An imaging unit according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a plurality of pixels disposed in a matrix form, and a controller that performs TDI control on the plurality of pixels. Each of the pixels includes a light pulse responder and a counter section. The light pulse responder generates a light pulse in response to incidence of light. The counter section includes a rewrite circuit and an adder circuit. The rewrite circuit rewrites an initial value. The adder circuit adds information corresponding to the light pulse to the initial value. The controller causes information held in the counter section to be written as the initial value into the counter section included in the pixel of a next stage in a column direction, and thereafter causes the information corresponding to the light pulse obtained from the light pulse responder to be added to the initial value.

An image sensor includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface that are opposite to each other. The substrate including a plurality of unit pixel regions having photoelectric conversion regions and floating diffusion regions disposed adjacent to the first surface. A pixel isolation pattern is disposed in the substrate and is configured to define the plurality of unit pixel regions. An interconnection layer is disposed on the first surface of the substrate. The interconnection layer includes a conductive structure having a connection portion that extends parallel to the first surface of the substrate and is spaced apart from the first surface of the substrate. Contacts extend vertically from the connection portion towards the first surface of the substrate. Each of the contacts are spaced apart from each other with the pixel isolation pattern interposed therebetween. The contacts are coupled to the floating diffusion regions, respectively.

A coloring composition includes at least one compound S selected from a compound S-1 represented by Formula (1) or a compound S-2 in which the compound S-1 is coordinated to a metal atom, a pigment, a resin P, and a solvent, in which the resin P includes at least one selected from a graft resin P-1 having a specific graft chain, a block copolymer P-2 including a specific structure, or a resin P-3 in which at least one terminal of a polymer chain including a specific structure is capped with an acid group. ##STR00001##

A pixel sensor may include a vertically arranged (or vertically stacked) photodiode region and floating diffusion region. The vertical arrangement permits the photodiode region to occupy a larger area of a pixel sensor of a given size relative to a horizontal arrangement, which increases the area in which the photodiode region can collect photons. This increases performance of the pixel sensor and permits the overall size of the pixel sensor to be reduced. Moreover, the transfer gate may surround at least a portion of the floating diffusion region and the photodiode region, which provides a larger gate switching area relative to a horizontal arrangement. The increased gate switching area may provide greater control over the transfer of the photocurrent and/or may reduce switching delay for the pixel sensor.

Pellicles are inspected by projecting a light pattern thereon and monitoring the reflected light by CCD module or the like. Software-based inspection of the reflected pattern recognizes any distortions in the pattern or contamination, and thus identifies wrinkles or other defects in the pellicle prior to use in the manufacturing process. Recognition of defects and replacement will avoid instances of pellicle rupture thereby avoiding damage to wafers being patterned.

Pellicles are inspected by projecting a light pattern thereon and monitoring the reflected light by CCD module or the like. Software-based inspection of the reflected pattern recognizes any distortions in the pattern or contamination, and thus identifies wrinkles or other defects in the pellicle prior to use in the manufacturing process. Recognition of defects and replacement will avoid instances of pellicle rupture thereby avoiding damage to wafers being patterned.

A solid-state imaging device includes: plural photodiodes formed in different depths in a unit pixel area of a substrate; a plural vertical transistors formed in the depth direction from one face side of the substrate so that gate portions for reading signal charges obtained by photelectric conversion in the plural photodiodes are formed in depths corresponding to the respective photodiodes.

Three-dimensional stacked image sensors and method for making three-dimensional stacked image sensors are provided. A method includes attaching a first CCD side of a charge-coupled device (CCD) pixel array wafer to a first carrier side of a first carrier wafer and performing a first thinning procedure on a second CCD side of the CCD pixel array wafer while the CCD pixel array wafer is attached to the first carrier wafer. The method includes forming a passivation layer on the thinned surface of the CCD pixel array wafer and temporarily bonding a second carrier wafer to the passivation layer. The method includes performing a second thinning procedure on the second carrier side of the first carrier wafer while the second carrier wafer is bonded to the passivation layer. After performing the second thinning procedure, through-silicon vias (TSVs) are formed through the first carrier wafer.