Image sensor with SOI substrate

A CMOS imager, comprising:

• a silicon-on-insulator substrate comprising a lower substrate portion, a buried oxide over the lower substrate portion, and a silicon layer over the buried oxide;
• an isolation region in the silicon layer, the isolation region defining a pixel area;
• a pinned photodiode in the lower substrate portion;
• a pixel circuit comprising a plurality of transistors supported by the silicon layer;
• a dual contact from a transfer transistor to a charge collection region of the photodiode, the dual contact having a first contact penetrating the lower substrate portion to the charge collection region and a second contact penetrating the isolation region and lower substrate portion adjacent the photodiode;
• and
• a conductive strap connecting the first contact and the second contact of the dual contact.

A processor system, comprising:

• an imager coupled to a processor, the imager comprising an array of pixels, each pixel comprising:
• a silicon-on-insulator substrate comprising a lower substrate portion, a buried oxide over the lower substrate portion, and a silicon layer over the buried oxide;
• and
• a pinned photodiode in the lower substrate portion, wherein the pixel has an area dimension with respect to the substrate and the photodiode substantially spans the entire pixel area dimension;
• a first contact through the silicon layer and buried oxide to the pinned photodiode;
• a second contact through the silicon layer and buried oxide to the lower substrate portion outside the pinned photodiode;
• and
• a conductive strap connecting the first contact with the second contact.