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SamsungPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Samsung patents tiny lenses to split light for better camera sensors

Samsung has filed a patent for a new type of color filter used in image sensors. It uses an array of extremely small, post-like structures to split incoming light into different colors and focus specific wavelengths onto adjacent pixels.

Why it mattersThis design could help camera sensors capture more accurate colors by directing specific light wavelengths to the right pixels, potentially improving image quality in phones and other devices.

In the filing’s own words

A color separation element and an image sensor including the same are disclosed. The color separation element includes a spacer layer, and a color separation lens array including at least one nano-post provided in the spacer layer to control a phase distribution of incident light so that light having the same wavelength of the incident light is multi-focused on a plurality of target regions; and periodic regions in which the phase distribution control layer is repeatedly arranged.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A color separation element in an image sensor comprising a spacer layer provided on a plurality of pixels; a color separation lens array comprising a plurality of nano-posts on the spacer layer, the color separation lens array configured to diverge incident light into different color lights, and multi-focus light having a same color of the incident light, among the different color lights on a plurality of target regions; and a plurality of periodic regions in which the color separation lens array is repeatedly arranged, wherein the plurality of nano-posts are repeatedly arranged in the plurality of periodic regions, wherein the plurality of pixels are arranged two-dimensionally, and pixels of a same color light, among the plurality of pixels, are arranged adjacent to each other in at least one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction of the two-dimensional arrangement, wherein the plurality of target regions correspond to the pixels of the same color light arranged adjacent to each other in at least one of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction of the two-dimensional arrangement, and wherein the plurality of nano-posts are surrounded by a material having a refractive index, which is different from a refractive index of air and a refractive index of the plurality of nano-posts.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
COLOR SEPARATION ELEMENT AND IMAGE SENSOR INCLUDING THE SAME
Publication number
US20260262311A1
Application number
19656355
Filed
Apr 23, 2026
Published
Sep 3, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
23

Classified under

H10F 39/806 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8023 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.