Computer analysis of surface-charge transport between transfer electrodes in a charge-coupled device

A computer program has been developed that simulates two-dimensional dynamics of electrons and holes in a p-channel charge-coupled device. By using this program we have investigated the effects of two-dimensional device structure on surface-charge transfer, particularly a potential-barrier and fringing field. We have obtained the following results: 1) in case of a p-channel CCD negative charges on the SiO2film at a gap reduce the potential-barrier between transfer electrodes. This effect aids transfer of surface-charge in a CCD with wide gaps. 2) In transfer operation of a CCD with wide gaps, the signal charge must be less than a particular value so that a potential-barrier does not emerge. The particular value depends upon the device parameters and the transfer pulses. 3) The fringing field created by the adjacent electrode enhances the speed of surface-charge transfer. This effect increases with decreasing the transfer-electrode length and the signal charge level. 4) The computer results indicate that 100 percent transfer efficiency is obtained from the strong fringing field after the transfer time is equal to the transit time if no surface states exist.