Sony patents camera sensor design that detects light changes directly
Sony describes a camera sensor where the part that captures light is directly stuck to the part that processes the signal. This setup uses specific circuits to notice when the voltage from individual light sensors changes, rather than checking them all at once.
In the filing’s own words
A solid-state imaging device according to the present disclosure includes a light-receiving substrate, a circuit board, and a plurality of first connections. The light-receiving substrate includes a plurality of light-receiving circuits provided with photoelectric conversion elements. The circuit board is directly bonded to the light-receiving substrate and includes a plurality of address event detection circuits that detects individual changes in voltages output from the photoelectric conversion elements of the plurality of light-receiving circuits. The plurality of first connections is provided at a joint between the light-receiving substrate and the circuit board to electrically connect the light-receiving circuits and the address event detection circuits corresponding to each other.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A solid-state imaging device, comprising: a light-receiving substrate including a plurality of light-receiving circuits provided with photoelectric conversion elements; a circuit board that is directly bonded to and entirely in direct contact with the light-receiving substrate, and includes a plurality of address event detection circuits that detect individual changes in voltages output from the photoelectric conversion elements of the plurality of light-receiving circuits, wherein at least some of the photoelectric conversion elements that output voltages to the address event detection circuits are directly adjacent to other of the photoelectric conversion elements that output voltages to the address event detection circuits; and a plurality of first connections provided at a joint between the light-receiving substrate and the circuit board to electrically connect the light-receiving circuits and the address event detection circuits corresponding to each other, wherein at least one of the plurality of first connections includes a first pad of a first material of the light-receiving substrate that is directly bonded to a second pad of the first material of the circuit board.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION)
- Official title
- Solid-state imaging device and imaging apparatus
- Patent number
- US12757513B2
- Application number
- 17794034
- Filed
- Jan 22, 2021
- Granted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Inventors
- 6
- Claims
- 10
Classified under
H10F 39/811 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/50 Electricity & electronicsH05K 1/181 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/18 Electricity & electronicsH05K 2201/10151 Electricity & electronicsMore from Sony in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.