The present disclosure relates to a solid-state image pickup device and an electronic apparatus by which a phase-difference detection pixel that avoids defects such as lowering of sensitivity to incident light and lowering of phase-difference detection accuracy can be realized. A solid-state image pickup device as a first aspect of the present disclosure is a solid-state image pickup device in which a normal pixel that generates a pixel signal of an image and a phase-difference detection pixel that generates a pixel signal used in calculation of a phase-difference signal for controlling an image-surface phase difference AF function are arranged in a mixed manner, in which, in the phase-difference detection pixel, a shared on-chip lens for condensing incident light to a photoelectric converter that generates a pixel signal used in calculation of the phase-difference signal is formed for every plurality of adjacent phase-difference detection pixels. The present disclosure is applicable to a backside illumination CMOS image sensor and an electronic apparatus equipped with the same.

The present disclosure relates to a solid state image sensor and electronic equipment that enable degradation in image quality of a captured image to be suppressed even if any pixel in a pixel array is configured as a functional pixel for obtaining desired information in order to obtain information different from a normal image. In a plurality of pixels constituting subblocks provided in an RGB Bayer array constituting a block which is a set of color units, normal pixels that capture a normal image are arranged longitudinally and laterally symmetrically within the subblock, and functional pixels for obtaining desired information other than capturing an image are arranged at the remaining positions. The present disclosure can be applied to a solid state image sensor.

In one example, an imaging device including a plurality of pixel circuits, a first control line, a second control line, a first voltage supply line, a second voltage supply line, a first light-receiving element, and a diagnosis unit is disclosed. The pixel circuits each include a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal, an accumulation unit, a first transistor, a second transistor, and an output unit. The first transistor is couples the third terminal to the accumulation unit on the basis of a voltage of the first terminal. The second transistor supplies a predetermined voltage to the accumulation unit on the basis of a voltage of the second terminal. The output unit outputs a signal corresponding to a voltage in the accumulation unit.

There is provided a solid-state imaging device that includes a substrate having a pixel array unit sectioned into a matrix, a plurality of normal pixels, a plurality of phase difference detection pixels, and a plurality of adjacent pixels adjacent to the phase difference detection pixels, each provided in each of the plurality of sections, in which each of the normal pixel, the phase difference detection pixel, and the adjacent pixel has a photoelectric conversion film, and an upper electrode and a lower electrode that sandwich the photoelectric conversion film in a thickness direction of the photoelectric conversion film, and the lower electrode, in the adjacent pixel, extends from the section in which the adjacent pixel is provided to cover the section in which the phase difference detection pixel adjacent to the adjacent pixel is provided, when viewed from above the substrate.

A step of forming an on-chip lens of a phase difference pixel is simplified. An imaging element includes a pixel array unit, an individual on-chip lens, a common on-chip lens, and an adjacent on-chip lens. In the pixel array unit, pixels that performs photoelectric conversion according to incident light components, a plurality of phase difference pixels that is included in the pixels, is arranged adjacent to each other, and detects a phase difference, and phase difference pixel adjacent pixels that are included in the pixels and are adjacent to the phase difference pixels are arranged two-dimensionally. The individual on-chip lens is arranged for each of the pixels and individually condenses the incident light components on corresponding one of the pixels. The common on-chip lens is commonly arranged in the plurality of phase difference pixels and commonly condenses the incident light component. The adjacent on-chip lens is arranged for each of the phase difference pixel adjacent pixels, individually condenses the incident light components on corresponding one of the phase difference pixel adjacent pixels, and is formed to have a size different from the individual on-chip lens to adjust a shape of the common on-chip lens.

It is possible to curb noise, color mixing, and the like. An imaging apparatus includes: a semiconductor; a photoelectric conversion unit that is provided on the semiconductor substrate and generates electrical charge in accordance with the amount of received light through photoelectric conversion; an electrical charge holding unit that is disposed on a side closer to a first surface of the semiconductor substrate than the photoelectric conversion unit and holds the electrical charge transferred from the photoelectric conversion unit; an electrical charge transfer unit that transfers the electrical charge from the photoelectric conversion unit to the electrical charge holding unit; a vertical electrode that transmits the electrical charge generated by the photoelectric conversion unit to the electrical charge transfer unit and is disposed in a depth direction of the semiconductor substrate, and a first light control unit that is disposed on a side closer to a second surface that is a side opposite to the first surface of the semiconductor substrate than the vertical electrode, is disposed at a position overlapping the vertical electrode in a plan view of the semiconductor substrate from a normal line direction of the first surface, and has a T-shaped section in the depth direction of the substrate. The first light control member includes a first light control portion and a second light control portion extending in mutually intersecting directions in an integrated structure.

A solid-state imaging device having a first area and a second area surrounding the first area is provided. The solid-state imaging device includes a substrate having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements. The solid-state imaging device also includes a color filter layer disposed on the substrate. The color filter layer includes a plurality of color filter segments corresponding to the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements. The solid-state imaging device further includes an optical waveguide layer over the color filter layer. The optical waveguide layer includes a waveguide partition grid, a waveguide material in spaces of the waveguide partition grid, and an anti-reflection film on the waveguide partition grid and the waveguide material. The width of the top of the waveguide partition grid is larger than the width of the bottom of the waveguide partition grid.

An imaging apparatus including: a first imaging element and a second imaging element, in which each of the first and second imaging elements includes: a plurality of pixels in a semiconductor substrate; a pixel separation wall; and a color filter above a light receiving surface of the semiconductor substrate that transmits light having a wavelength that is different between the first imaging element and the second imaging element, the pixel separation wall included in the first imaging element has a slit at a center of the first imaging element where the imaging apparatus is viewed from a side of the light receiving surface, and the pixel separation wall included in the second imaging element does not have a slit at a center of the second imaging element where the imaging apparatus is viewed from a side of the light receiving surface.

Provided are a first photoelectric conversion unit, a second photoelectric conversion unit having a smaller electric charge amount to be converted per unit time than the first photoelectric conversion unit, a charge accumulation unit that accumulates an electric charge generated by the second photoelectric conversion unit, a charge voltage conversion unit, a first transfer gate unit that transfers an electric charge from the first photoelectric conversion unit to the charge voltage conversion unit, a second transfer gate unit that couples potentials of the charge voltage conversion unit and the charge accumulation unit, a third transfer gate unit that transfers an electric charge from the second photoelectric conversion unit to the charge accumulation unit, an overflow path formed under a gate electrode of the third transfer gate unit and transfers an electric charge overflowing from the second photoelectric conversion unit to the charge accumulation unit, and a light reducing unit that reduces light to enter the second photoelectric conversion unit.

Optimizations are provided for a high dynamic range (HDR) sensor. This sensor is a spatially multiplexed image sensor that includes at least two sets of red, green, and blue (RGB) pixels. Each red pixel in the second set of RGB pixels is positioned proximately and sometimes, adjacently, to at least one red pixel in the first set of RGB pixels. Each green pixel in the second set of RGB pixels is positioned proximately to at least one green pixel in the first set of RGB pixels. Each blue pixel in the second set of RGB pixels is positioned proximately to at least one blue pixel in the first set of RGB pixel. This spatially multiplexed image sensor is able to generate a digital image with reduced motion blurring artifacts.