IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,701,805
Granted Patent B2
US 12,701,805 · App. 18/212,526 · Granted Aug 4, 2026

Pixel isolation elements, devices and methods of making the same

Inventors: Martin U. Pralle (Wayland, MA); Jeffrey Mckee (Tualatin, OR); Jason Sickler (Arlington, MA)
Assignee: SIONYX, LLC
H10F39/807H10F39/014H10F39/024H10F39/182H10F39/8027H10F39/805H10F39/806H10F39/8063H10F39/8067
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,701,805
App. No.
18/212,526
Granted
Aug 4, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Light trapping pixels, devices incorporating such pixels, and various associated methods are provided. In one aspect, for example, a light trapping pixel device can include a light sensitive pixel having a light incident surface, a backside surface opposite the light incident surface, and a peripheral sidewall disposed into at least a portion of the pixel and extending at least substantially around the pixel periphery. The pixel can also include a backside light trapping material substantially covering the backside surface and a peripheral light trapping material substantially covering the peripheral sidewall. The light contacting the backside light trapping material or the peripheral light trapping material is thus reflected back toward the pixel.

Claims (28)

1 . A substantially light trapping device, comprising:

at least one light sensitive pixel having a light incident surface, a backside surface opposite the light incident surface, and a peripheral sidewall disposed into at least a portion of the pixel and extending around the pixel sidewall periphery;

an internally reflective frontside light trapping material covering at least a portion of the light incident surface;

a backside light trapping material at least partially covering the backside surface; and

a peripheral light trapping material at least partially covering the peripheral sidewall;

wherein the backside light trapping material and the peripheral light trapping material reflect and trap incident light from passing out of the pixel, and

wherein the backside light trapping material includes a high refractive index material sandwiched between two low refractive index materials.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the internally reflective frontside light trapping material is operable to allow entrance of light into the pixel and operable to reflect light impinging thereupon from inside the pixel back into the pixel.

3 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the internally reflective frontside light trapping material includes an aperture to allow entry of light into the pixel.

4 . The device of claim 3 , further comprising a lens functionally coupled to the aperture and operable to focus incident light through the aperture and into the pixel.

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral sidewall extends completely from the light incident surface to the backside surface.

6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral light trapping material extends to the backside surface.

7 . The device of claim 6 , wherein the peripheral light trapping material is in contact with the backside light trapping material.

8 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the peripheral light trapping material extends to the light incident surface.

9 . A substantially light trapping device, comprising:

at least one light sensitive pixel having a light incident surface, a backside surface opposite the light incident surface, and a peripheral sidewall disposed into at least a portion of the pixel and extending around the pixel sidewall periphery;

a backside light trapping material at least partially covering and directly on the backside surface; and

a peripheral light trapping material at least partially covering and directly on the peripheral sidewall; and

an internally reflective frontside light trapping material covering at least a portion of the light incident surface operable to allow entrance of light into the pixel and operable to reflect light impinging thereupon from inside the pixel back into the pixel,

wherein,

the backside light trapping material includes a high refractive index material sandwiched between two low refractive index materials,

the backside light trapping material and the peripheral light trapping material reflect and trap incident light from passing out of the pixel, and

the peripheral light trapping material extends to the light incident surface and is in contact with the internally reflective frontside light trapping material.

10 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the two low refractive index materials are the same materials.

11 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the two low refractive index materials are different materials.

12 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the two low refractive index materials are the same materials.

13 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the two low refractive index materials are different materials.

14 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral light trapping material extends to and is in contact with the internally reflective frontside light trapping material.

Continuity (7)
Division 17214333 · Mar 26, 2021
Continuation 16290740 · Mar 1, 2019
Continuation 15216244 · Jul 21, 2016
Continuation 14747875 · Jun 23, 2015
Continuation 13841120 · Mar 15, 2013
Provisional Application 61614275 · Mar 22, 2012
Related Publication 20230352511A1 · Nov 2, 2023
References Cited (193)
US 4015893A · Sugano et al. · 1977 [cited by applicant]
US 4644553A · Van Ruyven et al. · 1987 [cited by applicant]
US 4871689A · Bergami et al. · 1989 [cited by applicant]
US 4927770A · Swanson · 1990 [cited by applicant]
US 5494833A · Martin et al. · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 5585653A · Nakashiba · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 5899704A · Schlosser et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6246081B1 · Abe · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 6255681B1 · Pan · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 6423980B1 · Wilson et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 6670542B2 · Sakata et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 6710370B2 · Street et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 6809008B1 · Holm et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 6927432B2 · Holm et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 6946352B2 · Yaung · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 6960781B2 · Currie et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 6969899B2 · Yaung et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 7038232B2 · Yaung et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 7119319B2 · Noto et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 7217589B2 · Rhodes et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7232697B2 · Hsu et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7285808B2 · Kasuga · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7315014B2 · Lee et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 7342268B2 · Adkisson et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 7388147B2 · Mulligan et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 7470965B2 · Kuriyama · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 7504702B2 · Mazur et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 7518172B2 · Moon et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 7524690B2 · Ko et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 7563637B2 · Kim · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 7675099B2 · Hwang et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7709775B2 · Konno et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7759755B2 · Adkisson et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7781715B2 · Uya et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7800146B2 · Mckee et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7822300B2 · Lee · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7838325B2 · Hsu et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7880255B2 · Baggenstoss · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 7898050B2 · Kim · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 7919798B2 · Lee · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 7928389B1 · Ya et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 7973271B2 · Toumiya et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 7977718B2 · Hannebauer · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8101454B2 · Baggenstoff · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8154062B2 · Park · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8207590B2 · Park et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8212327B2 · Kurfiss et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8269264B2 · Nozaki et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8288836B2 · Oshiyama et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8368160B2 · Chang et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8377733B2 · Huang et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8426238B2 · Nishizawa et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8471301B2 · Kudo et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8476681B2 · Haddad · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 8487030B2 · Lee et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8507962B2 · Anderson et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8575476B2 · Ota et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8587081B2 · Chao · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8664578B2 · Hirigoyen et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8670054B2 · Takizawa · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8674283B2 · Roy et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8674469B2 · Huang et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8698084B2 · Jiang et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8749679B2 · Shinohara · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8767108B2 · Ogita et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8779344B2 · Kao · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8829635B2 · Shibuki · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8865507B2 · Haddad et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8941198B2 · Enomoto · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 8957490B2 · Kautzsch · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 8970768B2 · Ahn et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9034682B2 · Shim et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9041034B2 · Mao et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9064764B2 · Pralle · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 9373732B2 · Velichko · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 9666636B2 · Haddad et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9673250B2 · Haddad · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 9905599B2 · Pralle · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 10244188B2 · Saylor et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10361232B2 · Haddad et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20050040440A1 · Murakami · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050274988A1 · Hong · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20060011955A1 · Baggenstoff · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20060081900A1 · Baggenstoss · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20060164720A1 · Yoshida et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20060180885A1 · Rhodes · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20060216904A1 · Tong · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20070045511A1 · Lee et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20070237504A1 · Nakashiba · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20070249138A1 · Li et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20080128845A1 · Hwang et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20080142686A1 · Konno et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20080265348A1 · Maas et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20080283728A1 · Inoue · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20090008735A1 · Ogino et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090016628A1 · Matsuhira · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090127442A1 · Lee · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090160000A1 · Kim · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090162966A1 · Jawarani et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090166628A1 · Han · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090169153A1 · Lee et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090266973A1 · Roy et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20100006969A1 · Park et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100090347A1 · Saylor et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100110551A1 · Lamansky et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100128161A1 · Yamaguchi · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100144084A1 · Doan et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100201834A1 · Maruyama et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100283074A1 · Kelley et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20110001038A1 · Tseng et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110073976A1 · Baillant · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110096208A1 · Roy et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110096215A1 · Choi et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110108939A1 · Marty et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110115919A1 · Hiramoto et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110140219A1 · Kudo et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110156186A1 · Iida et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110169121A1 · Bui et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110204467A1 · Ohchi et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110220971A1 · Haddad et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110227138A1 · Haddad et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110260059A1 · Jiang et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110265875A1 · Pralle · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110266644A1 · Yamamura et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110303999A1 · Sakamoto et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110304003A1 · Tanida et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110316002A1 · Ahn et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120009720A1 · Shim et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120025199A1 · Chen et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120028401A1 · De Munck et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120033119A1 · Shinohara · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120038016A1 · Suzuki et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120055537A1 · Liao · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120064296A1 · Walker, Jr. et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120068289A1 · Alie et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120111396A1 · Saylor et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120146172A1 · Carey et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120153127A1 · Hirigoyen et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120153128A1 · Roy et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120217604A1 · Shibuki · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120241788A1 · Carey et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120292729A1 · Vineis · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120313204A1 · Haddad et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120313205A1 · Haddad et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130001553A1 · Vineis et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130001729A1 · Kurfiss et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130016203A1 · Saylor et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130062522A1 · Jiang et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130082343A1 · Fudaba et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130113964A1 · Sasaki et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130134535A1 · Lenchenkov · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130200251A1 · Velichko · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20130207168A1 · Edwards et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
EP 1622200A1 · 2006 [cited by applicant]
JP H07302890A · 1995 [cited by applicant]
JP H09148594A · 1997 [cited by applicant]
JP 11097724A · 1999 [cited by applicant]
JP H11330501A · 1999 [cited by applicant]
JP 2003158291A · 2003 [cited by applicant]
JP 2006261372A · 2006 [cited by applicant]
JP 2008300537A · 2008 [cited by applicant]
JP 2009188316A · 2009 [cited by applicant]
JP 2011061133A · 2011 [cited by applicant]
JP 2011119558A · 2011 [cited by applicant]
KR 100764061B1 · 2007 [cited by applicant]
WO 2008129433A2 · 2008 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2011035188A2 · 2011 [cited by examiner]
WO 2012122572A2 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
Hass, Georg, and Salzberg, Calvin D., “Optical Properties of Silicon Monoxide in the Wavelength Region from 0.24 to 14.0 Microns,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. 44, 181-187 (1954). [cited by applicant]
Sze, S. M., Physics of Semiconductor Devices (1981). [cited by applicant]
Beadle, Quick Reference Manual for Silicon Integrated Circuit Technology (1985). [cited by applicant]
Yablonovitch, E., et al., “Unusually Low Surface-Recombination Velocity on Silicon and Germanium Surfaces,” Physical Review Letters, 57(2) (1986). [cited by applicant]
Weast, R. C. , CRC handbook of chemistry and physics. Sixty-seventh edition. CRC Press Inc. (1986). [cited by applicant]
Lopez, F, and Bernabeu, E., “Refractive index of vacuum-evaporated SiO thin films: Dependence on substrate temperature,” Thin Solid Films, 191(1), 13-19 (1990). [cited by applicant]
Adachi, Sadao. Optical Constants of Crystalline and Amorphous Semiconductors: Numerical Data and Graphical Information / Sadao Adachi. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers (1999). [cited by applicant]
Woollam, John A., “Overview of variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE): I. Basic theory and typical applications,” Proc. SPIE 10294, Optical Metrology: A Critical Review, 1029402 (Jul. 19, 1999). [cited by applicant]
Wolf, Stanley, “Microchip Manufacturing” (2004). [cited by applicant]
Schubert, E. Fred, “Light-Emitting Diodes” (2006). [cited by applicant]
Park, Byung Jun, et al., “Deep Trench Isolation for Crosstalk Suppression in Active Pixel Sensors with 1.7 μm Pixel Pitch,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 46(45) (2007). [cited by applicant]
Minoglou, Kyriaki, et al., “Reduction of Electrical Crosstalk in Hybrid Backside Illuminated CMOS Imagers using Deep Trench Isolation,” 2008 International Interconnect Technology Conference, Burlingame, CA, USA (pp. 129… [cited by applicant]
Pilvi, Tero, “Atomic Layer Deposition for optical applications : metal fluoride thin films and novel devices,” Academic Dissertation, Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Helskinki (2008). [cited by applicant]
De Munck, K., et al., “Monolithic and hybrid backside illuminated active pixel sensor arrays,” Proc. SPIE 7474, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XIII, 74741B (2009). [cited by applicant]
Saint-Cast, Pierre, et al., “Very low surface recombination velocity on p-type c-Si by high-rate plasma-deposited aluminum oxide,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 151502 (2009). [cited by applicant]
Tournier, A., et al., “Pixel-to-Pixel Isolation by Deep Trench Technology: Application to CMOS Image Sensor” (2011). [cited by applicant]
Wei, A. X., et al., “Electrical and optical properties of tantalum oxide thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 509(41), 9758-9763 (2011). [cited by applicant]
Kitamura, Y., et al., “Suppression of crosstalk by using backside deep trench isolation for 1.12μm backside illuminated CMOS image sensor,” 2012 International Electron Devices Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA (2012). [cited by applicant]
Chou, Stephen Y., et al., “Nanoimprint Lithography,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 14(6) (1996). [cited by applicant]
Gösele, U. and Tong, Q.-Y., “Semiconductor Wafer Bonding,” Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci., 25:215-241 (1998). [cited by applicant]
May, Gary S, and Sze, Simon M., “Fundamentals of Semiconductor Fabrication,” Etching (Chapter 5: pp. 85-104) and Film Deposition (Chapter 8: pp. 144-181) (2004). [cited by applicant]
Toshikiyo, Kimiaki, et al., “A MOS Image Sensor with Microlenses Built by Sub-Wavelength Patterning,” 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers, San Francisco, CA, USA, pp. 514-… [cited by applicant]
Posch, Christoph, “Detectors, Pixels, and Signal Processing,” Smart Cameras (2009). [cited by applicant]
Sivaramakrishnan, S., et al., “Enhanced angle sensitive pixels for light field imaging,” 2011 International Electron Devices Meeting, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 8.6.1-8.6.4 (2011). [cited by applicant]
Ramm, Peter, et al., “Handbook of Wafer Bonding” (2012). [cited by applicant]