BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to integrated circuit designs providing features which reduce the capacitance on input lines to certain circuit elements such as charge amplifiers.

Parasitic input capacitance is of great importance in charge readout performance. In many integrated circuits containing arrays of data elements (e.g., memory devices having arrays of memory cells and imagers having arrays of pixels), amplifiers read out charge stored on the individual elements of the array. Ideally, the readout should be performed rapidly and accurately. Unfortunately, a large input line capacitance requires that some of the charge initially injected to the amplifier be used to charge the “input line capacitor.” This of course slows the readout time and reduces or increases that amount of charge provided to the amplifier.

From the perspective of a charge amplifier, the main effects of input capacitance are (1) time response, (2) gain, and (3) output linearity. If C

L

, C

R

A, and &dgr;Q are the input capacitance, the feedback capacitance, the voltage gain, and the injected charge respectively, the output of the charge amplifier is inversely proportional to C

R

according to the relation &Dgr;V

o

=&dgr;Q/(C

L

/A)+(1+(1/A))C

R

) and the time response is proportional to the loop gain, C

R

/(C

R

+C

L

). From the previous analysis, two observations can be drawn: (i) the output linearity is seriously affected by the input capacitance for low amplifier gain, and (ii) gain and speed of the amplifier are traded off as in a generic negative feedback system. Thus, the speed of the system benefits greatly from a reduction on the input line capacitance.

For applications as in the field of CMOS optical sensors, the input line capacitance, Cr, is composed of the diffusion and metal capacitances of the line as shown in FIG.

1

. There, a photodiode

8

is connected to a charge amplifier input line

10

via a switch

12

. Photodiode

8

may be provided in a single pixel of a photodiode array of a CMOS imager, for example. When switch

12

is closed, charge stored on photodiode

8

is provided over input line

10

to a capacitor

16

. Charge accumulated on capacitor

16

provides a voltage across the plates of the capacitor, which voltage may be read by an amplifier

14

. The detected voltage should represent the charge stored on photodiode

8

. A switch

18

is provided to allow reset of photodiode

8

. During reset (after readout), switch

18

is closed so that the output of charge integrate toward it is provided to line

10

, thereby resetting photodiode

8

while switch

12

is closed. This procedure resets photodiode

8

to reference voltage, V

R

.

Input line

10

includes two sources of parasitic capacitance: a metal capacitance illustrated as an idealized capacitor

20

and a diffusion capacitance illustrated as an idealized capacitor

22

. The metal capacitance is created by the dielectric between the metal input line and the grounded substrate or other conductive features insulated from but proximate to line

10

. Its effect is manifested when a potential change is applied to line

10

, thereby changing the charge stored on the capacitor electrodes (i.e., the metal line and the substrate). The diffusion capacitance is created by a p-n junction at the interface of a diffusion (e.g., a photodiode diffusion) and a surrounding well or bulk region. When the diffusion is charged or discharged (as by injecting charge onto line

10

), the capacitor defined by a p-n junction depletion region is charged or discharged. For most of integrated circuit designs in production today, about one half of the input line capacitance is due to the metal line (with the other half provided by the diffusion(s)).

In view of the above, it is clear that device performance could be significantly improved by designs that reduce input line capacitance from the diffusion and/or metal line components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To reduce the input line capacitance with respect to the ground, the present invention provides circuitry which drives a metal shield provided underneath, and in relatively close proximity to, a metal input line. Preferably, the shield is driven by a buffer directly connected to the input line. Thus, the potential of the metal shield follows that of the input line thereby reducing the capacitive charge stored on the metal line. Of course, an amplifier is also coupled to the input line. If the speed of the buffer is greater than that of the amplifier, the input metal capacitance may be largely neglected. To further improve the system performance, diffusions of the input line may be placed in wells whose potential is driven by the buffer.

In one aspect, the invention may be characterized as an integrated circuit including the following features: (a) an amplifier for reading the output of individual cells in the integrated circuit; (b) an input line connecting the amplifier to at least one of the individual cells; (c) a shield line provided underneath and capacitively coupled to the input line; and (d) a circuit element conductively connecting the shield line to the input line, such that the circuit element provides a potential to the shield line which follows an input potential on the input line. This reduces the capacitive load on the input line. In one embodiment, the circuit element is a unity gain buffer such as a pull-up amplifier.

If the integrated circuit is a CMOS imager, the individual cells are pixels, for example. If the integrated circuit is a memory array, the individual cells are storage elements.

In one preferred embodiment, the shield line is a metal line. Depending upon where the input line resides in the integrated circuit, the metal line may be provided between two metallization layers, beneath a first metallization layer, etc. If the individual cells contain diffusions in wells, the shield line may be conductively coupled to the wells. This can reduce the diffusion capacitance associated with the individual cells of the array.

In another aspect, the invention may be characterized as a method of reducing a capacitive load on an input line to an amplifier on an integrated circuit. This method may be characterized as including the following events: (a) operating the integrated circuit such that the signal on a cell of the integrated circuit is provided on the input line to the amplifier; and (b) providing the signal to a shield line provided beneath the input line and capacitively coupled thereto, such that the signal on the shield line follows the signal on the input line to reduce the capacitive load on the input line.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides a system for producing an image of an object. This system includes an imager including a low capacitance input line of the type described above and one or more components for outputting an image resulting from the outputs of one or more pixels. The image may be a photograph in the case of a digital camera for example.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be described below in the Detailed Description section with reference to the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a schematic diagram illustrating the sources of input line capacitance to a generic amplifier element.

FIG. 2A

is a schematic diagram of a circuit employing a buffer and a metal shield placed underneath the input line of a charge amplifier in accordance with this invention

FIG. 2B

is a cross-sectional diagram of the circuit of

FIG. 2A

as applied to a passive photodiode pixel, of a type suitable for use with an MOS imager.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention will be described with reference to certain preferred embodiments set forth below. Specifically, the invention will be described with reference to a particular MOS imager sensor design and a few variants. It should be understood that the invention is in no way specifically limited to these embodiments. For example, the invention may be applied to reduce the input line capacitance of charge integrators employed with various memory devices.

The invention will now be described by example in the context of an MOS imager having a photodiode array. A pixel of the imager as connected to a charge amplifier is illustrated in

FIGS. 2A and 2B

. To reduce the complexity of the diagrams, only a single pixel is shown. It should be understood that a plurality of pixels typically will be provided on a single input line.

As depicted schematically in

FIG. 2A

, a pixel

200

includes a photodiode

206

coupled to an input line

212

by a switch

214

. Input line

212

is shown extending beyond pixel

200

to the left to illustrate that other pixels may be connected to the same line. As in conventional systems, input line

212

is coupled to an amplifier

210

. In this instance, amplifier

210

is an operational charge amplifier connected in parallel to a capacitor

222

which receives charge from pixel

200

and thereby establishes a voltage difference between its plates. Amplifier

210

can then detect the voltage difference across the electrodes of capacitor

222

and thereby gauge the charge that has been injected onto line

212

. During this readout procedure, a switch

225

(connected in parallel to capacitor

222

) remains open so that capacitor

222

can maintain a potential difference across its plates. After readout, switch

225

closes so that a reference voltage, V

R

, is provided to photodiode

206

via line

212

. This resets photodiode

206

to V

R

.

In a conventional system, when a photodiode or other array element injects charge onto an input line, that line must first pull up the potential of other conductive structures to which it is capacitively coupled. For example, it must pull up the local potential of a substrate

202

on which the array is fabricated. Typically, substrate

202

will be coupled to ground

205

and therefore held at a relatively fixed potential. Thus, upon charge injection, the change in potential necessary for current flow on line

212

is resisted by capacitive coupling to substrate

202

or other local conductive structures.

Similarly, a p-n junction capacitor formed between a diffusion of photodiode

206

and the surrounding well or bulk resists charge injection from the photodiode diffusion to input line

212

. This capacitor and a mechanism to counter it are illustrated in more detail in FIG.

2

B.

To counter the metal line capacitance described above, the present invention provides a conductive shield line

218

formed beneath input line

212

. Shield line

218

effectively shields input line

212

from substrate

202

and/or other conductive structures to which it is capacitively coupled. Essentially, shield line

218

converts what had been a single capacitor (metal line-dielectric-substrate) into two capacitors connected in series. The overall capacitance of the system remains about the same, but input line

212

is most directly affected by shield line

218

.

To reduce the capacitive loading on line

212

, the potential difference between it and shield line

218

should be minimized. This is accomplished by forcing the two lines to track one another. Preferably, this conductive connection is provided by a circuit element such as a unity-gain buffer

220

illustrated in FIG.

2

A.

Unity-gain buffer

220

drives metal shield

218

so that its potential follows that of input line

212

. If the speed of buffer

220

is greater than that of amplifier

210

, the input metal capacitance can be substantially neglected. To further improve the system performance, as described below, diffusions on input line

212

(e.g., the diffusion of photodiode

206

) can be placed in wells whose potential is also driven by unity-gain buffer

220

.

As depicted structurally in

FIG. 2B

, pixel

200

is formed on semiconductor substrate

202

. An n-well

204

is formed on the upper part of substrate

202

, which may be an epitaxial layer for example. In a preferred embodiment, well

204

is limited to a single pixel as shown. However, it is within the scope of this invention to employ a well that spans multiple pixels in a two-dimensional array. Within each pixel, p-type photodiode diffusion

206

is provided to store charge upon exposure to radiation. In addition, each pixel

200

includes a substrate tap

208

for holding the well

204

at a fixed voltage such as V

dd

. Substrate tap

208

may be a highly doped n-type region for providing a low resistance ohmic contact to well

204

. Substrate tap

208

connects to an appropriate power source via an appropriate contact or interconnect.

Various optical layers/elements may be provided on pixel

200

—at least on diffusion

206

. To simplify the diagrams these additional elements are not shown in

FIGS. 2A and 2B

. Exemplary optical elements may include a lens for optical collection of photons and filters for wavelength discrimination of photons (as used in color pixels).

It should be understood that while pixel

200

is depicted as having an n-type well and a p-type photodiode diffusion, the invention is not limited to this arrangement. Thus, well

204

could be a p-type region and diffusion

206

could be an n-type region. In either case, the concentration of dopant atoms in regions

204

and

206

should be chosen to create a depletion mode photodiode. In such photodiodes, radiation impinging on photodiode diffusion

206

causes generation of holes and electrons in the depletion region. Because the depletion region does not contain free charge carriers, these newly created holes and electrons are not immediately annihilated by combination with charge carriers of the opposite charge. Thus, they reside as free charge on a capacitor C

pw

207

defined at the p-n junction between the photodiode diffusion

206

and the well

204

. The capacitance of C

pw

is sometimes referred to as the photodiode's “intrinsic capacitance.”

During normal operation, pixel

200

is exposed to a source of radiation for a defined period of time. The flux of radiation (intensity) integrated over the length of the exposure time defines an “integrated illumination” which is related to the amount of charge that builds up on the capacitor defined by the p-n junction of diffusion

206

and well

204

. To “read” pixel

200

, photodiode

206

is discharged so that the amount of stored charge can be determined. This charge specifies the integrated illumination which can be converted to a radiation intensity based upon the known exposure time. The outputs of all pixels in the array are used to create a radiation intensity distribution or image.

As noted, the pixel output is coupled to amplifier

210

by an input line

212

and a switch

214

(depicted here as a transistor). While photodiode

206

is exposed to radiation, transistor

214

is switched off so that the charge accumulates in pixel

200

. When pixel

200

is to be read, transistor

214

switches on so that the charge accumulated in photodiode diffusion

206

can flow over input line

212

to amplifier

210

and capacitor

222

(connected in parallel with amplifier

210

). Amplifier

210

then measures the voltage across capacitor

222

and generates an output corresponding to the quantity of radiation received at photodiode

206

.

Shield line

218

is coupled to input line

212

via unity-gain buffer

220

as described above. Preferably, shield line

218

is provided directly underneath input line

212

, but is may be offset by a small amount if necessary for routing or other design considerations. Also, it may be provided above line

212

if there is substantial capacitive coupling to overlying conductive structures. Further, shield line

218

preferably mimics the size, shape, and location of line

212

. In practice, line

218

may be provided in a metalization layer directly underneath the metalization layer on which input line

212

is formed. Alternatively, it may be formed at an intermediate position between the metalization layer of line

212

and one of the adjacent metallization lines. In such cases, the inter-metal dielectric (IMD) must be formed in two stages so that the shield line can be formed therebetween. If input line

212

is formed on a first metalization line, then it may be desirable to form shield line

218

at an intermediate position in the inter-layer dielectric (ILD). In such cases, the ILD should be formed in two stages, which is now a common fabrication technique. Shield line

218

will be formed between two ILD sublayers.

To reduce the diffusion capacitance component of the input line capacitance, well

204

is maybe coupled to shield line

218

by an ohmic contact

224

and a contact line

226

. Thus, when the potential on line

212

changes, the well potential is pulled up or down with it. This reduces the p-n junction capacitance at C

pw

207

.

Many different types of amplifier may benefit from the shielded input lines of this invention, not just charge integrators as indicated in

FIGS. 2A and 2B

. In general, the amplifier should be slower than the buffer driving the shield line. This often means that the frequency band width of buffer

220

will be greater than that of amplifier

210

. Structurally, buffer

220

may be of any design meeting the above criterion. In a simple case, it may be a two transistor follower or pull-up amplifier.

The output of amplifier

210

will be an analog signal indicating the integrated illumination of a currently analyzed pixel. In order to easily analyze this signal, the analog signal should first be converted to a digital signal. This may be accomplished with analog-to-digital converter which is preferably formed on the same chip with the pixel array.

Amplifiers with shielded input lines of this invention may be deployed in various systems for military, scientific, business, and home applications. When used with memory chips, for example, they may be employed computer systems, databases, personal digital assistants, network hardware, etc. Such systems will include associated processing logic, input/output circuitry, etc. When used with optical imagers, for example, they may be used in digital cameras, video recorders, night driving displays, etc. Such systems will generally include, in addition to the MOS imager chip, optics to capture an image and direct it onto the MOS array. This may include one or more lenses, filters, etc. of the types conventionally employed in image capture systems. The optics and MOS imager will be mounted in a casing such as a camera case. Further, the system may include a memory for temporarily storing captured images for later downloading to a display system. In some instances, the display system itself will form part of the overall imager system.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. For example, while the specification has described certain input line shield designs which accomplish the objectives of the present invention, many others which will be understood by those of skill in the art from the present disclosure to be within the spirit of the present invention may equally be used. For example, while the specification has exemplified a single metallic shield line provided beneath an input line, other shield designs such as wide area plates also could be used with the invention. In addition, the shielding designs of this invention could profitably find use in protecting generic metal lines other than input lines specifically directed to amplifiers. Still further, the shielding structure need not be a unitary metallic line as exemplified herein. Rather it may be a conductive polymer or a dielectric impregnated with conductive particles, etc. Therefore, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.