Image sensor and image capturing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9490281-B2
Application number	US-201414540066-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2014
Priority date	Apr 20, 2011
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

An image sensor comprising a plurality of image sensing pixel groups is provided. Each of the image sensing pixel groups has a plurality of first pixels each having photoelectric conversion portions arrayed in first and second directions for first and second numbers of divisions, respectively, and a plurality of second pixels each having photoelectric conversion portions arrayed in the first and second directions for third and fourth numbers of divisions, respectively. The photoelectric conversion portions comprising the first pixel and the second pixel have a function of photoelectrically converting a plurality of images formed by divided light fluxes of a light flux from an imaging optical system and outputting a focus detection signal for phase difference detection. The first and third numbers of division are coprime natural numbers, and the second and fourth numbers of divisions are coprime natural numbers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image sensor comprising a plurality of image sensing pixels including a first pixel, a second pixel that is adjacent to the first pixel in a first direction, a third pixel that is adjacent to the first pixel in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction and a fourth pixel that is adjacent to the first pixel in a second direction and located opposite side of the first pixel to the third pixel in the second direction, wherein:
each of the first pixel, the second pixel, the third pixel and the fourth pixel includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion portions which photoelectrically convert a plurality of images and are separated by a separation band in the first direction;
the plurality of photoelectric conversion portions output focus detection signals that are used for phase difference detection;
the separation bands arranged in the first pixel and the separation band arranged in the second pixel deviate in the first direction, and
the separation band arranged in at least one of the third pixel and the fourth pixel deviates differently from the first pixel in the first direction.

2. The image sensor according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of pixels has a color filter, and a fifth pixel, having a color filter of a same color as the first pixel, that is adjacent to the second pixel in the first direction and has photoelectric conversion portions that are separated by the separation band in a division pattern that is different from a division pattern of the first pixel in the first direction.

3. The image sensor according to claim 1 , wherein a number of divisions of the photoelectric conversion portions comprising each pixel is identical for each of the pixels.

4. An image capturing apparatus, including:
an image sensor according to claim 1 ; and
a control unit configured to perform focus adjustment by a phase difference detection method using the focus detection signals.

5. The image sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photoelectric conversion portions included in each of the first pixel and the second pixel are separated by a plurality of separation bands in the first direction and second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction.

6. The image sensor according to claim 5 , wherein the photoelectric conversion portions of the third pixel are separated by a separation band in a similar deviation to the deviation of the first pixel in the first direction.

7. The image sensor according to claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of pixels has a color filter; and
the fourth pixel having a color filter of a color different from the first pixel.

8. The image sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the first direction is a horizontal direction.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Fukuda Koichi
• Yamasaki Ryo
• Oikawa Makoto
• Onuki Ichiro
• Yamamoto Hideaki
• Nishio Akihiro

Classifications

• H04N23/843

  Demosaicing, e.g. interpolating colour pixel values · CPC title

• H04N23/672

  based on the phase difference signals · CPC title

• H04N25/134

  based on three different wavelength filter elements · CPC title

• H04N25/704

  Pixels specially adapted for focusing, e.g. phase difference pixel sets · CPC title

• H01L27/14621

  Electricity · mapped topic