Bitline settling improvement and FPN reduction by floating bitline during charge transfer
Granted: May 14, 2019
Patent Number:
10290673
A photodiode is adapted to accumulate image charges in response to incident light. A transfer transistor is coupled between the photodiode and a floating diffusion to transfer the image charges from the photodiode to the floating diffusion. A transfer gate voltage controls the transmission of the image charges from a transfer receiving terminal of the transfer transistor to the floating diffusion. A reset transistor is coupled to supply a supply voltage to the floating diffusion. A…
Resonant-filter image sensor and associated fabrication method
Granted: May 14, 2019
Patent Number:
10290670
A resonant-filter image sensor includes a pixel array including a plurality of pixels and a microresonator layer above the pixel array. The microresonator layer includes a plurality of microresonators formed of a first material with an extinction coefficient less than 0.02 at a free-space wavelength of five hundred nanometers. Each of the plurality of pixels may have at least one of the plurality of microresonators at least partially thereabove. The resonant-filter image sensor may…
Memory with pattern oriented error correction code
Granted: May 14, 2019
Patent Number:
10289486
Apparatuses and methods for parity generations in error-correcting code (ECC) memory to reduce chip areas and test time in imaging system are disclosed herein. Memory tests are needed to catch hard failures and soft errors. Random and nondestructive errors are soft errors and are undesirable. Soft errors can be detected and corrected by the disclosed ECC which is based on Hamming code. Before data are written into memory, the first parity generator based on the disclosed ECC generates…
Athermal compound lens
Granted: May 14, 2019
Patent Number:
10288854
An athermal compound lens includes a plano-concave lens and a plano-convex lens. The plano-concave lens has a first focal length, a first refractive index n1, and planar object-side surface opposite a concave image-side surface. The plano-convex lens is axially aligned with the plano-concave lens and has (i) a second focal length, (ii) a second refractive index n2, (iii) a planar image-side surface, and (iv) a convex object-side surface between the planar image-side surface and the…
Floating diffusion of image sensor with low leakage current
Granted: May 7, 2019
Patent Number:
10283558
An image sensor including a photodiode, a floating diffusion region, a first, second, and third doped region of a semiconductor material, and a first capacitor is presented. The photodiode is disposed in the semiconductor material to generate image charge in response to incident light. The floating diffusion region is disposed in the semiconductor material proximate to the photodiode. The floating diffusion region is at least partially surrounded by the first doped region of the…
Visible and infrared image sensor
Granted: May 7, 2019
Patent Number:
10283553
A method of image sensor fabrication includes forming a second semiconductor layer on a back side of a first semiconductor layer. The method also includes forming one or more groups of pixels disposed in a front side of the first semiconductor layer. The one or more groups of pixels include a first portion of pixels separated from the second semiconductor layer by a spacer region, and a second portion of pixels, where a first doped region of the second portion of pixels is in contact…
Biased deep trench isolation
Granted: April 23, 2019
Patent Number:
10269850
An image sensor includes a plurality of photodiodes disposed in a semiconductor material, and a through-semiconductor-via coupled to a negative voltage source. Deep trench isolation structures are disposed between individual photodiodes in the plurality of photodiodes to electrically and optically isolate the individual photodiodes. The deep trench isolation structures include a conductive material coupled to the through-semiconductor-via, and a dielectric material disposed on sidewalls…
Storage gate protection
Granted: April 23, 2019
Patent Number:
10269846
A method of backside illuminated image sensor fabrication includes forming a plurality of photodiodes in a semiconductor material, where the plurality of photodiodes are disposed to receive image light through a backside of the backside illuminated image sensor. The method further includes forming a transfer gate coupled to extract image charge from a photodiode in the plurality of photodiodes, and forming a storage gate coupled to the transfer gate to receive the image charge. Forming…
Feedback capacitor and method for readout of hybrid bonded image sensors
Granted: April 16, 2019
Patent Number:
10263031
A hybrid-bonded image sensor has a photodiode die with multiple macrocells; each macrocell has at least one photodiode and a coupling region. The coupling regions couple to a coupling region of a macrocell unit of a supporting circuitry die where they feed an input of an amplifier and a feedback capacitor. The feedback capacitor also couples to output of the amplifier, and the amplifier inverts between the input and the output. The method includes resetting a photodiode of the photodiode…
Random sampling for horizontal noise reduction
Granted: April 16, 2019
Patent Number:
10264200
An example apparatus for random sampling for horizontal noise reduction includes readout circuitry coupled to receive image data from an array of pixels, the readout circuitry including a plurality of sample and hold (S&H) circuits coupled to respective ones of a plurality of bitlines to sample and hold the image data in response to a plurality of S&H control signals, each of the plurality of S&H circuits including an S&H capacitor and an S&H switch. The S&H…
Chip-scale image sensor package and associated method of making
Granted: April 9, 2019
Patent Number:
10256266
A chip-scale image sensor package includes a semiconductor substrate, a transparent substrate, a thin film, and a plurality of conductive pads. The semiconductor substrate has (i) a pixel array, and (ii) a peripheral region surrounding the pixel array. The transparent substrate covers the pixel array, has a bottom substrate surface proximate the pixel array, and a top substrate surface opposite the bottom substrate surface. The thin film is on a region of the top substrate surface…
DRAM core architecture with wide I/Os
Granted: April 9, 2019
Patent Number:
10255968
A dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) for use with a display includes a plurality of capacitive elements coupled to store one or more bits of data, and a plurality of switches where at least one individual switch in the plurality of switches is coupled to an individual capacitive element in the plurality of capacitive elements. A plurality of input/output (I/O) bit lines including 32 or more input/output bit lines is coupled to read out the data from the plurality of capacitive elements.…
Silicon photosensor array integrated circuit on [110]substrate with deep, anisotropically-etched, trench isolation
Granted: March 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10243015
A method for fabricating a photosensor array integrated circuit includes forming an isolation trench by a method comprising depositing a hard mask layer on a [110]-oriented single-crystal silicon substrate wafer, depositing, exposing, and developing a photoresist on the hard mask layer to define photoresist openings of locations for the trenches, dry plasma etching through the photoresist openings to form openings in the hard mask layer of locations for the trenches, and performing an…
System-in-package image sensor
Granted: March 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10243014
A method of image sensor package fabrication includes forming a cavity in a ceramic substrate, and placing an image sensor in the cavity in the ceramic substrate. An image sensor processor is also placed in the cavity in the ceramic substrate, and the image sensor and the image sensor processor are wire bonded to electrical contacts. Glue is deposited on the ceramic substrate, and a glass layer is placed on the glue to adhere the glass layer to the ceramic substrate. The image sensor…
Fractal-edge thin film and method of manufacture
Granted: March 19, 2019
Patent Number:
10236320
A method of manufacturing a fractal-edge thin film includes determining an area shape to be covered by the fractal-edge thin film. The method also includes generating a thin-film perimeter based upon the area shape, the thin-film perimeter having a fractal dimension exceeding one. The method also includes determining a photomask perimeter such that a photomask with the photomask perimeter, when used in a photolithography process, yields a fractal-edge thin film with the thin-film…
Imaging systems and methods with image data path delay measurement
Granted: March 5, 2019
Patent Number:
10225468
An imaging system with image data path delay measurement includes (a) a first image sensor chip that includes a pixel array for generating a first image in response to light incident upon the pixel array, and a time mark generator for, upon receiving a time mark command, encoding a signature in the first image to generate a first marked image with the signature and image data from the first image, and (b) an image signal processing chip for processing the first marked image, wherein the…
CMOS image sensor having enhanced near infrared quantum efficiency and modulation transfer function
Granted: March 5, 2019
Patent Number:
10224364
An image sensor comprises a semiconductor material having an illuminated surface and a non-illuminated surface; a photodiode formed in the semiconductor material extending from the illuminated surface to receive an incident light through the illuminated surface, wherein the received incident light generates charges in the photodiode; a transfer gate electrically coupled to the photodiode to transfer the generated charges from the photodiode in response to a transfer signal; a floating…
Array camera image combination with feature-based ghost removal
Granted: March 5, 2019
Patent Number:
10223775
A method for combining array camera images with feature-based ghost removal includes (a) receiving, from an array camera, a first image and a second image respectively captured by a first camera and a second camera of the array camera, (b) rectifying and aligning the first image and the second image, (c) after said rectifying and aligning, identifying features in the first image to produce at least one first feature image each indicating features in the first image, and identifying…
Interposer and chip-scale packaging for wafer-level camera
Granted: February 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10217789
A chip-scale packaging process for wafer-level camera manufacture includes aligning an optics component wafer with an interposer wafer having a photoresist pattern that forms a plurality of transparent regions, bonding the aligned optics component wafer to the interposer wafer, and dicing the bonded optics component wafer and interposer wafer such that each optics component with interposer has a transparent region. The process further includes dicing an image sensor wafer, aligning the…
Low noise CMOS image sensor by stack architecture
Granted: February 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10218924
A pixel circuit for use in a high dynamic range (HDR) image sensor includes a photodiode and a floating diffusion is disposed in the first semiconductor wafer. A transfer transistor is disposed in the first semiconductor wafer and is adapted to be switched on to transfer the charge carriers photogenerated in the photodiode to the floating diffusion. An in-pixel capacitor is disposed in a second semiconductor wafer. The first semiconductor wafer is stacked with and coupled to the second…
