US 2022/0285418 A1Published application

Image sensor and electronic apparatus including the same

AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

InventorsJi-Won Lee, Jeong-Jin Cho, Moo-Sup Lim, Sung-Young Seo, Hae-Won Lee

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Abstract

This disclosure relates to image sensors and electronic apparatuses including the same. An image sensor including: a pixel area including shared pixels, wherein each of the shared pixels includes at least two photodiodes that form a group and share a floating diffusion (FD) area; and a transistor (TR) area adjacent to the pixel area, wherein the TR area includes transistor sets corresponding to the shared pixels, wherein, when a first shared pixel and a second shared pixel are arranged adjacent to each other in a first direction, a first TR set corresponding to the first shared pixel and a second TR set corresponding to the second shared pixel share a source region of a first selection TR.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An image sensor, comprising:

a substrate;
a first shared pixel disposed in the substrate and including at least two photodiodes that share a first floating diffusion (FD) area,
a second shared pixel disposed in the substrate adjacent to the first shared pixel in a first direction and including at least two photodiodes that share a second FD area;
a first transistor (TR) set configured to be shared by the first shared pixel and comprising a first reset TR a first source follower TR, and a first selection TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction:
a second TR set configured to be shared by the second shared pixel and comprising a second selection TR, a second source follower TR, and a second reset TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction:
a stack structure comprising a doped semiconductor layer and an insulating layer on the doped semiconductor layer, the stack structure disposed outside the first TR set and the second TR set in a plane parallel to an upper surface of the substrate and being positioned at the edge of each of the first TR set and the second TR set;
and
a common vertical contact directly connected to a source region of the first selection TR and the second selection TR,
wherein the first TR set and the second TR set are in a mirror symmetry relationship with respect to the common vertical contact.

6 more elements

An image sensor, comprising:

a substrate;
a first shared pixel disposed in the substrate and including at least two photodiodes that share a first floating diffusion (FD) area;
a second shared pixel disposed in the substrate adjacent to the first shared pixel in a first direction and including at least two photod.iodes that share a second FD area:
a third shared pixel disposed in the substrate adjacent to the second shared pixel in the first direction and including at least two photodiodes that share a third HD area;
a first transistor (TR) set configured to be shared by the first shared pixel and comprising a first reset TR, a first source follower TR, and a first selection TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction;
a second TR set configured to be shared by the second shared pixel and comprising a second selection TR, a second source follower TR, and a second reset TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction;
a third TR set configured to be shared by the third shared pixel and comprising a third reset TR, a third source follower TR, and a third selection TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction
a common vertical contact directly connected to a source region of the first selection TR and the second selection TR;
a stack structure comprising a doped semiconductor layer and an insulating layer on the doped semiconductor layer, the stack structure disposed outside the first TR set and the second TR set in a plane parallel to an upper surface of the substrate and being positioned at the edge of each of the first TR set and the second TR set and the stack structure being disposed between the second reset TR and the third reset TR;
and
wherein the first TR set and the second TR set are in a mirror symmetry relationship with respect to the common vertical contact,
wherein the second reset TR, the third reset TR, the third source follower TR, and the third selection TR are sequentially arranged along the first direction.

9 more elements

An image sensor, comprising:

a substrate;
a first shared pixel disposed in the substrate and including at least two photodiodes that share a first floating diffusion (FD) area;
a second shared pixel disposed in the substrate adjacent to the first shared pixel in a first direction and including at least two photodiodes that share a second FD area;
a first transistor (TR) set configured to be shared by the first shared pixel and comprising a first reset TR, a first source follower TR, and a first selection TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction:
a second TR set configured to be shared by the second shared pixel and comprising a second selection TR, a second source follower TR, and a second reset TR, which are arranged collinearly along the first direction;
a stack structure comprising a doped semiconductor layer and an insulating layer on the doped semiconductor layer, the stack structure being positioned at the edge of each of the first TR set and the second TR set in the first direction;
and
a common vertical contact directly connected to a shared source region of the first selection TR and the second selection TR,
wherein the first TR set and the second TR set are in a mirror symmetry relationship with respect to the common vertical contact.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/825,059Filed 26 May 2022
Priority: KR 10-2016-018013827 Dec 2016
Published: 8 Sep 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

H10F 39/813
Constructional details of image sensors: electronic components shared by multiple pixels, e.g. one amplifier shared by two pixels
H04N 25/77
Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors: pixel circuitry, e.g. memories, A/D converters, pixel amplifiers, shared circuits or shared components
H10F 39/18
Image sensors: complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor [CMOS] image sensors; Photodiode array image sensors
H10F 39/802
Constructional details of image sensors: geometry or disposition of elements in pixels, e.g. address-lines or gate electrodes

Family

Application15/854,356Continuation · filed 26 Dec 2017
Application16/797,193Continuation · filed 21 Feb 2020
Application17/154,421Continuation · filed 21 Jan 2021
Application17/825,059Continuation
US 10,608,037 B2Related patent
US 11,302,737 B2Related patent
US 12,237,357 B2Related patent
US 12,336,318 B2Related patent
US 2018/0182804 A1Published application
US 2020/0194485 A1Published application
US 2021/0143204 A1Published application
US 2022/0285418 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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