A polysilicon isolated photodiode array imager

Photodiode array imagers with the conventional field implant and field oxide isolations suffer from stacking faults in the field region and dislocations under the "bird\´s beak", These defects bleed leakage current into the photodiode storage area and increase the fixed pattern noise. In this paper the development of a novel sensor structure with polysilicon isolation in place of the field isolation is described. The effective reduction in the defect density of sensor area is almost 3:1. Implementation of a 1744 element photodiode array imager and its performance are discussed with emphasis on the reduction of fixed pattern noise.