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Samsung patents image sensor with split lenses for depth and color

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Samsung describes an image sensor design that groups pixels into two distinct sections. One section uses split lenses to capture phase data for depth information, while the adjacent section captures standard color image data.

Why it mattersThis design could help cameras calculate depth more accurately by combining phase and color data in a single sensor layout.

In the filing’s own words

An image sensor is provided. The image sensor image sensor includes: a first pixel group including a first pixel, a second pixel, a third pixel and a fourth pixel; a second pixel group including a fifth pixel, a sixth pixel, a seventh pixel and an eighth pixel, wherein the second pixel group is provided adjacent to the first pixel in a first direction; a first lens corresponding to the first pixel and the second pixel; a second lens corresponding to the third pixel and the fourth pixel; a device isolation pattern electrically isolating the first pixel group from the second pixel group; and a readout circuit configured to: output phase data based on at least a portion of phase signals received from the first pixel group; and output image data based on at least a portion of color signals received from the second pixel group.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image sensor comprising: a first pixel group comprising a first pixel, a second pixel, a third pixel and a fourth pixel arranged in a 2×2 matrix; a second pixel group comprising a fifth pixel, a sixth pixel, a seventh pixel and an eighth pixel arranged in a 2×2 matrix, wherein the second pixel group is provided adjacent to the first pixel in a first direction; a first floating diffusion node provided in a location corresponding to a center of the first pixel group, wherein the first floating diffusion node is connected to the first pixel, the second pixel, the third pixel and the fourth pixel; a first lens corresponding to the first pixel and the second pixel; a second lens corresponding to the third pixel and the fourth pixel; a device isolation pattern electrically isolating the first pixel group from the second pixel group; and a readout circuit configured to: output phase data based on at least a portion of phase signals received from the first pixel group; and output image data based on at least a portion of color signals received from the second pixel group, wherein the device isolation pattern comprises a plurality of portions which electrically separate the first pixel, the second pixel, the third pixel, and the fourth pixel from each other, and wherein each of the plurality of portions is spaced apart from the center of the first pixel group.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
IMAGE SENSOR INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PIXELS AND AT LEAST ONE LENS
Publication number
US20260304972A1
Application number
19696656
Filed
Jun 3, 2026
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
1

Classified under

H10F 39/802 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/77 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/78 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/182 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8063 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.