Samsung patents image sensor design with layered pixel barriers
This patent describes an image sensor structure where pixels are separated by a specific isolation component. The isolation uses an insulating layer and a conductive layer made of three distinct semiconductive patterns stacked on the side.
In the filing’s own words
An image sensor may include a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, which are opposite to each other, and micro lenses on the second surface, interconnection lines on the first surface, and a pixel isolation portion in the substrate, the pixel isolation portion configured to isolate pixels from direct contact with each other. The pixel isolation portion may include an insulating isolation pattern and a conductive pattern, wherein the conductive pattern is spaced apart from the substrate, and the insulating isolation pattern is between the substrate and the conductive pattern. The conductive pattern may include a sequential arrangement of a first conductive pattern, a second conductive pattern, and a third conductive pattern on a side surface of the insulating isolation pattern.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An image sensor, comprising: a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface and the second surface being opposite to each other; micro lenses on the second surface; interconnection lines on the first surface; and a pixel isolation portion in the substrate, the pixel isolation portion configured to isolate pixels from direct contact with each other, wherein the pixel isolation portion includes an insulating isolation pattern and a conductive pattern, the conductive pattern being spaced apart from the substrate, and the insulating isolation pattern being between the substrate and the conductive pattern, and wherein the conductive pattern includes a sequential arrangement of a first semiconductive pattern, a second semiconductive pattern, and a third semiconductive pattern on a side surface of the insulating isolation pattern, the first semiconductive pattern being in contact with the insulating isolation pattern, and a thickness of the second semiconductive pattern being at least one of larger than a thickness of the first semiconductive pattern or smaller than a thickness of the third semiconductive pattern in a first direction parallel to the first surface.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- Image sensor
- Patent number
- US12733282B2
- Application number
- 18310194
- Filed
- May 1, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 8, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 19
Classified under
H10F 39/807 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/024 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/802 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8063 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8067 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/811 Electricity & electronicsMore from Samsung in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.