An image sensor includes a substrate including a light-receiving region and a light-shielding region, a device isolation pattern in the substrate of the light-receiving region to define active pixels, and a device isolation region in the substrate of the light-shielding region to define reference pixels. An isolation technique of the device isolation pattern is different from that of the device isolation region.

Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating such devices are provided. The devices include source and drain regions on one conductivity type separated by a channel length and a gate structure. The devices also include a channel region of the one conductivity type formed in the device region between the source and drain regions and a screening region of another conductivity type formed below the channel region and between the source and drain regions. In operation, the channel region forms, in response to a bias voltage at the gate structure, a surface depletion region below the gate structure, a buried depletion region at an interface of the channel region and the screening region, and a buried channel region between the surface depletion region and the buried depletion region, where the buried depletion region is substantially located in channel region.

A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type having a primary surface on one side thereof and a secondary surface on an opposite side thereof, and having a sensor therein, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type having a circuit element formed therein, the second semiconductor layer being formed at said one side of the primary surface of the first semiconductor layer, an insulating layer formed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, and being disposed on the primary surface of the first semiconductor layer, and a charge-attracting semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type configured to attract electrical charges generated in the insulating layer when a fixed voltage is supplied to the charge-attracting semiconductor layer.

An image sensor structure that includes a first semiconductor substrate having a plurality of imaging sensors; a first interconnect structure formed on the first semiconductor substrate; a second semiconductor substrate having a logic circuit; a second interconnect structure formed on the second semiconductor substrate, wherein the first and the second semiconductor substrates are bonded together in a configuration that the first and second interconnect structures are sandwiched between the first and second semiconductor substrates; and a backside deep contact (BDCT) feature extended from the first interconnect structure to the second interconnect structure, thereby electrically coupling the logic circuit to the image sensors.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a back-side image (BSI) sensor having a global shutter pixel with a reflective material that prevents contamination of a pixel-level memory node. In some embodiments, the BSI image sensor has an image sensing element arranged within a semiconductor substrate and a pixel-level memory node arranged within the semiconductor substrate at a location laterally offset from the image sensing element. A reflective material is also arranged within the semiconductor substrate at a location between the pixel-level memory node and a back-side of the semiconductor substrate. The reflective material has an aperture that overlies the image sensing element. The reflective material allows incident radiation to reach the image sensing element while preventing the incident radiation from reaching the pixel-level memory node, thereby preventing contamination of the pixel-level memory node.

An image sensor may include a plurality of pixels that each contain a photodiode. The pixels may include deep photodiodes for near infrared applications. The photodiodes may be formed by growing doped epitaxial silicon in trenches formed in a substrate. The doped epitaxial silicon may be doped with phosphorus or arsenic. The pixel may include additional n-wells formed by implanting ions in the substrate. Isolation regions formed by implanting boron ions may isolate the n-wells and doped epitaxial silicon. The doped epitaxial silicon may be formed at temperatures between 500 C. and 550 C. After forming the doped epitaxial silicon, laser annealing may be used to activate the ions. Chemical mechanical planarization may also be performed to ensure that the doped epitaxial silicon has a flat and planar surface for subsequent processing.

Capacitors that can be formed fully on an integrated circuit (IC) chip are described in this disclosure. An IC chip includes a metal-oxide-silicone (MOS) capacitor formed from a MOS transistor having a drain terminal, a source terminal, a gate terminal, and a body terminal. The drain terminal and the source terminal are not electrically connected to any other node, and the gate terminal and the body terminal form respective first and second terminals of the MOS capacitor. The IC chip also includes an electrical conductor coupled to one of the gate terminal or the body terminal of the MOS transistor and configured to deliver a voltage to operate the MOS capacitor in an accumulation mode.

A solid-state imaging apparatus, comprising a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type provided on a substrate by an epitaxial growth method, a second semiconductor region of the first conductivity type provided on the first semiconductor region, and a third semiconductor region of a second conductivity type provided in the second semiconductor region so as to form a pn junction with the second semiconductor region, wherein the first semiconductor region is formed such that an impurity concentration decreases from a side of the substrate to a side of the third semiconductor region, and an impurity concentration distribution in the second semiconductor region is formed by an ion implantation method.

A solid-state imaging device having a backside illuminated structure, includes: a pixel region in which pixels each having a photoelectric conversion portion and a plurality of pixel transistors are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix; an element isolation region isolating the pixels which is provided in the pixel region and which includes a semiconductor layer provided in a trench by an epitaxial growth; and a light receiving surface at a rear surface side of a semiconductor substrate which is opposite to a multilayer wiring layer.

An offset spacer film (OSS) is formed on a side wall surface of a gate electrode (NLGE, PLGE) to cover a region in which a photo diode (PD) is disposed. Next, an extension region (LNLD, LPLD) is formed using the offset spacer film and the like as an implantation mask. Next, process is provided to remove the offset spacer film covering the region in which the photo diode is disposed. Next, a sidewall insulating film (SWI) is formed on the side wall surface of the gate electrode. Next, a source-drain region (HPDF, LPDF, HNDF, LNDF) is formed using the sidewall insulating film and the like as an implantation mask.