LINEAR IMAGE SENSOR WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE AND LARGE PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT

A linear image sensor with high performance and large photosensitive element has been developed, which integrates photosensors, a shift register, address switches, a charge-sensitive amplifier and a sample and hold circuit. This linear image sensor has a high sensitivity with an on-chip charge-sensitive amplifier and good stability in the ultraviolet spectral region using the most suitable process design. It has 1024 photoelements, each 2.0 mm X 25-mu-m, giving a total active area of 2.0 mm X 25-6 mm. This sensor has been demonstrated experimentally to exhibit excellent performance, such as a high responsivity (120 V/lx s), a wide dynamic range (> 80 dB), low dark current (< 0.1 pA/element), low power dissipation (< 3.0 mW), excellent linearity (< +/- 0.3%) and good stability in the UV spectral region.