IP Library Granted Patent US 10,109,669
Granted Patent B2
US 10,109,669 · App. 15/533,904 · Granted Oct 23, 2018

Solid-state imaging device and electronic apparatus

Inventors: Taiichiro Watanabe (Kanagawa, JP); Ryosuke Nakamura (Kanagawa, JP); Yusuke Sato (Kanagawa, JP); Fumihiko Koga (Kanagawa, JP)
Assignee: Sony Corporation
H01L27/14656H01L27/1463H01L27/1464H01L27/14616H01L27/14638H01L27/14641H04N5/378
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,109,669
App. No.
15/533,904
Granted
Oct 23, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present technology relates to a solid-state imaging device and an electronic apparatus that perform a stable overflow from a photodiode and prevent Qs from decreasing and color mixing from occurring. A solid-state imaging device according to an aspect of the present technology includes, at a light receiving surface side of a semiconductor substrate, a charge retention part that generates and retains a charge in response to incident light, an OFD into which the charge saturated at the charge retention part is discharged, and a potential barrier that becomes a barrier of the charge that flows from the charge retention part to the OFD, the OFD including a low concentration OFD and a high concentration OFD having different impurity concentrations of the same type, and the high concentration OFD and the potential barrier being formed at a distance. For example, the present technology is applicable to a CMOS image sensor.

Claims (38)

1. A solid-state imaging device, comprising:

at a light receiving surface side of a semiconductor substrate,

a charge retention part that generates and retains a charge in response to incident light;

an overflow drain (OFD) into which the charge saturated at the charge retention part is discharged; and

a potential barrier that becomes a barrier of the charge that flows from the charge retention part to the OFD,

the OFD including a low concentration OFD and a high concentration OFD and

the high concentration OFD and the potential barrier are separated by the low concentration OFD.

2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein the charge retention part and the low concentration OFD have an equal impurity concentration of the same type.

3. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a first vertical transistor formed from a surface of the semiconductor substrate opposite to the light receiving surface and being in contact with the high concentration OFD.

4. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 3 , wherein the first vertical transistor and the potential barrier are formed at a distance.

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

a drain layer extending in a horizontal direction from the first vertical transistor between a pixel transistor formed at the semiconductor substrate and the charge retention part.

6. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 5 , wherein the drain layer is formed of a diffusion layer including impurities of the same type as the charge retention part.

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

a well isolation layer that electrically isolates a lower region of a predetermined pixel transistor from another region of well regions of the semiconductor substrate, and extends in a horizontal direction from the first vertical transistor.

8. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 7 , wherein a potential of the lower region of the predetermined pixel transistor that is electrically isolated by the well isolation layer is lower than a potential of the another region.

9. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 7 , wherein the predetermined pixel transistor is an AMP transistor and an SEL transistor.

10. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 9 , wherein an RST potential being an input voltage of the AMP transistor as the predetermined pixel transistor is lower than a drain voltage of the AMP transistor.

11. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 7 , wherein the predetermined pixel transistor is an RST transistor.

12. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a second vertical transistor formed from a surface of the semiconductor substrate opposite to the light receiving surface that reads the charge from the charge retention part.

13. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , wherein a voltage is applied to the high concentration OFD, the voltage being higher than a voltage generated on the charge retention part when a charge is accumulated in the charge retention part.

14. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 13 , wherein a voltage is applied to the high concentration OFD, the voltage being higher than a voltage generated on the charge retention part when a charge is accumulated in the charge retention part, and being supplied via a through electrode that penetrates through the semiconductor substrate from a surface opposite to the light receiving surface of the semiconductor substrate.

15. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 14 , wherein the through electrode is formed for a plurality of pixels and is shared by the plurality of pixels.

16. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a control unit that controls a potential of the potential barrier.

17. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , wherein the high concentration OFD is shared by a plurality of pixels.

18. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , wherein a plurality of layers of the charge retention part are laminated in the semiconductor substrate.

19. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a photoelectric conversion film formed outside the light receiving surface of the semiconductor substrate.

20. An electronic apparatus on which a solid-state imaging device is mounted, the solid-state imaging device comprising:

at a light receiving surface side of a semiconductor substrate,

a charge retention part that generates and retains a charge in response to incident light;

an overflow drain (OFD) into which the charge saturated at the charge retention part is discharged; and

a potential barrier that becomes a barrier of the charge that flows from the charge retention part to the OFD,

the OFD including a low concentration OFD and a high concentration OFD having different impurity concentrations of the same type, and

the high concentration OFD and the potential barrier are separated by the low concentration OFD.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 12, 2017
From: WATANABE, TAIICHIRO; NAKAMURA, RYOSUKE; SATO, YUSUKE; KOGA, FUMIHIKO
To: SONY CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 042764/0032 →
Priority Claims (2)
JP 2014-256043 · Dec 18, 2014 · national
JP 2015-239945 · Dec 9, 2015 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20170338272A1 · Nov 23, 2017