CN-122003875-A - Light detection device and electronic equipment

Abstract

To perform auto-focusing with a simple configuration, high accuracy and high speed. The light detection device includes a plurality of pixels that output an event signal in the case where a change in brightness of incident light incident through an optical system exceeds a predetermined threshold, and a defocus amount detection circuit that detects a defocus amount of the incident light based on the event signal. At least some of the plurality of pixels have at least one of a first photoelectric conversion region and a second photoelectric conversion region that detect a change in luminance in the divided pixel region and output an event signal. The defocus amount detection circuit detects a defocus amount based on two event signals output from the paired first photoelectric conversion region and second photoelectric conversion region.

Inventors

• Qinchuan Wushi

Assignees

• 索尼半导体解决方案公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20241107

Priority Date

20231122

Claims (20)

1. 1. A light detection device, comprising: a plurality of pixels outputting an event signal in the case where a brightness variation of incident light incident through the optical system exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and A defocus amount detection circuit that detects a defocus amount of the incident light based on the event signal, Wherein at least a part of the plurality of pixels has at least one of a first photoelectric conversion region and a second photoelectric conversion region that detect a luminance change in the divided pixel region and output the event signal, and The defocus amount detection circuit detects the defocus amount based on two event signals output from the paired first photoelectric conversion region and second photoelectric conversion region.
2. 2. The light detecting device of claim 1, Wherein the plurality of pixels includes a plurality of pairs of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region, and The defocus amount detection circuit detects the defocus amount based on a deviation amount and a deviation direction between a pixel position of the first photoelectric conversion region outputting the event signal and a pixel position of the second photoelectric conversion region outputting the event signal among the plurality of pairs of the first photoelectric conversion regions and the second photoelectric conversion region.
3. 3. The light detecting device of claim 2, Wherein the defocus amount detection circuit detects whether a focal position of the optical system is positioned closer to an object than light receiving surfaces of the plurality of pixels or the focal position is positioned on the light receiving surface or the focal position is positioned farther from the object than the light receiving surface based on the pixel position of the first photoelectric conversion region outputting the event signal and the pixel position of the second photoelectric conversion region outputting the event signal.
4. 4. The light detecting device of claim 1, Wherein at least a part of the plurality of pixels has the pair of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region.
5. 5. The light detecting device of claim 4, Wherein a part of the plurality of pixels has the pair of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region, and Pixels other than the portions of the plurality of pixels output the event signal without the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region.
6. 6. The light detecting device of claim 1, Wherein the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region of the pair are arranged in pixels different from each other, and The pixel having the first photoelectric conversion region or the second photoelectric conversion region has a light shielding member covering a region other than the first photoelectric conversion region or the second photoelectric conversion region.
7. 7. The light detection device according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the plurality of pixels has a correction section that outputs a new event signal obtained by correcting and integrating two event signals output from the paired first photoelectric conversion region and second photoelectric conversion region.
8. 8. The light detection device according to claim 7, wherein the correction section controls a threshold value such that a total number of two event signals output from the pair of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region is equal to a total number of event signals output from pixels located around the pixel having the pair of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region and having no first photoelectric conversion region and no second photoelectric conversion region.
9. 9. The light detection device according to claim 7, wherein the correction section corrects the two event signals output from the paired first and second photoelectric conversion regions based on occurrence rates of a plurality of the event signals output from a plurality of pixels which are located around the pixel having the paired first and second photoelectric conversion regions and which do not have the first and second photoelectric conversion regions.
10. 10. The light detection device according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of pixels are eight pixels around the pixel having the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region.
11. 11. The light detecting device of claim 1, Wherein, the defocus amount detection circuit includes: An information processing section that constructs an information processing model by machine learning, the information processing model outputting an out-of-focus state notification event corresponding to the input parameter by using two event signals output from the paired first photoelectric conversion region and second photoelectric conversion region as input parameters, the information processing section inputting a new input parameter to the constructed trained information processing model, and outputting an out-of-focus state notification event corresponding to the new input parameter from the information processing model.
12. 12. The light detecting device of claim 11, Wherein the information processing model has an input layer receiving inputs of the two event signals and an output layer outputting the defocus state notification event, and The output layer outputs a plurality of event signals indicative of the defocus amount.
13. 13. The light detecting device of claim 12, Wherein the defocus state notification event includes a front focus detection event signal, a positive focus detection event signal, or a back focus detection event signal.
14. 14. The light detecting device of claim 11, Wherein the information processing model is a pulsed neural network (SNN).
15. 15. The light detection device of claim 1, further comprising: a first substrate disposed on the light incident surface side, and A second substrate disposed on a side opposite to the light incident surface and laminated on the first substrate, Wherein at least a portion of the plurality of pixels is disposed on the first substrate, an At least a part of the defocus amount detection circuit is arranged on the second substrate.
16. 16. The light detection apparatus of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of pixels has an event detection circuit that generates the event signal, and At least a portion of the event detection circuit is disposed on the second substrate.
17. 17. The light detecting device of claim 1, Wherein the plurality of pixels output an on event signal in a case where a change in luminance in a direction in which the luminance of the incident light increases exceeds a threshold value, and output an off event signal in a case where a change in luminance in a direction in which the luminance of the incident light decreases exceeds a threshold value, an The defocus amount detection circuit detects the defocus amount based on the on event signal and the off event signal.
18. 18. The light detection device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pixels comprises: A plurality of light receiving pixels outputting a signal indicating whether an incident photon is detected; A counter that measures the number of times of photon detection of each of the plurality of light receiving pixels, and And a comparator outputting the event signal in a case where the number of times measured by the counter exceeds a threshold value.
19. 19. The light detection device of claim 1, further comprising: A vibration suppressing section that suppresses vibration of a pixel array section having the plurality of pixels, Wherein the defocus amount detection circuit detects the defocus amount based on the event signal output from the pixel array section after the vibration suppression section suppresses the vibration of the pixel array section.
20. 20. An electronic device, comprising: The light detection device of claim 1; The optical system, and An optical system driving unit performs focusing by moving the optical system along the optical axis based on the defocus amount.

Description

Light detection device and electronic equipment Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a light detection device and an electronic apparatus. Background A camera that performs autofocus with high accuracy by following an object moving at a high speed has been proposed (see patent document 1). In patent document 1, autofocus is performed by providing a moving body detection section that detects a moving body OB moving at a high speed and a prediction calculation section that predicts a future position of the moving body OB moving at the high speed. In addition, a technique of performing autofocus in a light detection device that outputs an event signal has been proposed (see patent document 2). In patent document 2, autofocus is performed by calculating the defocus amount from the relative deviation direction and the deviation amount of the digital signal output from each of the first pixel and the second pixel obtained by dividing the pixel outputting the event signal into two. List of references Patent literature Patent document 1 Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2010-8507 Patent document 2 International publication No. WO 2023/132129 Disclosure of Invention Problems to be solved by the invention However, in the technique of patent document 1, auto focusing cannot be performed quickly due to processing delays of the moving body detecting section and the prediction calculating section, and there is a possibility that the moving body OB moving at high speed cannot be accurately tracked. Further, the configuration of the control system of the camera becomes complicated, and there is a possibility that power consumption increases. Further, in patent document 2, separately from a circuit that detects an event signal, a voltage corresponding to accumulated charges of a photodiode is compared with a reference voltage to generate a binary digital signal, and a defocus amount is detected based on the digital signal. In patent document 2, a circuit that generates a digital signal for each pixel needs to be provided, and a process of adjusting the voltage level of the reference voltage needs to be performed, and there is a possibility that it takes time to detect the defocus amount. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a light detection apparatus and an electronic device capable of performing auto-focusing with a simple configuration and high accuracy and at high speed. Solution to the problem In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present disclosure, there is provided a light detection device including a plurality of pixels outputting an event signal in the case where a luminance change of incident light incident through an optical system exceeds a predetermined threshold, and a defocus amount detection circuit detecting a defocus amount of the incident light based on the event signal, wherein at least a part of the plurality of pixels has at least one of a first photoelectric conversion region or a second photoelectric conversion region that detects a luminance change in the divided pixel region and outputs the event signal, and the defocus amount detection circuit detects a defocus amount based on two event signals output from a pair of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region. The plurality of pixels may include a plurality of pairs of first and second photoelectric conversion regions, and the defocus amount detection circuit may detect the defocus amount based on a deviation amount and a deviation direction between a pixel position of a first photoelectric conversion region of the output event signal and a pixel position of a second photoelectric conversion region of the output event signal among the plurality of pairs of first and second photoelectric conversion regions. The defocus amount detection circuit may detect whether the focal position of the optical system is located closer to the object than the light receiving surfaces of the plurality of pixels, the focal position is located on the light receiving surface, or the focal position is located farther from the object than the light receiving surface, based on the pixel position of the first photoelectric conversion region outputting the event signal and the pixel position of the second photoelectric conversion region outputting the event signal. At least a portion of the plurality of pixels may have a pair of first and second photoelectric conversion regions. A portion of the plurality of pixels may have a pair of the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region, and pixels other than the portion of the plurality of pixels may output the event signal without having the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region. The paired first photoelectric conversion region and second photoelectric conversion region may be arranged in pixels different from each other, and the pixel havin