Color splitter, method of manufacturing the same, and image sensor including the same

1. A color splitter comprising:

a color separation element that is formed of a sol-gel material having a higher refractive index and exhibits a color separation characteristic; and

a lower refractive index layer formed to surround the color separation element, further comprising:

a light transmitting layer,

wherein the lower refractive index layer and the light transmitting layer are formed using a same sol-gel material that has a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the color separation element.

2. The color splitter of claim 1 , wherein the color separation element comprises a plurality of color separation sub-elements that are spaced apart from one another so as to form a color splitter array.

3. The color splitter of claim 1 , wherein the color separation element comprises a plurality of color separation sub-elements in a multi-stage structure, the plurality of color separation sub-elements being sequentially arranged along a traveling direction of incident light and shifted from one another.

4. The color splitter of claim 1 , wherein a difference between the refractive index of the color separation element and the refractive index of the lower refractive index layer is about 0.7 or more.

5. The color splitter of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the color separation element and the lower refractive index layer is formed using a sol-gel material having a transmittance of about 80% or more in a visible region.

6. An image sensor comprising:

a detection element array comprising a detection elements that have a two-dimensional pixel arrangement and detect incident light; and

a color splitter array comprising a plurality of color splitters which are two-dimensionally arranged and separate incident light according to wavelengths such that light of different wavelengths is incident to different pixels of the detection element array,

wherein the color splitter array comprises:

a color separation element that is formed of a sol-gel material having a higher refractive index and exhibits a color separation characteristic, the color separation element comprising a plurality of color separation sub-elements that are spaced apart from one another so as to form an array; and

a lower refractive index layer formed to surround the color separation element, further comprising a light transmitting layer between the color splitter array and the lower refractive index layer,

wherein the lower refractive index layer and the light transmitting layer are formed using a same sol-gel material that has a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the color separation element.

7. The image sensor of claim 6 , wherein the color separation element comprises the plurality of color separation sub-elements in a multi-stage structure, and the plurality of color separation sub-elements are sequentially arranged along a traveling direction of incident light and shifted from one another.

8. The image sensor of claim 6 , wherein a difference between the refractive index of the color separation element and the refractive index of the lower refractive index layer is about 0.7 or more.

9. The image sensor of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the color separation element and the lower refractive index layer is formed using a sol-gel material having a transmittance of about 80% or more in a visible region.

10. The image sensor of claim 6 , further comprising a color filter array in which color filter elements that transmit only light of a specific wavelength band and block light of another wavelength band are arranged, in pixel units, between the detection element array and the color splitter array.

11. A method of manufacturing a color splitter, the method comprising:

forming a color separation element by using a sol-gel material having a higher refractive index so as to exhibit a color separation characteristic; and

forming a lower refractive index layer formed to surround the color separation element.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the color separation element comprises a plurality of color separation sub-elements that are spaced apart from one another so as to form a color splitter array.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the forming the color separation element and the lower refractive index layer comprises:

(a) forming and patterning a sacrifice layer;

(b) filling the space obtained by patterning the sacrifice layer with a sol-gel material having a first refractive index, curing the sol-gel material, and adjusting a thickness of the cured sol-gel material until a predetermined height of the cured sol-gel material is achieved;

(c) removing the sacrifice layer; and

(d) filling a region from which the sacrifice layer has been removed with a sol-gel material having a second refractive index that is different from the first refractive index, curing the sol-gel material having the second refractive index, and adjusting a thickness of the cured sol-gel material until a predetermined height of the cured sol-gel material is achieved.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the sacrifice layer is patterned in the space to form the color separation element, the color separation element is formed of the sol-gel material having the first refractive index, and the lower refractive index layer is formed of the sol-gel material having the second refractive index.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the sacrifice layer is patterned in a remaining region other than a region for forming the color separation element, the lower refractive index layer is formed of the sol-gel material having the first refractive index, and the color separation element is formed of the sol-gel material having the second refractive index.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein processes (a) and (b) are repeated two times or more, and while repeating processes (a) and (b), the sacrifice layer is patterned so as to shift the space obtained by patterning the sacrifice layer, and after repeating processes (a) and (b) two times or more, processes (c) and (d) are performed to form the color separation element comprising a plurality of color separation sub-elements in a multi-stage structure, the plurality of color separation sub-elements being sequentially arranged along a traveling direction of incident light and shifted from one another.