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The charge coupled device is a type of memory, in which packets of charge are continuously transferred from one MOS device to another. A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time. Charge coupled devices are silicon based integrated circuit consisting of a density matrix of photodiode that operate by converting the light energy in the form of photons into an electronic charge. Electrons generated by the interaction of photons with silicon atom are stored in a potential wall and can subsequently be transferred across the chip through registers and output to an amplifier.
History
The charge-coupled device was invented in 1969 at AT&T Bell Labs by Willard Boyle and George E. Smith. The lab was working on semiconductor bubble memory when Boyle and Smith conceived of the design of what they termed, in their notebook, "Charge 'Bubble' Devices". Later studies indicates that the device, because of its ability to transfer charge and the photo electric interaction with light, would also be useful for other application such as signal processing and imaging.
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Charge generation
Before the MOS capacitors are exposed to light, they are biased into the depletion region; in nchannel CCDs, the silicon under the bias gate is slightly p-doped or intrinsic. The gate is then biased at a positive potential, above the threshold for strong inversion, which will eventually result in the creation of a n channel below the gate as in a MOSFET. However, it takes time to reach this thermal equilibrium: up to hours in high-end scientific cameras cooled at low temperature. Initially after biasing, the holes are pushed far into the substrate, and no mobile electrons are at or near the surface; the CCD thus operates in a non-equilibrium state called deep depletion.[14] Then, when electronhole pairs are generated in the depletion region, they are separated by the electric field, the electrons move toward the surface, and the holes move toward the substrate. Four pair-generation processes can be identified:
photo-generation, generation in the depletion region, generation at the surface, and generation in the neutral bulk.
The last three processes are known as dark-current generation, and add noise to the image; they can limit the total usable integration time. The accumulation of electrons at or near the surface can proceed either until image integration is over and charge begins to be transferred, or thermal equilibrium is reached. In this case, the well is said to be full (corresponding typically to about 105 electrons per pixel
Advantages of CCD
Low cost. It is possible to construct large memory in single cell. Data are stored serially.
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High sensitivity.
Disadvantages of CCD
Like other dynamic memory, it must be periodically refreshed and driven by rather complex, multi-phase clock signals. Since the data are stored serially. The average access time is long compared with the semiconductor RAM memory.
Conclusion
The CCD memory is inherently serial. Practical memories are constructed in the form of shift register, each shift register being in a line of CCD. By controlling the timing of the clock signals applied to the shift registers, data can be accessed one bit at a time from a single register or several bits at a time from multiple registers. The CCD can be use as RAM.
Reference
Fundamental of Digital Circuit, A. Anand Kukar www.wikipadia.com. Scientific Charge Coupled Devices, James R. Janesick
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