Solid-state image device

• US 7,459,735 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2005
• Issued: 12/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kanbe, Hideo, Ezaki, Takayuki, Hirayama, Teruo
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Jr.; Jerome
• Assistant Examiner(s): Budd; Paul A
• Application Number:
  US11/094,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20050179053A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,343 Days
• Field of Search: 257/446, 257/72, 257/292, 257/913, 438/58
• US Class Current: 257/292
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14603 Special geometry or disposition of pixel-elements, address-lines or gate-electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14625 Optical elements or arrangements associated with the device
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1463 Pixel isolation structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14636 Interconnect structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1464 Back illuminated imager structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14683 Processes or apparatus peculiar to the manufacture or treatment of these devices or parts thereof not peculiar thereto H01L21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14687 Wafer level processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 257/913 with means to absorb or localize unwanted impurities or defects from semiconductors, e.g. heavy metal gettering

Abstract

A solid-state imaging device capable of reducing the occurrence of a dark current and a pixel defect is provided.

A solid-state imaging device 10 is formed in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 4 are formed in a semiconductor substrate 1; circuits 5 which read out signal charge from each of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 4 are respectively formed on the semiconductor substrate 1; light is applied from the opposite side to the circuits 5 which read out signal charge from each of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements; and a gettering region is provided in an element-isolation area 2 which separate the photoelectric conversion elements 4 adjacent to each other.

Claims

1. A solid-state imaging device comprising:

a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements formed proximate to a back surface side of said semiconductor substrate, each of said photoelectric conversion elements having an associated pixel area on said back surface side and at least one of the photoelectric conversion elements having an associated gettering region, said associated gettering region being formed proximate to the back surface side and substantially surrounding the associated pixel area of the at least one photoelectric conversion element, and said gettering region being formed of an element different from a semiconductor element constituting the initial background doping of said semiconductor substrate; and

circuits formed on said semiconductor substrate for reading out signal charge from each of said plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, said circuits being positioned proximate to a first surface side of said semiconductor substrate, said first surface side facing away from said back surface side.

2. A solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein said associated pixel areas are distributed in the shape of a matrix, and a gettering region is formed proximate to the back surface side between at least one of a pair of rows and a pair of columns of said matrix.