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Samsung patents image sensor with uneven gate depths

Samsung has been granted a patent for an image sensor design used in cameras. The invention describes a specific layout for a transfer gate electrode that has three extensions reaching into the sensor's substrate at different depths. One extension reaches deep into the light-sensitive area, while the other two stop short of it.

Why it mattersThis is a detailed hardware improvement that may help manage how charge is moved in camera sensors, but it is a technical component rather than a visible feature.

In the filing’s own words

An image sensor includes a substrate including first and second surfaces opposite to each other in a first direction; pixels each including a photoelectric conversion area in the substrate; and a transfer gate electrode overlapping the photoelectric conversion area of one pixel of the plurality of pixels in the first direction. The substrate contains impurities of a first conductivity type. The photoelectric conversion area contains impurities of a different second conductivity type. The transfer gate electrode includes first, second and third extensions extending from the first surface into the substrate and having respective a first, second, and third depths. The first depth is larger than each of the second and third depths. A bottom surface of the first extension is in the photoelectric conversion area. Each of the bottom surfaces of the second and third extensions is spaced apart from the photoelectric conversion area in the first direction.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image sensor, comprising: a substrate including a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface and the second surface are opposite to each other in a first direction; a plurality of pixels, each pixel of the plurality of pixels including a photoelectric conversion area in the substrate; and a transfer gate electrode on one pixel of the plurality of pixels, wherein the transfer gate electrode overlaps the photoelectric conversion area of the one pixel in the first direction, wherein the substrate contains impurities of a first conductivity type, wherein the photoelectric conversion area contains impurities of a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type, wherein the transfer gate electrode includes a first extension extending from the first surface of the substrate into the substrate, wherein the first extension has a first depth, a second extension extending from the first surface of the substrate into the substrate, wherein the second extension has a second depth, and a third extension extending from the first surface of the substrate into the substrate, wherein the third extension has a third depth, wherein the first depth is larger than each of the second depth and the third depth, wherein a bottom surface of the first extension is in the photoelectric conversion area, and wherein each of a bottom surface of the second extension and a bottom surface of the third extension is spaced apart from the photoelectric conversion area in the first direction.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Image sensor
Patent number
US12751099B2
Application number
18535076
Filed
Dec 11, 2023
Granted
Sep 29, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
20

Classified under

H10F 39/80373 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/182 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8053 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8063 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.