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SamsungGranted patentCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Samsung patents camera sensor using tiny pillars to split light colors

Samsung has been granted a patent for an image sensor that uses an array of microscopic pillars, called nanoposts, to separate incoming light by color. These pillars bend different wavelengths of light in specific directions so that distinct colors land on separate light-sensing cells within the sensor.

Why it mattersThis design could help cameras capture more accurate colors or improve performance in low light by directing specific wavelengths to the right sensors without traditional filters.

In the filing’s own words

An image sensor includes a sensor substrate including a first photosensitive cell and a second photosensitive cell configured to sense light and color separating lens array including a first region and a second region, wherein the first region faces the first photosensitive cell and includes first nanopost and the second region faces the second photosensitive cell and includes second nanopost. The first nanopost and the second nanopost form a phase distribution at a location where the lights pass through the first region and the second region, by the phase distribution, light having a first wavelength and light having a second wavelength different from each other from among incident light incident on the color separating lens array are branched in different directions and the light having the first wavelength is condensed onto the first photosensitive cell and the light having the second wavelength is condensed onto the second photosensitive cell.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image sensor comprising: a sensor substrate comprising a first photosensitive cell and a second photosensitive cell configured to sense light; and a color separating lens array comprising a first region and a second region, wherein the first region faces the first photosensitive cell and comprises a plurality of first nanoposts and the second region faces the second photosensitive cell and comprises a plurality of second nanoposts, wherein a first size of at least one of the plurality of first nanoposts is different from a second size of at least one of the plurality of second nanoposts or a first shape of the at least one of the plurality of first nanoposts is different from a second shape of the at least one of the plurality of second nanoposts, and wherein the first and the second nanoposts form a phase distribution at a location where the light pass through the first region and the second region, by the phase distribution, light having a first wavelength and light having a second wavelength different from each other from among incident light incident on the color separating lens array are branched in different directions and the light having the first wavelength is condensed onto the first photosensitive cell and the light having the second wavelength is condensed onto the second photosensitive cell.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
Image sensor including color separating lens array and electronic apparatus including the image sensor
Patent number
US12736826B2
Application number
17078612
Filed
Oct 23, 2020
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
23

Classified under

G02B 27/1013 Physics & computingG02B 27/123 Physics & computingH10F 39/182 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/806 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.