Solid-state imaging device having floating diffusion units disposed at greater intervals than adjacent ones of horizontal transfer units

1. A solid-state imaging device comprising:

a plurality of photoelectric conversion units arranged in rows and columns in a pixel region of a semiconductor substrate, and configured to convert incident light into signal charges;

a plurality of vertical transfer units arranged for corresponding columns of the photoelectric conversion units, and configured to transfer, in a column direction, the signal charges read from the corresponding columns of the photoelectric conversion units;

n horizontal transfer units arranged in parallel, and configured to transfer, in a row direction, the signal charges transferred by the vertical transfer units, n being an integer greater than or equal to two; and

output units configured to output, as electric signals, the signal charges transferred by the n horizontal transfer units, the output units including n floating diffusion units each formed in a region adjacent to an output end of a corresponding one of the n horizontal transfer units,

wherein the n floating diffusion units are disposed at greater intervals than adjacent ones of the n horizontal transfer units.

2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising

(n−1) horizontal internal transfer units each interposed between respective adjacent ones of the n horizontal transfer units, and configured to selectively transfer the signal charges between the n horizontal transfer units.

3. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein at least one of the n horizontal transfer units is bent at an end portion which includes the output end.

4. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein at least one of the n horizontal transfer units includes an end portion which includes the output end, and

the end portion has a width in the column direction which increases toward the output end.

5. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the n horizontal transfer units are two horizontal transfer units, and

the two horizontal transfer units are vertically symmetrically bent at end portions each including the output end, or each have a width in the column direction, which increases toward the output end.

6. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the vertical transfer units have transfer electrodes which are supplied with power from shunt lines arranged along the column direction,

the solid-state imaging device further comprising:

an optical black region (i) formed in a region adjacent to the pixel region and (ii) covered by a light-shield film, the optical black region outputting a signal of a black level; and

a line region (i) formed in a region adjacent to the optical black region and (ii) covered by the light-shield film, the line region including dummy pixels,

wherein a distance between the n horizontal transfer units and one of the dummy pixels which is included in the line region and positioned closest to the n horizontal transfer units is larger than a distance between the n horizontal transfer units and one of pixels included in the optical black region and positioned closest to the n horizontal transfer units, and

at least one of the n horizontal transfer units is bent toward the pixel region or has a width in the column direction which increases, at an end portion which includes the output end.

7. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the n horizontal transfer units are driven in an m-phase drive system where m is an integer greater than or equal to three.

8. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the n horizontal transfer units are configured to read and transfer the signal charges in an interlace system.

9. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising

well contacts disposed between adjacent ones of the n floating diffusion units.

10. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein all or part of wells for output amplifiers are separated between the output amplifiers, each of the output amplifiers including a corresponding one of the n floating diffusion units.