US-12622077-B2 - Image sensor including junctionless transfer transistor

US12622077B2US 12622077 B2US12622077 B2US 12622077B2US-12622077-B2

Abstract

An image sensor includes a substrate, a polysilicon-vertical gate, a photoelectric conversion element, a channel, and a floating diffusion region. The substrate has a front surface and a back surface that opposes the front surface. The polysilicon-vertical gate is disposed in an upper region adjacent to the front surface of the substrate and extends into the substrate. The photoelectric conversion element is disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate. The channel is disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of a same conductivity type as the photoelectric conversion element. The floating diffusion region is disposed in the upper region of the substrate and adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate in a first parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate. The polysilicon-vertical gate, the photoelectric conversion element, and the floating diffusion region constitute a junctionless transfer transistor.

Inventors

Junoh Kim
Munhwan KIM
Hyeonseop Yoo

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231103
Priority Date: 20230413

Claims (20)

1 . An image sensor comprising: a substrate having a front surface and a back surface that opposes the front surface; a polysilicon-vertical gate disposed in an upper region adjacent to the front surface of the substrate and extending into the substrate; a photoelectric conversion element disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate; a channel disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of a same conductivity type as the photoelectric conversion element; and a floating diffusion region disposed in the upper region of the substrate and adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate in a first parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate, wherein the polysilicon-vertical gate, the photoelectric conversion element, and the floating diffusion region constitute a junctionless transfer transistor.
2 . The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein: the channel and the floating diffusion region are doped with dopants of the same conductivity type.
3 . The image sensor of claim 2 , wherein: a doping concentration of the channel is higher than a doping concentration of the photoelectric conversion element.
4 . The image sensor of claim 2 , wherein: the polysilicon-vertical gate is doped with dopants of a first conductivity type that is different from a second conductivity type of the photoelectric conversion element, the channel, and the floating diffusion region.
5 . The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein: the photoelectric conversion element, the channel, and the floating diffusion region are doped with N-type dopants, and the polysilicon-vertical gate is doped with P-type dopants.
6 . The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein: electrons of the photoelectric conversion element are transferred to the floating diffusion region through the channel without passing through a PN junction.
7 . The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein: the polysilicon-vertical gate has a plurality of vertical extension regions that extend in a perpendicular direction that is perpendicular to the front surface of the substrate, and at least a portion of the plurality of vertical extension regions are spaced apart from each other in a second parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate with the channel interposed therebetween.
8 . The image sensor of claim 7 , comprising: a plurality of barriers that are adjacent to each other in the first parallel direction and that extend from the polysilicon-vertical gate in the perpendicular direction.
9 . The image sensor of claim 8 , wherein: among the plurality of barriers, a barrier that is adjacent to the floating diffusion region is doped with P-type dopants and is disposed below the floating diffusion region.
10 . The image sensor of claim 7 , wherein: the plurality of vertical extension regions comprise a plurality of first vertical extension regions that are disposed spaced apart from each other in the second parallel direction with the channel interposed therebetween, and a second vertical extension region that extends in the second parallel direction and the perpendicular direction and connects the plurality of first vertical extension regions to each other.
11 . The image sensor of claim 7 , wherein: the channel includes a central region and a peripheral region between the central region and the plurality of vertical extension regions, and the central region has a lower conduction band than the peripheral region.
12 . The image sensor of claim 7 , wherein: the at least a portion of the plurality of vertical extension regions are spaced apart from each other by a distance, and a depletion region having a width equal to the distance is formed in the channel when a negative voltage is applied to the polysilicon-vertical gate.
13 . The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the polysilicon-vertical gate has a plurality of vertical extension regions that extend in a perpendicular direction that is perpendicular to the front surface of the substrate, and wherein the floating diffusion region is disposed between the plurality of vertical extension regions and is disposed to overlap the photoelectric conversion element when viewed in the perpendicular direction.
14 . The image sensor of claim 13 , wherein: the floating diffusion regions of at least two different pixels are connected to each other by metal lines.
15 . The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the polysilicon-vertical gate has a cylindrical vertical extension region that extends in a perpendicular direction and has an inner hollow portion that is perpendicular to the front surface of the substrate, and wherein the floating diffusion region is disposed in the inner hollow portion of the cylindrical vertical extension region and is disposed to overlap the photoelectric conversion element when viewed in the perpendicular direction.
16 . An image sensor comprising: a substrate having a front surface and a back surface that opposes the front surface; a polysilicon-vertical gate disposed in an upper region adjacent to the front surface of the substrate and extending into the substrate; a photoelectric conversion element that is disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate and that is doped with dopants of a first conductivity type that is different from a second conductivity type of the polysilicon-vertical gate; a channel disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type; and a floating diffusion region that is formed in an upper position of the substrate adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate in a first parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate, and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type, wherein the photoelectric conversion element accumulates photocharges corresponding to an intensity of incident light when a negative voltage is applied to the polysilicon-vertical gate, and transfers the accumulated photocharges to the floating diffusion region through the channel in the polysilicon-vertical gate when the negative voltage applied to the polysilicon-vertical gate is released.
17 . The image sensor of claim 16 , wherein: the accumulated photocharges are transferred to the floating diffusion region through the channel without passing through a PN junction.
18 . The image sensor of claim 16 , wherein: the polysilicon-vertical gate has a plurality of vertical extension regions that extend in a perpendicular direction that is perpendicular to the front surface of the substrate, and at least a portion of the plurality of vertical extension regions are disposed spaced apart from each other in a second parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate with the channel interposed therebetween, the channel includes a central region and a peripheral region between the central region and the plurality of vertical extension regions, and the central region has a lower conduction band than the peripheral region.
19 . The image sensor of claim 18 , comprising: a plurality of barriers that are adjacent to each other in the first parallel direction and that extend from the polysilicon-vertical gate in the perpendicular direction, wherein among the plurality of barriers, a barrier that is adjacent to the floating diffusion region is doped with dopants of a conductivity type that is different from the first conductivity type of the floating diffusion region.
20 . An image sensor comprising: a pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels; and a control circuit configured to transmit a control signal to a plurality of transfer transistors included in each of the plurality of pixels, wherein each of the plurality of pixels comprises: a polysilicon-vertical gate of a transfer transistor, the polysilicon-vertical gate being disposed in an upper region adjacent to a front surface of a substrate and extending into the substrate; a photoelectric conversion element that is doped with dopants of a first conductivity type that is different from a second conductivity type of the polysilicon-vertical gate, the photoelectric conversion element being disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate; a channel disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type; and a floating diffusion region that is spaced apart from the photoelectric conversion element and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type and that stores charges transferred from the photoelectric conversion element through the channel in the polysilicon-vertical gate, wherein the charges of the photoelectric conversion element are transferred to the floating diffusion region through the channel without passing through a PN junction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0049031, filed on Apr. 13, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which being incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to an image sensor including a junctionless transfer transistor. An image sensor is a device that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. Image sensors are classified into charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors. Noise in an image, captured at a low illuminance, is an important issue in image sensor technology. As a type of noise, point fixed pattern noise (pFPN) caused by transistor parameters has an important meaning in terms of low-illuminance noise of an image sensor. Signal loss, caused by interface trap of a transistor, is known as one of the causes of pFPN. SUMMARY It is an aspect to provide an image sensor with reduced noise. According to an aspect of one or more example embodiments, an image sensor may include a substrate having a front surface and a back surface that opposes the front surface; a polysilicon-vertical gate disposed in an upper region adjacent to the front surface of the substrate and extending into the substrate; a photoelectric conversion element disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate; a channel disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of a same conductivity type as the photoelectric conversion element; and a floating diffusion region disposed in the upper region of the substrate and adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate in a first parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate, wherein the polysilicon-vertical gate, the photoelectric conversion element, and the floating diffusion region constitute a junctionless transfer transistor. According to another aspect of one or more example embodiments, an image sensor may include a substrate having a front surface and a back surface that opposes the front surface; a polysilicon-vertical gate disposed in an upper region adjacent to the front surface of the substrate and extending into the substrate; a photoelectric conversion element that is disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate and that is doped with dopants of a first conductivity type that is different from a second conductivity type of the polysilicon-vertical gate; a channel disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type; and a floating diffusion region that is formed in an upper position of the substrate adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate in a first parallel direction that is parallel to the front surface of the substrate, and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type, wherein the photoelectric conversion element accumulates photocharges corresponding to an intensity of incident light when a negative voltage is applied to the polysilicon-vertical gate, and transfers the accumulated photocharges to the floating diffusion region through the channel in the polysilicon-vertical gate when the negative voltage applied to the polysilicon-vertical gate is released. According to yet another aspect of one or more example embodiments, an image sensor may include a pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels; and a control circuit configured to transmit a control signal to a plurality of transfer transistors included in each of the plurality of pixels. Each of the plurality of pixels comprises a polysilicon-vertical gate of a transfer transistor, the polysilicon-vertical gate being disposed in an upper region adjacent to a front surface of a substrate and extending into the substrate; a photoelectric conversion element that is doped with dopants of a first conductivity type that is different from a second conductivity type of the polysilicon-vertical gate, the photoelectric conversion element being disposed at a lower position within the substrate with respect to the polysilicon-vertical gate; a channel disposed adjacent to the polysilicon-vertical gate and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type; and a floating diffusion region that is spaced apart from the photoelectric conversion element and doped with dopants of the first conductivity type and that stores charges transferred from the photoelectric conversion element through the channel in the polysilicon-vertical gate, wherein the charges of the photoelectric conversion element are transferred to the floating diffusion region through the channel without passing through a PN junction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The above and other aspects will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagra