A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a radiation-sensing region, at least one isolation structure, and a doped passivation layer. The radiation-sensing region is present in the semiconductor substrate. The isolation structure is present in the semiconductor substrate and adjacent to the radiation-sensing region. The doped passivation layer at least partially surrounds the isolation structure in a substantially conformal manner.

Disclosed are structures and methods of forming the structures so as to have a photodetector isolated from a substrate by stacked trench isolation regions. In one structure, a first trench isolation region is in and at the top surface of a substrate and a second trench isolation region is in the substrate below the first. A photodetector is on the substrate aligned above the first and second trench isolation regions. In another structure, a semiconductor layer is on an insulator layer and laterally surrounded by a first trench isolation region. A second trench isolation region is in and at the top surface of a substrate below the insulator layer and first trench isolation region. A photodetector is on the semiconductor layer and extends laterally onto the first trench isolation region. The stacked trench isolation regions provide sufficient isolation below the photodetector to allow for direct coupling with an off-chip optical fiber.

A variable optical filter is disclosed including a bandpass filter and a blocking filter. The bandpass filter includes a stack of alternating first and second layers, and the blocking filter includes a stack of alternating third and fourth layers. The first, second and fourth materials each comprise different materials, so that a refractive index of the first material is smaller than a refractive index of the second material, which is smaller than a refractive index of the fourth material; while an absorption coefficient of the second material is smaller than an absorption coefficient of the fourth material. The materials can be selected to ensure high index contrast in the blocking filter and low optical losses in the bandpass filter. The first to fourth layers can be deposited directly on a photodetector array.

A semiconductor device has a chip region including a back-side illumination type photoelectric conversion element, a mark-like appearance part, a pad electrode, and a coupling part. The mark-like appearance part includes an insulation film covering the entire side surface of a trench part formed in a semiconductor substrate. The pad electrode is arranged at a position overlapping the mark-like appearance part. The coupling part couples the pad electrode and mark-like appearance part. At least a part of the pad electrode on the other main surface side of the substrate is exposed through an opening reaching the pad electrode from the other main surface side of the substrate. The mark-like appearance part and coupling part are arranged to at least partially surround the outer circumference of the opening in plan view.

In each pixel having a plurality of photodiodes for one microlens of a plurality of pixels arranged in a pixel array part, the photoelectrically converted electrons are prevented from moving between the photodiodes, thereby to improve the electron isolating characteristic, resulting in improved performances of a semiconductor device. In a well region immediately under between a first N.sup. type semiconductor region forming a first photodiode in a pixel and a second N.sup. type semiconductor region forming a second photodiode in the pixel, an isolation region higher in impurity density than the well region is formed.

An image sensing device is provided to include: a substrate; a photoelectric conversion element formed in the substrate; an isolation structure disposed between the photoelectric conversion element and an additional photoelectric conversion element disposed adjacent to the photoelectric conversion element; a floating diffusion region disposed above an upper portion of the isolation structure; and a floating diffusion region protecting layer disposed below the floating diffusion region and contacting the upper portion of the isolation structure.

An image sensor including color filter groups and microlenses is provided. The color filter groups may include first, second and third color filter groups. The first color filter group includes a first first wavelength band filter and a second first wavelength band filter. The third color filter group includes a first third wavelength band filter. A first microlens on the first first wavelength band filter has a different size than a second microlens on the second first wavelength band filter. A diameter of the first microlens on the first first wavelength band filter is larger than a diameter of a third microlens on the first third wavelength band filter. The microlenses overlap at least four of the color filters.

The present disclosure provides an image sensor semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a first type of dopant; a semiconductor layer having a second type of dopant different from the first type of dopant and disposed on the semiconductor substrate; a photo-sensitive structure formed in the semiconductor layer; a multi-layer interconnect (MLI) structure disposed on the semiconductor layer; a color filter disposed on the MLI structure and disposed above the photo-sensitive structure; and a microlens disposed over the color filter and disposed above the photo-sensitive structure.

A solid-state imaging device includes a plurality of pixels each of which includes a photoelectric conversion unit that generates charges by photoelectrically converting light, and a transistor that reads a pixel signal of a level corresponding to the charges generated in the photoelectric conversion unit. A phase difference pixel which is at least a part of the plurality of pixels is configured in such a manner that the photoelectric conversion unit is divided into a plurality of photoelectric conversion units and an insulated light shielding film is embedded in a region for separating the plurality of photoelectric conversion units, which are divided, from each other.

An image sensor includes a plurality of photoelectric detectors, a plurality of color filters, and at least one pixel isolation region between adjacent ones of the photoelectric detectors. The color filters include a white color filter, and the color filters correspond to respective ones of the photoelectric detectors. The at least one pixel isolation region serves to physically and at least partially optically separate the photoelectric detectors from one another.