KR-102962655-B1 - Image sensor having patterned anti-reflection layer and electronic apparatus including the same

Abstract

An image sensor having a patterned anti-reflection layer and an electronic device including the same are disclosed. The disclosed image sensor comprises: a sensor substrate including a plurality of first pixels for detecting light of a first wavelength and a plurality of second pixels for detecting light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength; a nano-optical lens array including a plurality of nano-structures arranged to concentrate incident light onto the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels; and an anti-reflection layer disposed on the light-input surface of the nano-optical lens array and comprising a plurality of holes arranged in a two-dimensional manner periodically, wherein the plurality of holes may include a plurality of first holes arranged along the boundary between adjacent first pixels and second pixels and a plurality of second holes disposed facing the internal region of the first pixel or the second pixel.

Inventors

• 문상은
• 노숙영
• 안성모
• 박현성
• 윤석호
• 이상윤
• 이준호
• 조춘래

Assignees

• 삼성전자주식회사

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20250618

Claims (18)

1. A sensor substrate comprising a plurality of first pixels and a plurality of second pixels arranged in a two-dimensional array; A nano-optical lens array comprising a plurality of nano-structures arranged to concentrate light of a first wavelength among incident light into the plurality of first pixels and light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength among incident light into the plurality of second pixels; and It includes an anti-reflection layer disposed on the light-receiving surface of the above-mentioned nano-optical lens array; Each of the first plurality of pixels and the plurality of second pixels comprises a plurality of photosensitive cells arranged in a two-dimensional array by clustering, and a separator that separates the plurality of photosensitive cells. The above anti-reflection layer comprises a dielectric layer that is transparent to visible light, and a plurality of holes formed in the dielectric layer to reduce light loss caused by incident light being reflected by the nano-optical lens array and arranged within an area facing each of the internal regions of the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels. An image sensor, some of the plurality of holes above are positioned facing the separator.
2. In Article 1, An image sensor in which the plurality of holes are periodically arranged in a two-dimensional manner along a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
3. In Article 2, The image sensor comprises a separator extending along the first direction and a second separator extending along the second direction.
4. In Paragraph 3, An image sensor, wherein some of the plurality of holes are located on the separator in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction.
5. In Paragraph 3, An image sensor in which the first separator and the second separator intersect each other at the center of each of the plurality of first pixels or at the center of each of the plurality of second pixels.
6. In Article 1, An image sensor in which the arrangement period of the plurality of holes within the anti-reflection layer is the same.
7. In Article 1, An image sensor in which the widths of the plurality of holes within the anti-reflection layer are all the same.
8. In Article 1, An image sensor in which a hole among the plurality of holes positioned facing a plurality of first pixels has a first width, and a hole among the plurality of holes positioned facing a plurality of second pixels has a second width different from the first width.
9. In Article 1, An image sensor in which the first wavelength is larger than the second wavelength and the first width is smaller than the second width.
10. In Article 1, An image sensor in which the average refractive index of the anti-reflective layer is greater than the refractive index of air and smaller than the average refractive index of the nano-optical lens array.
11. In Article 1, The above anti-reflection layer comprises a first anti-reflection layer disposed on the light-receiving surface of the nano-optical lens array and a second anti-reflection layer disposed on the first anti-reflection layer, An image sensor in which the second anti-reflection layer is patterned to include the plurality of holes.
12. In Article 11, An image sensor, wherein the first anti-reflection layer has a first refractive index and the second anti-reflection layer has a second refractive index, and the first refractive index is higher than the second refractive index.
13. In Article 11, The image sensor, wherein the first anti-reflection layer has an unpatterned flat upper surface.
14. In Article 11, An image sensor in which the first anti-reflection layer is at least partially patterned to include the plurality of holes.
15. In Article 1, An image sensor comprising an inorganic material having a refractive index of 1 or more and 3 or less, wherein the anti-reflection layer above comprises the inorganic material.
16. In Article 1, The nano-optical lens array comprises a plurality of first lenses disposed facing the plurality of first pixels and a plurality of second lenses disposed facing the plurality of second pixels, and An image sensor having a plurality of nanostructures arranged to concentrate light of a first wavelength among incident light incident on the first lens and incident light incident on a part of the second lens into the first pixel, and to concentrate light of a second wavelength among incident light incident on the second lens and incident light incident on a part of the first lens into the second pixel.
17. In Article 1, An image sensor further comprising a color filter layer disposed between the sensor substrate and the nano-optical lens array and a planarization layer disposed between the color filter layer and the nano-optical lens array.
18. A lens assembly that forms an optical image of a subject; An image sensor that converts the optical image formed by the above lens assembly into an electrical signal; and A processor that processes signals generated from the image sensor; is included, The above image sensor is: A sensor substrate comprising a plurality of first pixels and a plurality of second pixels arranged in a two-dimensional array; A nano-optical lens array comprising a plurality of nano-structures arranged to concentrate light of a first wavelength among incident light into the plurality of first pixels and light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength among incident light into the plurality of second pixels; and It includes an anti-reflection layer disposed on the light-receiving surface of the above-mentioned nano-optical lens array; Each of the first plurality of pixels and the plurality of second pixels comprises a plurality of photosensitive cells arranged in a two-dimensional array by clustering, and a separator that separates the plurality of photosensitive cells. The above anti-reflection layer comprises a dielectric layer that is transparent to visible light, and a plurality of holes formed in the dielectric layer to reduce light loss caused by incident light being reflected by the nano-optical lens array and arranged within an area facing each of the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels. An electronic device in which some of the plurality of holes are positioned facing the separator.

Description

Image sensor having a patterned anti-reflection layer and electronic apparatus including the same The disclosed embodiments relate to an image sensor having a patterned anti-reflective layer and an electronic device including the same. Image sensors typically detect the color of incident light using color filters. However, since color filters absorb light of colors other than the corresponding color, light utilization efficiency can be reduced. For example, when using RGB color filters, only one-third of the incident light is transmitted while the remaining two-thirds are absorbed and wasted, resulting in a light utilization efficiency of only about 33%. Therefore, in the case of color display devices or color image sensors, most light loss occurs at the color filters. Additionally, since image sensors contain multiple layers with different refractive indices, incident light can be reflected at the boundaries between the layers. To increase the light utilization efficiency of an image sensor, it is advantageous for the sensor to have a low reflectivity for incident light. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image sensor according to one embodiment. FIGS. 2a to 2c illustrate various pixel arrays of an image sensor pixel array as examples. FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a pixel array of an image sensor according to one embodiment. Figure 4 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the sensor substrate of the pixel array shown in Figure 3. Figure 5 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the color filter layer illustrated in Figure 3. Figure 6 is a plan view exemplarily showing the configuration of the nano-optical lens array illustrated in Figure 3. Figure 7 exemplarily shows the phase distribution of green and blue light passing through a nano-optical lens array. Figure 8 exemplarily shows the propagation of green light incident around the first lens of a nano-optical lens array. FIG. 9 exemplarily shows an array of first green light-gathering regions formed by a nano-optical lens array. Figure 10 exemplarily shows the propagation of blue light incident around the second lens of a nano-optical lens array. Figure 11 exemplarily shows an array of blue light collecting regions formed by a nano-optical lens array. Figure 12 exemplarily shows the phase distribution of red and green light passing through a nano-optical lens array. Figure 13 exemplarily shows the propagation of red light incident around the third lens of a nano-optical lens array. Figure 14 exemplarily shows an array of red light-gathering regions formed by a nano-optical lens array. Figure 15 exemplarily shows the propagation of green light incident around the fourth lens of a nano-optical lens array. FIG. 16 exemplarily shows an array of second green light-gathering regions formed by a nano-optical lens array. FIG. 17 is a plan view exemplarily showing the configuration of a nano-optical lens array according to another example. FIG. 18 is a plan view exemplifying the configuration of a nano-optical lens array according to another example. FIG. 19 is a plan view exemplarily showing the configuration of the anti-reflective layer illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a pixel array of an image sensor according to one embodiment. FIG. 21 is a graph showing a comparison of the reflectance of an image sensor according to an embodiment and the reflectance of an image sensor according to a comparative example. FIG. 22 is a table showing a comparison of the average reflectance of an image sensor according to an embodiment and the average reflectance of an image sensor according to comparative examples. FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a pixel array of an image sensor according to another embodiment. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a pixel array of an image sensor according to another embodiment. FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a pixel array of an image sensor according to another embodiment. FIG. 26 is a plan view exemplarily showing the configuration of an anti-reflection layer according to another embodiment. FIG. 27 is a plan view exemplarily showing the configuration of an anti-reflection layer according to another embodiment. FIG. 28 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an electronic device including an image sensor according to an embodiment. FIG. 29 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the camera module of FIG. 28. Hereinafter, an image sensor having a patterned anti-reflective layer and an electronic device including the same will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The embodiments described are merely illustrative, and various modifications are possible from these embodiments. In the following drawings, the same reference numerals refer to