Analysis of Smear Noise in Interline-CCD Image Sensor with Gate-Free Isolation Structure

A gate-free isolation structure for smear noise suppression is proposed for an interline transfer charge-coupled device (IL CCD) image sensor. Analysis of the smear components shows that the signal-to-smear ratio in the proposed structure is 30 dB larger than that in a conventional structure, and is comparable to those of frame interline transfer (FIT) CCDs, while the isolation and breakdown characteristics of the proposed structure are similar to those of the conventional structure. These results indicate that the high-definition interline-CCD image sensors are promising for HDTV applications.