SOLID-STATE IMAGING ELEMENT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME

1 . A solid-state imaging device comprising:

a semiconductor substrate including a matrix of photoelectric converters disposed therein;

a transparent insulating layer disposed on the semiconductor substrate and including wiring lines embedded therein;

a color filter layer disposed on the transparent insulating layer and including a color filter for each of a plurality of colors of the respective photoelectric converters; and

a plurality of microlenses disposed on the color filter layer, one for each color filter, wherein

in a plan view, the color filter of at least one color is smaller in area size than the corresponding microlens, and

in the color filter layer, the color filter of the at least one color is surrounded by a low-refractive-index material having a lower refractive index than a refractive index of the color filter.

2 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

one of the colors of the respective photoelectric converters is red, and

the color filter of the at least one color is a red color filter that transmits red light.

3 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an optical waveguide disposed in the transparent insulating layer and between the color filter of the at least one color and the photoelectric converter disposed below the color filter, the optical waveguide being made from a transparent material having a higher refractive index than a refractive index of any other region.

4 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

the low-refractive-index material is an organic transparent material containing organic glass or an inorganic transparent material containing silicon oxide.

5 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , wherein

the red color filter is thicker than the color filters that transmit light of a color other than red.

6 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , wherein

the photoelectric converters are all equal in area size in a plan view, and

the red color filter is smaller in a plan view than the color filters that transmit light of a color other than red.

7 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

the at least one color comprises all of the plurality of colors.

8 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

the color filter of the at least one color has a width in a range of 0.4 to 1.0 μm in a row direction as well as in a column direction.

9 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 7 , wherein

the photoelectric converters are all equal in size in a plan view,

the plurality of colors are red, green, and blue, and

the red color filter and the blue color filter that respectively transmit red light and blue light are smaller in a plan view than the green color filter that transmits green light.

10 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

at least one of a plurality of pixels is configured such that the color filter of the at least one color positionally coincides with a center of the corresponding microlens in a plan view.

11 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

the color filter of the at least one color has a thickness equal to an integral multiple of a half of a wavelength of the color.

12 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 5 , wherein

the red color filter is thicker than the color filters that transmit light of the other color and thus projects beyond upper surfaces of the other color filters, and

the microlens disposed over the red color filter has a bottom surface concaved to conform to the projecting portion of the red color filter.

13 . The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

the at least one color comprises one or more of the plurality of colors, and

the color filter of a color other than the one or more of the plurality of colors is made from a filter material having a lower refractive index than a refractive index of a filter material of each color filter of the one or more colors.

14 . A manufacturing method for a solid-state imaging device, the manufacturing method comprising:

a first step of forming a matrix of photoelectric converters in a semiconductor substrate;

a second step of forming, on the semiconductor substrate, a transparent insulating layer containing wiring lines embedded therein;

a third step of forming, on the transparent insulating substrate, a color filter layer including a color filter for each of a plurality of colors of the respective photoelectric converters; and

a fourth step of forming a plurality of microlenses, one for each color filter, wherein

the third step includes:

a step of forming the color filters each in a size smaller than the corresponding microlens in a plan view; and

a step of disposing a low-refractive-index material to surround each color filter, the low-refractive-index material having a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the color filter.

15 . The manufacturing method according to claim 14 , wherein

the step of disposing the low-refractive-index material includes:

a first sub-step of disposing the low-refractive-index material at regions between rows and columns of the color filters at a predetermined interval; and

a second step of disposing the low-refractive-index material at the other regions between the rows and columns of the color filters.