A CMOS image sensor with an imaging array of pixels containing selected pixels wherein illumination is blocked and light scattered from an adjacent pixel is collected. The signal from the selected pixels is resilient against saturation and thereby contributes to increased dynamic range of the imaging signal. The image sensor may be incorporated within a digital camera.

A III-V semiconductor pixel X-ray detector, including an absorption region of a first or a second conductivity type, at least nine semiconductor contact regions of the second conductivity type arranged in a matrix along the upper side of the absorption region, and optionally a semiconductor contact layer of the first conductivity type, a metallic front side connecting contact being arranged beneath the absorption region, and a metallic rear side connecting contact being arranged above each semiconductor contact region, and a semiconductor passivation layer of the first or the second conductivity type. The semiconductor passivation layer and the absorption region being lattice-matched to each other. The semiconductor passivation layer being arranged in regions on the upper side of the absorption region. The semiconductor passivation layer having a minimum distance of at least 2 μm or at least 20 μm with respect to each highly doped semiconductor contact region.

A solid-state imaging device includes a color filter unit disposed on a pixel array unit including pixels two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix and a conversion processing unit disposed on a substrate having the pixel array unit thereon. The color filter unit has a color arrangement in which a color serving as a primary component of a luminance signal is arranged in a checkerboard pattern and a plurality of colors serving as color information components are arranged in the other area of the checkerboard pattern. The conversion processing unit converts signals that are output from the pixels of the pixel array unit and that correspond to the color arrangement of the color filter unit into signals that correspond to a Bayer arrangement and outputs the converted signals.

An image sensor arranged inside and on top of a semi-conductor substrate having a front surface and a rear surface, the sensor including a plurality of pixels, each including: a photosensitive area, a reading area, and a storage area extending between the photosensitive area and the reading area; a vertical insulated electrode including an opening of transfer between the photosensitive area and the storage area; and at least one insulation element among the following: a) a layer of an insulating material extending under the surface of the photosensitive area and of the storage area and having its front surface in contact with the rear surface of the electrode; and b) an insulating wall extending vertically in the opening, or under the opening.

A solid-state image sensor is provided. The solid-state image sensor includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements. The solid-state image sensor also includes a modulation layer disposed above the photoelectric conversion elements, and the modulation layer has a plurality of modulation segments. The modulation layer includes a plurality of first sub-layers and a plurality of second sub-layers having different refractive indexes. From the top view of the modulation layer, the modulation segments form a first group and a second group, and the second group is adjacent to the first group. The arrangement of the first sub-layers and the second sub-layers in the first group is different from the arrangement of the first sub-layers and the second sub-layers in the second group.

A light sensing module including a photodiode array substrate, a distance increasing layer, and a light converging element array is provided. The photodiode array substrate includes a plurality of light sensing units arranged in an array and a circuit region. The circuit region is disposed on the periphery of the light sensing units. Each of the light sensing units includes a plurality of adjacent photodiodes arranged in an array. The distance increasing layer is disposed on the photodiode array substrate. The light converging element array is disposed on the distance increasing layer, and includes a plurality of light converging units arranged in an array. Reflected light from an outside is converged by the light converging elements on the light sensing units, respectively.

A method for fabricating an image sensor array having a first group of photodiodes for detecting light at visible wavelengths a second group of photodiodes for detecting light at infrared or near-infrared wavelengths, the method including forming a germanium-silicon layer for the second group of photodiodes on a first semiconductor donor wafer; defining a first interconnect layer on the germanium-silicon layer; defining integrated circuitry for controlling pixels of the image sensor array on a semiconductor carrier wafer; defining a second interconnect layer on the semiconductor carrier wafer; bonding the first interconnect layer with the second interconnect layer; defining the pixels of an image sensor array on a second semiconductor donor wafer; defining a third interconnect layer on the image sensor array; and bonding the third interconnect layer with the germanium-silicon layer.

An image sensor includes a plurality of pixels, each pixel including a light sensing structure including first, second and third light sensing elements sequentially stacked on a substrate, the light sensing structure having a first surface adjacent to a readout circuit and a second surface including a light receiving portion between first and second circumferential portions, a first through via on the first circumferential portion, extending from the first surface to connect with the first light sensing element, and configured to transfer charges of the first light sensing element to the readout circuit, and a vertical transfer gate on a second circumferential portion and configured to transfer charges of the second light sensing element to the readout circuit, the first through via and the vertical transfer gate of each pixel being arranged in a 1-shaped or L-shaped pattern in the first and second circumferential portions.

According to one embodiment, a display device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer and an illumination device. The first substrate includes a base, a sensor, a sensor circuit and a sensor light-shielding layer. The sensor is located between the base and the liquid crystal layer in a display area that includes pixels, and outputs a detection signal corresponding to light becoming incident from a side of the liquid crystal layer. The sensor circuit includes a switching element and is connected to the sensor. The sensor light-shielding layer is opposed to a channel area formed in a semiconductor layer included in the switching element, and blocks light from the illumination device on the channel area.

A flicker-mitigating pixel-array substrate includes a semiconductor substrate and a metal annulus. The semiconductor substrate includes a small-photodiode region. A back surface of the semiconductor substrate forms a trench surrounding the small-photodiode region in a cross-sectional plane parallel to a back-surface region of the back surface above the small-photodiode region. The metal annulus (i) at least partially fills the trench, (ii) surrounds the small-photodiode region in the cross-sectional plane, and (iii) extends above the back surface. A method for fabricating a flicker-mitigating pixel-array substrate includes forming a metal layer (i) in a trench that surrounds the small-photodiode region in a cross-sectional plane parallel to a back-surface region of the back surface above the small-photodiode region and (ii) on the back-surface region. The method also includes decreasing a thickness of an above-diode section of the metal layer located above the back-surface region.