# US 10,321,078 B2 · Circuitry and method for readout of hybrid bonded image sensors

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- Number: US 10,321,078 B2
- Document ID: US10321078B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/979,366
- Filed: 2018-05-14
- Published: 2018-09-13
- Granted: 2019-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2017-02-01
- Assignees: OmniVision Technologies, Inc.
- Applicants: OmniVision Technologies, Inc.
- Inventors: Song Xue
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10321078B2

## CPC

- H04N 25/766: comprising control or output lines used for a plurality of functions, e.g. for pixel output, driving, reset or power
- H04N 23/76: by influencing the image signals
- H04N 25/616: involving a correlated sampling function, e.g. correlated double sampling [CDS] or triple sampling
- H04N 25/77: Pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components
- H04N 25/778: comprising amplifiers shared between a plurality of pixels, i.e. at least one part of the amplifier must be on the sensor array itself
- H04N 25/79: Arrangements of circuitry being divided between different or multiple substrates, chips or circuit boards, e.g. stacked image sensors
- H10F 39/18: Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor [CMOS] image sensors; Photodiode array image sensors
- H10F 39/199: {Back-illuminated image sensors}
- H10F 39/8037: {the integrated elements comprising a transistor}
- H10F 39/809: {of hybrid image sensors}
- H04N 25/78: Readout circuits for addressed sensors, e.g. output amplifiers or A/D converters
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H10F: INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION

## Abstract

A hybrid bonded image sensor has a photodiode die with macrocells having at least one photodiode and a bond contact; a supporting circuitry die with multiple supercells, each supercell having at least one macrocell unit bonded to the bond contact of a macrocell of the photodiode die. Each macrocell unit has a reset transistor adapted to reset photodiodes of the photodiode die macrocell. Each supercell has a differential amplifier configurable to receive a noninverting input from a photodiode and an inverting input, the differential amplifier providing an output, each differential amplifier has an amplifier reset transistor coupled to the differential amplifier output and the inverting input; a first capacitor coupled between the differential amplifier output and the inverting input, and a second capacitor coupled between the inverting input and a signal ground. The first and second capacitor of embodiments has controllable capacitance to adjust gain.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A hybrid bonded image sensor comprising:
a photodiode die comprising a plurality of macrocells, where each macrocell comprises at least one photodiode and a connection point;
a supporting circuitry die comprising a plurality of supercells, each supercell comprising at least one macrocell unit, each macrocell unit comprising at least one connection point bonded to the connection point of a macrocell of the photodiode die and a reset transistor adapted to reset photodiodes of the macrocell of the photodiode die; and
each supercell comprising:
a differential amplifier configurable to receive a noninverting input from a photodiode and an inverting input, the differential amplifier adapted to provide a differential amplifier output;
an amplifier reset transistor coupled to the differential amplifier output and the inverting input.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The hybrid bonded image sensor of claim 1 wherein each photodiode die macrocell comprises two, four, eight, or sixteen photodiodes each coupled through a transfer and selection transistor to the connection point.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The hybrid bonded image sensor of claim 2 wherein each supercell is configured to sense all photodiodes of a column of the hybrid bonded image sensor.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The hybrid bonded image sensor of claim 1 wherein each supercell comprises a plurality of macrocell units, and where the differential amplifier of each supercell is a distributed differential amplifier configured with a noninverting input transistor in each macrocell unit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The hybrid bonded image sensor of claim 3 wherein the differential amplifier has a folded-cascode load-amplifier.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The hybrid bonded image sensor of claim 3 wherein the differential amplifier is a single-stage amplifier.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The hybrid bonded image sensor of claim 3 wherein the differential amplifier is a two-stage amplifier.