Omnivision Technologies, Inc.

Magvision Semiconductor (beijing) Inc.

Chin Poh Pang

Guansong Liu

Boyang Zhang

Jizhang Shan

Yin Qian

Chen-Wei Lu

Xiaodong Yang

Da Meng

Dyson Hsinchih Tai

Peng Lin

Raymond Wu

Qingwei Shan

Qingfei Chen

Gang Chen

Rui Wang

Keiji Mabuchi

Qin Wang

Lindsay Alexander Grant

Alireza Bonakdar

Eiichi Funatsu

Woon Il Choi

Hongjun Li

Yiyi Ren

Wenshou Chen

Badrinath Padmanabhan

Cheng Zhao

Chun-Yung Ai

Shao-Fan Kao

Vivian Wang

Chengjun Li

A crosstalk-suppressing image sensor includes a semiconductor substrate, an opaque layer, and a spectral filter. The semiconductor substrate includes a photodiode therein and is located beneath a light-exposure region of a back surface of the semiconductor substrate. The opaque layer is on the back surface, partially covers the light-exposure region, and has an opaque-layer thickness perpendicular to an image-plane direction parallel to the back surface. The spectral filter is adjacent to the opaque layer in the image-plane direction, and partially covers the light-exposure region.

Image sensor with spectral-filter-based crosstalk suppression

An image sensor device is disclosed. The image sensor device includes a substrate having a plurality of pixel regions. Two adjacent pixel regions are optically isolated by an isolation structure. In an embodiment, a method of forming the isolation structure includes receiving a workpiece having a first substrate, etching a frontside of the first substrate to form a first trench, depositing a fill layer in the first trench, removing a portion of the fill layer from the backside of the first substrate to form a second trench surrounded by the fill layer, and depositing a metal layer in the second trench to form the isolation structure.

Deep trench isolation structure for image sensor

An image sensor pixel comprises a subpixel and a polarization pixel. The subpixel includes a group of photodiodes disposed in semiconductor material, a shared microlens optically aligned over the group of photodiodes, and a subpixel color filter disposed between the group of photodiodes and the shared microlens. The polarization pixel includes a first photodiode disposed in the semiconductor material, an unshared microlens optically aligned over the first photodiode, and a polarization filter disposed between the first photodiode and the unshared microlens. The shared microlens has a first lateral area. The unshared microlens has a second lateral area less than the first lateral area of the shared microlens.

Image sensor with shared microlens and polarization pixel

An image sensor pixel includes a plurality of photodiodes, a shared microlens, and a plurality of microlenses. The plurality of photodiodes are arranged as a photodiode array with each of the plurality of photodiodes disposed within a semiconductor material. The shared microlens is optically aligned with a group of neighboring photodiodes included in the plurality of photodiodes. Each of the plurality of microlenses are optically aligned with an individual one of the plurality of photodiodes other than the group of neighboring photodiodes. The plurality of microlenses laterally surrounds the shared microlens.

Image sensor with shared microlens between multiple subpixels

An imaging device includes a photodiode array. The photodiodes include a first set of photodiodes configured as image sensing photodiodes and a second set of photodiodes configured as phase detection auto focus (PDAF) photodiodes. The PDAF photodiodes are arranged in at least pairs in neighboring columns and are interspersed among the image sensing photodiodes. Transfer transistors are coupled to corresponding photodiodes. The transfer transistors coupled to the image sensing photodiodes included in an active row of are controlled in response to a first transfer control signal or a second transfer control signal that control all of the image sensing photodiodes of the active row. A transfer transistor is coupled to one of a pair of the PDAF photodiodes of the active row. The first transfer transistor is controlled in response to a first PDAF control signal that is independent of the first or second transfer control signals.

Flexible exposure control for image sensors with phase detection auto focus pixels

An imaging device includes a first pixel circuit having a first plurality of photodiodes that includes a phase detection autofocus photodiode with image sensing photodiodes. A first buffer transistor having a first threshold voltage is coupled to the first plurality of photodiodes to generate a first output signal. A second pixel circuit is included having a second plurality of photodiodes that are all image sensing photodiodes. A second buffer transistor having a second threshold voltage is coupled to the second plurality of photodiodes to generate a second output signal. The first threshold voltage is less than the second threshold voltage. A driver is coupled to receive a combination of the first and second output signals to generate a total output signal. An influence of the first output signal dominates the second output signal in the total output signal because the first threshold voltage is less than the second threshold voltage.

Image sensor with analog binned readout of image sensing photodiodes with phase detection photodiodes

An image sensor pixel array comprises a plurality of image pixel units to gather image information and a plurality of phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) pixel units to gather phase information. Each of the PDAF pixel units includes two of first image sensor pixels covered by two micro-lenses, respectively. Each of the image pixel units includes four of second image sensor pixels adjacent to each other, wherein each of the second image sensor pixels is covered by an individual micro-lens. A coating layer is disposed on the micro-lenses and forms a flattened surface across the whole image sensor pixel array. A PDAF micro-lens is formed on the coating layer to cover the first image sensor pixels.

Image sensors with phase detection auto-focus pixels

An image sensor includes a plurality of photodiodes, a plurality of color filters, and a plurality of microlenses. The plurality of photodiodes are arranged as a photodiode array, each of the plurality of photodiodes disposed within respective portions of a semiconductor material with a first lateral area. The plurality of color filters are arranged as a color filter array optically aligned with the photodiode array. Each of the plurality of color filters having a second lateral area greater than the first lateral area. The plurality of microlenses are arranged as a microlens array optically aligned with the color filter array and the photodiode array. Each of the plurality of microlenses have a third later area greater than the first lateral area and less than the second lateral area.

Image sensor with shared microlens

In some embodiments, an image sensor is provided. The image sensor comprises a plurality of photodiodes arranged as a photodiode array. The plurality of photodiodes includes a first set of photodiodes configured as phase detection photodiodes, and a second set of photodiodes configured as polarization detection photodiodes. In some embodiments, a controller is provided. The controller comprises circuitry configured to process signals from a first set of photodiodes of a photodiode array to obtain depth information; process signals from a second set of photodiodes of the photodiode array to obtain polarization information; process the polarization information to obtain an ambiguous set of surface normals; and process the ambiguous set of surface normals using the depth information to obtain a three-dimensional shape image.

Devices and methods for obtaining three-dimensional shape information using polarization and phase detection photodiodes

An image sensor pixel array comprises a plurality of image pixel units to gather image information and a plurality of phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) pixel units to gather phase information. Each of the PDAF pixel units includes two of first image sensor pixels covered by a shared micro-lens. Each of the image pixel units includes four of second image sensor pixels adjacent to each other, wherein each of the second image sensor pixels is covered by an individual micro-lens. A coating layer is disposed on the micro-lenses and forms a flattened surface across the whole image sensor pixel array to receive incident light.

A first plasmonic-nanostructure sensor pixel includes a semiconductor substrate and a plurality of metal pillars. The semiconductor substrate has a top surface and a photodiode region therebeneath. The plurality of metal pillars is at least partially embedded in the substrate and extends from the top surface in a direction substantially perpendicular to the top surface. A second plasmonic-nanostructure sensor pixel includes (a) a semiconductor substrate having a top surface, (b) an oxide layer on the top surface, (c) a thin-film coating between the top surface and the oxide layer, and (d) a plurality of metal nanoparticles (i) at least partially between the top surface and the oxide layer and (ii) at least partially embedded in at least one of the thin-film coating and the oxide layer. A third plasmonic-nanostructure sensor pixel includes features of both the first and second plasmonic-nanostructure sensor pixels.

Plasmonic-nanostructure sensor pixel

An image sensor includes a multi-pixel detector. The multi-pixel detector includes a first pixel formed in a substrate and having a first photodiode region, a second pixel formed in the substrate adjacent to the first pixel and having a second photodiode region, and a microlens above both the first pixel and the second pixel. The microlens includes (a) in a first cross-sectional plane perpendicular to a top surface of the substrate and including both the first and the second photodiode regions, a first height profile having Nlocal maxima, and (b) in a second cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the first cross-sectional plane and the top surface and including only one of the first and the second photodiode regions, a second height profile having N&#x3e;Nlocal maxima.

Multi-pixel detector and associated method for increasing angular sensitivity

A phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) pixel array includes a first pixel and a second pixel. The first pixel, located at a first distance from a center of the PDAF pixel array, includes a first inner photodiode and a first outer photodiode with respect to the center. The first inner photodiode and the first outer photodiode occupy respectively a first inner area and a first outer area. The first inner area divided by the first outer area equals a first ratio. The second pixel, located at a second distance from the center that exceeds the first distance, includes a second inner photodiode and a second outer photodiode with respect to the center. The second inner photodiode and the second outer photodiode occupy respectively a second inner area and a second outer area. The second inner area divided by the second outer area equals a second ratio, which exceeds the first ratio.

Phase-detection auto-focus pixel array and associated imaging system

An imaging system with on-chip phase-detection includes an image sensor with symmetric multi-pixel phase-difference detectors. Each symmetric multi-pixel phase-difference detector includes (a) a plurality of pixels forming an array and each having a respective color filter thereon, each color filter having a transmission spectrum and (b) a microlens at least partially above each of the plurality of pixels and having an optical axis intersecting the array. The array, by virtue of each transmission spectrum, has reflection symmetry with respect to both (a) a first plane that includes the optical axis and (b) a second plane that is orthogonal to the first plane. The imaging system includes a phase-detection row pair, which includes a plurality of symmetric multi-pixel phase-difference detectors in a pair of adjacent pixel rows and a pair, and an analogous phase-detection column pair.

Image sensor with symmetric multi-pixel phase-difference detectors, and associated methods

Implementations of a color filter array comprising a plurality of tiled minimal repeating units. Each minimal repeating unit includes at least a first set of filters comprising three or more color filters, the first set including at least one color filter with a first spectral photoresponse, at least one color filter with a second spectral photoresponse, and at least one color filter with a third spectral photoresponse; and a second set of filters comprising one or more broadband filters positioned among the color filters of the first set, wherein each of the one or more broadband filters has a fourth spectral photoresponse with a broader spectrum than any of the first, second, and third spectral photoresponses, and wherein the individual filters of the second set have a smaller area than any of the individual filters in the first set. Other implementations are disclosed and claimed.

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Pleasanton, CA, United States of America

Chin Poh Pang