Analysis of operational speed and scaling down the pixel size of a charge modulation device (CMD) image sensor

In a previous paper, the authors (ibid., vol.38, pp.989-998, May 1991) clarified the operational mechanism of a charge modulation device (CMD) image sensor and confirmed that numerical calculations using the transistor analysis program for imagers calculating non-steady-state equations (TRINE) predicted the actual performance of a CMD imager within a 20% discrepancy. Following these results, the scaling-down of device dimensions and the inherent operational speed are estimated using TRINE in order to realize a future high-resolution CMD image sensor. The analysis shows that a device size of 5.0 mu m (H)*5.2 mu m (V) is attainable without degrading the performance of the 10.2 mu m (H)*10.4 mu m (V) CMD imager and that the operational speed of a CMD is fast enough for a high-definition TV (HDTV) application which requires a scan rate of several tens of nanoseconds. >