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SonyGranted patentCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Sony patents camera sensor design that shares charge storage across pixels

Sony describes a light detecting device where four pixels are grouped together to share their charge holding areas. This setup allows the sensor to manage light data more efficiently by connecting the storage regions of adjacent pixels in a specific parallel layout.

Why it mattersThis design could help improve the quality or efficiency of image sensors used in cameras and phones by optimizing how light data is stored and processed.

In the filing’s own words

A light detecting device includes a semiconductor layer having a first surface and a second surface located on opposite sides to each other in a thickness direction, and a photoelectric conversion cell provided in the semiconductor layer and partitioned by a first isolation region. The photoelectric conversion cell includes a first photoelectric conversion region adjacent to a second photoelectric conversion region in plan view and each having a photoelectric conversion unit and a transfer transistor, a second isolation region arranged between the first photoelectric conversion region and the second photoelectric conversion region in plan view and extending in a thickness direction of the semiconductor layer, and an element formation region partitioned on the first surface side of the semiconductor layer by a third isolation region and provided with a pixel transistor. The element formation region extends over the first and second photoelectric conversion regions in plan view.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A light detecting device, comprising: a pixel unit having four pixels, wherein each pixel of the four pixels in the pixel unit has two photoelectric conversion regions, two transfer transistors, and two charge holding regions, and the charge holding regions of the respective pixels of the pixel unit are electrically connected to each other, the four pixels of the pixel unit include a first pixel, a second pixel, a third pixel, and a fourth pixel, the first pixel includes first and second charge holding regions, the second pixel includes third and fourth charge holding regions, the third pixel includes fifth and sixth charge holding regions, the fourth pixel includes seventh and eighth charge holding regions, a first line connecting the first charge holding region and the fifth charge holding region and a second line connecting the second charge holding region and the sixth charge holding region are parallel, and a third line connecting the first charge holding region and the second charge holding region and a fourth line connecting the fifth charge holding region and the sixth charge holding region are parallel.

Facts

Company
Sony (SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION)
Official title
Light detecting device and electronic device
Patent number
US12765106B2
Application number
18440310
Filed
Feb 13, 2024
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
7

Classified under

H10F 39/811 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8037 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.