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Sony patents stacked camera sensor design with mixed-size layers

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Sony describes a camera sensor structure that stacks three different layers of material together. The middle layer is a different size than the bottom layer, and an insulating layer fills the gap between them to improve the device's overall quality.

Why it mattersThis design aims to make camera sensors more reliable, which could lead to better image quality in future Sony cameras and phones.

In the filing’s own words

To provide a solid-state imaging device capable of further improving quality and reliability of the solid-state imaging device. Provided is a solid-state imaging device including: a first substrate; a second substrate laminated on the first substrate by direct bonding on a side opposite to a light incident side of the first substrate, the second substrate having a size different from a size of the first substrate; a third substrate provided on a side opposite to a light incident side of the second substrate; and an insulating layer formed between the first substrate and the third substrate, in which the third substrate includes a well formed on a light incident side of the third substrate.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A solid-state imaging device, comprising: a first substrate; a second substrate laminated on the first substrate by direct bonding on a side opposite to a light incident side of the first substrate, the second substrate having a size different from a size of the first substrate; a third substrate provided on a side opposite to a light incident side of the second substrate; and an insulating layer formed between the first substrate and the third substrate, wherein the third substrate includes a well formed on a light incident side of the third substrate, wherein the third substrate is in contact with the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is in contact with the insulating layer.

Facts

Company
Sony (SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION)
Official title
Solid-state imaging device, method of manufacturing solid-state imaging device, and electronic device
Patent number
US12765105B2
Application number
18248951
Filed
Sep 15, 2021
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
20

Classified under

H10F 39/811 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/018 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/809 Electricity & electronics

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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.