Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

SeungSik Kim

Minwoong Seo

Daehoon Kim

Sungchul Kim

Dongmo Im

Haeyong Park

Jaekyu Lee

JungChak Ahn

Ingyu Baek

Yeoseon Choi

Dongseok Cho

KangMook Lim

Jiyoun Song

Provided is an image sensor including a semiconductor substrate having first and second surfaces, transistors on the first surface, first and second lower pad electrodes apart from each other on a first interlayer insulating film covering the transistors, a mold insulating layer on the first and second lower pad electrodes, a first lower electrode inside a first opening passing through the mold insulating layer on the first lower pad electrode, a second lower electrode inside a second opening passing through the mold insulating layer on the second lower pad electrode, a dielectric film and an upper electrode on the first and second lower electrodes, a first contact plug passing through the mold insulating layer and connected to the first lower pad electrode, and a second contact plug passing through the mold insulating layer and connected to the second lower pad electrode.

Image sensor

An image sensor may include a first substrate having first and second surfaces and including unit pixel regions, each of which includes a device isolation pattern and a photoelectric conversion region adjacent to the first surface of the first substrate, a pixel isolation pattern provided in the first substrate to define the unit pixel regions and to penetrate the device isolation pattern, a first impurity region and a floating diffusion region provided in the first substrate and adjacent to the first surface, a second substrate provided on the first substrate to have third and fourth surfaces, a second impurity region provided in the second substrate and adjacent to the third surface, and ground and body contacts coupled to the first and second impurity regions, respectively. The ground contact and the body contact may be electrically separated from each other.

An operating method of an image sensor, including performing a first sampling operation corresponding to first illumination in at least one pixel; performing a second sampling operation corresponding to second illumination in the at least one pixel; and outputting a first pixel voltage corresponding to the first sampling operation, or outputting a second pixel voltage corresponding to the second sampling operation, in the at least one pixel.

Image sensor, imaging device having the image sensor, and operating method thereof

An image sensor including a substrate having a first, a first device isolation region adjacent to the first surface and defining a unit pixel, a transfer gate on the first surface at an edge of the unit pixel, a photoelectric conversion part in the substrate and adjacent to a first side surface of the transfer gate, and a floating diffusion region in the substrate and adjacent to a second side surface of the transfer gate. The second side surface faces the first side surface. The first device isolation region is spaced apart from the second side surface. The substrate and the first device isolation region are doped with impurities having a first conductivity. A first impurity concentration of the first device isolation region is greater than a second impurity concentration of the substrate.

A method of driving an image sensor includes integrating an overflowed charge from a photodiode in the floating diffusion area and a dynamic range capacitor. The dynamic range capacitor is formed between the floating diffusion area and a power supply voltage. The method further includes sampling a first voltage formed in the floating diffusion area by the integrated overflowed charge, resetting the photodiode, the floating diffusion area, and the dynamic range capacitor, sampling a reset level of the reset floating diffusion area, transferring a charge accumulated in the photodiode to the floating diffusion area, and sampling a second voltage formed in the floating diffusion area.

Growing community of inventors

Hwaseong-si, South Korea

SeungSik Kim