Charge detection modeling in solid-state image sensors

Solid-state image sensors continue to find many applications as fabrication technology improves. Due in part to the relatively small role that image sensors have played in the semiconductor world, there exists very little experience in performance modeling of this class of devices. In this paper we discuss a three-dimensional model of the image sensor responsivity. Responsitivity is simply the amount of charge detected by the image sensor divided by the input photon energy. We discuss the fundamental aspects of charge detection and formulate and solve the appropriate model. We find good agreement between this model and experimental data.