groups of four
cells (making one pixel) and a
Bayer Filter is placed on top of
the group to allow only red light
to hit one of the four cells, blue
light to hit another and green
light to hit the remaining two.

 The reasoning behind the two

green cells is because the human
eye is more sensitive to green
light and it is more convenient to
use a 4 pixel filter than a 3 pixel
filter (harder to implement) and
can be compensated after a
image capture with something
called white balance.

 Ex. A Bayer filter applied to the

underlying CCD pixel
A CMOS Sensor
 CMOS
 A CMOS, or Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor, each pixel has neighboring
transistors which locally perform the
analog to digital conversion.
 This difference in readout has many
implications in the overall organization and
capability of the camera.
 Each one of these pixel sensors are called
an Active Pixel Sensor (APS).
 CMOS
 The imaging logic is integrated on a CMOS
chip, where a CCD is a modular imager
that can be replaced.
 Because of this, design of a new CMOS
chip is more expensive.
 However, APSs are transistor-based,
which means that CMOS chips can be
cheaply manufactured on any standard
silicon production line.
 Pros and Cons
 CCD  CMOS

 Needs extra circuitry  Higher cost to develop

to convert to digital
signal  On-chip analog-to-
digital conversion
 High dynamic range of
lighting  Lower complexity on
the sensor leading to
 Less noise due to less faster image capture
on-chip circuitry
 Reduced power
consumption
Noise and Dynamic Range