Methods of forming curved image sensors
US-2016286102-A1 · Sep 29, 2016 · US
Image sensor and image capturing apparatus
US9812473B2 · US · B2
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Publication number | US-9812473-B2 |
| Application number | US-201615079741-A |
| Country | US |
| Kind code | B2 |
| Filing date | Mar 24, 2016 |
| Priority date | Apr 3, 2015 |
| Publication date | Nov 7, 2017 |
| Grant date | Nov 7, 2017 |
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Abstract
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An image sensor to which is provided an image sensing plane that receives light from a subject whose image has been formed by a lens, the image sensing plane having a flat shape portion and a curved shape portion.
First claim
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What is claimed is: 1. An image sensor comprising: an image sensing plane that receives light from a subject whose image has been formed by a lens, wherein the image sensing plane has a central flat planar portion and a peripheral curved shape portion, wherein the central flat planar portion is arranged in a region of the image sensing plane which is less influenced by field curvature aberration of the lens and the peripheral curved shape portion is arranged in a region of the image sensing plane which is more influenced by field curvature aberration of the lens, and wherein the central flat planar portion enables a thickness of the image sensor to be reduced, and the curved shape suppresses decrease in light at the peripheral curved shape portion. 2. The image sensor according to claim 1 , wherein a position of a boundary between the central flat planar portion and the peripheral curved shape portion is set to a same distance relative to a center of the image sensing plane. 3. The image sensor according to claim 2 , wherein the image sensing plane has a pixel area in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix. 4. The image sensor according to claim 3 , wherein the pixel area has an effective pixel area from which a signal that depends on a received light amount is output and a black reference pixel area from which a black reference signal is output, and the effective pixel area is constituted by the central flat planar portion and the peripheral curved shape portion. 5. The image sensor according to claim 4 , wherein the reference point is located in a center of the effective pixel area. 6. The image sensor according to claim 4 , wherein the black reference pixel area is arranged adjacent to the effective pixel area, the black reference pixel area is partially or entirely constituted by a curved shape portion, and a curvature of the curved shape portion of the black reference pixel area differs from a curvature of the curved shape portion of the effective pixel area. 7. The image sensor according to claim 6 , wherein the curvature of the curved shape portion of the black reference pixel area is less than the curvature of the curved shape portion of the effective pixel area. 8. The image sensor according to claim 4 , wherein the black reference pixel area is constituted by shaded unit pixels that include photoelectric conversion units. 9. The image sensor according to claim 4 , wherein the black reference pixel area is constituted by unit pixels that do not include photoelectric conversion units. 10. An image capturing apparatus comprising: an image sensor provided with an image sensing plane that receives light from a subject whose image has been formed by a lens, the image sensing plane having a central flat planar portion and a peripheral curved shape portion, the central flat planar portion being arranged in a region of the image sensing plane which is less influenced by field curvature aberration of the lens and the peripheral curved shape portion being arranged in a region of the image sensing plane which is more influenced by field curvature aberration of the lens; and the lens, wherein the central flat planar portion enables a thickness of the image sensor to be reduced, and the curved shape suppresses decrease in light at the peripheral curved shape portion. 11. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein a reference point is located on an optical axis of the lens.
Assignees
Inventors
Classifications
the noise originating only from the lens unit, e.g. flare, shading, vignetting or "cos4" · CPC title
applied to dark current · CPC title
- H10F39/8027Primary
Geometry of the photosensitive area · CPC title
- H01L27/14607Primary
Electricity · mapped topic
Electricity · mapped topic
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- What does patent US9812473B2 cover?
- An image sensor to which is provided an image sensing plane that receives light from a subject whose image has been formed by a lens, the image sensing plane having a flat shape portion and a curved shape portion.
- Who is the assignee on this patent?
- Canon Kk
- What technology area does this patent fall under?
- Primary CPC classification H10F39/8027. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
- When was this patent published?
- Publication date Tue Nov 07 2017 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
- What related patents are in patentsdb?
- We list 3 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).