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Sony patents camera sensor design that uses side walls for storage

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Sony has filed a patent for a photodetection device that arranges components differently within a camera sensor. Instead of placing all parts on the flat top surface, the design uses the vertical side walls of the sensor's active area to hold a capacitive element. This component helps store the electrical charge created when light hits the sensor.

Why it mattersThis design could allow camera sensors to pack more functional parts into the same space, potentially improving image quality or reducing the overall size of the sensor.

In the filing’s own words

To increase a degree of freedom in arrangement of elements in a photoelectric conversion region. A photodetection device includes a semiconductor layer including a photoelectric conversion region that has a first surface portion and a second surface portion located opposite to each other in a thickness direction and is partitioned by an isolation region extending in the thickness direction. Then, the photoelectric conversion region includes: an upper surface portion located on the first surface portion side of the semiconductor layer; a side surface portion located on the isolation region side; a pixel transistor provided on the upper surface portion side; a floating diffusion region that is provided on the upper surface portion side and holds a signal charge photoelectrically converted by the photoelectric conversion unit; and a capacitive element connected to the floating diffusion region. Then, the capacitive element includes: a first electrode provided in the isolation region adjacent to the side surface portion of the photoelectric conversion region with a dielectric film interposed therebetween; and a second electrode provided adjacent to the first electrode inside the side surface portion of the photoelectric conversion region.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A photodetection device comprising a semiconductor layer including a photoelectric conversion region that has a first surface portion and a second surface portion located opposite to each other in a thickness direction and is partitioned by an isolation region extending in the thickness direction, wherein the photoelectric conversion region includes: an upper surface portion located on the first surface portion side of the semiconductor layer; a side surface portion located on the isolation region side; a pixel transistor provided on the upper surface portion side; a floating diffusion region that is provided on the upper surface portion side and holds a signal charge photoelectrically converted by the photoelectric conversion unit; and a capacitive element connected to the floating diffusion region, and the capacitive element includes: a first electrode provided in the isolation region adjacent to the side surface portion of the photoelectric conversion region with a dielectric film interposed therebetween; and a second electrode provided adjacent to the first electrode inside the side surface portion of the photoelectric conversion region.

Facts

Company
Sony (SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION)
Official title
PHOTODETECTION DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS
Publication number
US20260324106A1
Application number
19491498
Filed
May 13, 2024
Published
Oct 15, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
9

Classified under

H10F 39/8023 Electricity & electronicsH10F 30/221 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/182 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8027 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/8033 Electricity & electronicsH10F 39/80373 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.