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Samsung patents image sensor with asymmetric transistor design

Samsung describes an image sensor where the transistor structure inside each pixel is shaped unevenly, with a gate that wraps around a cutout space on one side. This asymmetric layout places the source and drain regions at different distances from the fin structure to optimize how the pixel captures light.

Why it mattersThis design aims to improve the performance of camera sensors in phones and other devices by refining the internal structure of the transistors that read image data.

In the filing’s own words

An image sensor includes a substrate having a pixel region in which an active region having a locally asymmetric fin region limited by a locally cutout space is defined and a transistor provided in the pixel region. The transistor includes a horizontal gate portion provided on the active region and a vertical gate portion filling the locally cutout space and facing one of fin sidewalls of the locally asymmetric fin region. Distances of the source region and drain region formed in the active region from the locally asymmetric fin region are different from each other. An electronic system includes at least one camera module including an image sensor and a processor configured to process image data provided from the at least one camera module.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image sensor comprising: a substrate having a pixel region; an active region in the pixel region, the active region having an edge portion in a direction perpendicular to a channel direction in the active region, and the active region having an asymmetric fin region configured by a cutout space at the edge portion of the active region and shifted from a center of the active region; and a transistor provided in the pixel region, wherein the transistor comprises: a gate electrode comprising: a horizontal gate portion provided on the active region and having a first surface facing an upper surface of the active region, and a vertical gate portion filling the cutout space and having a second surface facing a fin sidewall among a plurality of fin sidewalls of the asymmetric fin region; a source region and a drain region formed in the active region, the source region being formed on a first side of the gate electrode and the drain region formed on a second side of the gate electrode opposite to the first side; and a gate dielectric layer provided between the active region and the gate electrode, and wherein a first distance between the source region and the asymmetric fin region is different from a second distance between the drain region and the asymmetric fin region.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
Image sensor and electronic system including the same
Patent number
US12740166B2
Application number
18093609
Filed
Jan 5, 2023
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
20

Classified under

H10F 39/80373 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/014 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/18 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/807 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.