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Sony patents photodetector design to improve camera sensor yield

Sony describes a photodetector design for image sensors that uses a specific material to surround the gaps between pixels. This structure aims to prevent defects during manufacturing, which helps ensure more working sensors are produced from each chip.

Why it mattersThis is a routine manufacturing improvement that helps camera makers produce more reliable sensors without changing how the camera itself functions.

In the filing’s own words

A photodetector capable of suppressing a decrease in yield and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The photodetector includes a semiconductor substrate having a first surface, and a second surface located on a side opposite to the first surface, a plurality of pixels provided on the semiconductor substrate and having photoelectric conversion elements, an inter-pixel isolation part provided between one and the other of adjacent pixels among the plurality of pixels and penetrating between the first surface and the second surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a surrounding part provided on the first surface side of the semiconductor substrate and surrounding an end of the inter-pixel isolation part. The surrounding part is made of a material different from a material of the semiconductor substrate.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A photodetector comprising: a semiconductor substrate having a first surface, and a second surface located on a side opposite to the first surface; a plurality of pixels provided on the semiconductor substrate and having photoelectric conversion elements; an inter-pixel isolation part provided between one and the other of adjacent pixels among the plurality of pixels and penetrating between the first surface and the second surface of the semiconductor substrate; and a surrounding part provided on the first surface side of the semiconductor substrate and surrounding an end of the inter-pixel isolation part, wherein the surrounding part is made of a material different from a material of the semiconductor substrate.

Facts

Company
Sony (SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION)
Official title
PHOTODETECTOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Publication number
US20260262315A1
Application number
19159628
Filed
Feb 22, 2024
Published
Sep 3, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
11

Classified under

H10F 39/807 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/014 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/024 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/805 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.