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SamsungGranted patentCameras & imagingInterest 4/10

Samsung patents image sensor design with deeper trenches to separate pixels

This patent describes an image sensor layout where individual color pixels are packed closely together in a grid. To prevent light from bleeding between these tight spaces, the design uses specific trenches that cut through the sensor material to isolate each pixel.

Why it mattersThis technical improvement helps maintain image clarity in high-density camera sensors, which are common in modern smartphones and cameras.

In the filing’s own words

An image sensor is provided, and the image sensor includes: a substrate having first and second surfaces spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction; a first color unit pixel including a first subpixel to a fourth subpixel arranged in a 2×2 matrix; a second color unit pixel including four subpixels arranged in a 2×2 matrix; a first pixel isolation trench separating the first color unit pixel and the second color unit pixel; a second pixel isolation trench separating the first subpixel and the second subpixel of the first color unit pixel; a third pixel isolation trench on a point of intersection of the first to fourth subpixels of the first color unit pixel. The first color unit pixel detects first color light. The second color unit pixel detects second color light. The image sensor is configured to receive the first color light on the second surface. The second pixel isolation trench extends from the first surface to the second surface. The third pixel isolation trench extends from the second surface to the first surface.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image sensor, comprising: a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface; a first color unit pixel including a first subpixel, a second subpixel directly adjacent to the first subpixel in a first direction, a third subpixel directly adjacent to the second subpixel in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a fourth subpixel directly adjacent to the first subpixel in the second direction and the third subpixel in the first direction; a second color unit pixel including four subpixels arranged in a 2×2 matrix; a first pixel isolation trench configured to separate the first color unit pixel and the second color unit pixel; a second pixel isolation trench configured to separate the first subpixel and the second subpixel of the first color unit pixel; and a third pixel isolation trench on a point of intersection of the first to fourth subpixels of the first color unit pixel, wherein the first color unit pixel is configured to detect first color light corresponding to a first wavelength, wherein the second color unit pixel is configured to detect second color light corresponding to a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, wherein the image sensor is configured to receive the first color light on the second surface, wherein the second pixel isolation trench extends from the first surface to the second surface, and wherein the third pixel isolation trench extends from the second surface to the first surface.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Image sensors having high density subpixels therein with enhanced pixel separation structures
Patent number
US12751103B2
Application number
18517562
Filed
Nov 22, 2023
Granted
Sep 29, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
19

Classified under

H10F 39/807 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/024 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/199 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/813 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.