A 45 nm Stacked CMOS Image Sensor Process Technology for Submicron Pixel †

A submicron pixel’s light and dark performance were studied by experiment and simulation. An advanced node technology incorporated with a stacked CMOS image sensor (CIS) is promising in that it may enhance performance. In this work, we demonstrated a low dark current of 3.2 e−/s at 60 °C, an ultra-low read noise of 0.90 e−·rms, a high full well capacity (FWC) of 4100 e−, and blooming of 0.5% in 0.9 μm pixels with a pixel supply voltage of 2.8 V. In addition, the simulation study result of 0.8 μm pixels is discussed.

[1]  Brian A. Wandell,et al.  Roadmap for CMOS image sensors: Moore meets Planck and Sommerfeld , 2005, IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging.

[2]  C.S. Tsai,et al.  A leading-edge 0.9µm pixel CMOS image sensor technology with backside illumination: Future challenges for pixel scaling , 2010, 2010 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[3]  C.S. Tsai,et al.  High performance 300mm backside illumination technology for continuous pixel shrinkage , 2011, 2011 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[4]  O. Jantsch,et al.  Flicker (1/f) noise generated by a random walk of electrons in interfaces , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[5]  M. D. Lei,et al.  A highly scaled, high performance 45 nm bulk logic CMOS technology with 0.242 μm2 SRAM cell , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting.

[6]  E. R. Fossum,et al.  What to Do with Sub-Diffraction-Limit (SDL) Pixels?-A Proposal for a Gigapixel Digital Film Sensor (DFS) , 2005 .

[7]  S. F. Ting,et al.  The Impact of Gate Edge Damage on Pixel Read Noise , 2013 .

[8]  Yong Ju Jung Enhancement of low light level images using color-plus-mono dual camera. , 2017, Optics express.

[9]  小林 昌弘,et al.  A Low Noise and High Sensitivity Image Sensor with Imaging and Phase-Difference Detection AF in All Pixels (情報センシング) , 2015 .

[10]  Shoji Kawahito,et al.  Effects of Negative-Bias Operation and Optical Stress on Dark Current in CMOS Image Sensors , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[11]  Wei-Cheng Hsu,et al.  Low Dark Current and Low Noise 0 . 9 m Pixel in a 45 nm Stacked CMOS Image Sensor Process Technology , 2017 .

[12]  Koichi Mizobuchi,et al.  A novel lateral overflow drain technology for high quantum efficiency CCD imagers , 2000, International Electron Devices Meeting 2000. Technical Digest. IEDM (Cat. No.00CH37138).

[13]  Hideaki Takada,et al.  [Paper] A Low Noise and High Sensitivity Image Sensor with Imaging and Phase-Difference Detection AF in All Pixels , 2016 .

[14]  Junichi Nakamura,et al.  Image Sensors and Signal Processing for Digital Still Cameras , 2005 .

[15]  Carlo H. Séquin,et al.  Measurements on a charge-coupled area image sensor with blooming suppression , 1974 .

[16]  C. S. Tsai,et al.  Advanced 1.1um pixel CMOS image sensor with 3D stacked architecture , 2014, 2014 Symposium on VLSI Technology (VLSI-Technology): Digest of Technical Papers.

[17]  Stephanie Thalberg,et al.  Fundamentals Of Modern Vlsi Devices , 2016 .

[18]  Tadahiro Ohmi,et al.  Analysis of Source Follower Random Telegraph Signal Using nMOS and pMOS Array TEG , 2007 .

[19]  Hiroshi Takahashi,et al.  A 1/4-inch 8Mpixel back-illuminated stacked CMOS image sensor , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers.

[20]  Y. Kohyama,et al.  Suppression of crosstalk by using backside deep trench isolation for 1.12μm backside illuminated CMOS image sensor , 2012, 2012 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[21]  Tae-Chan Kim,et al.  Advanced image sensor technology for pixel scaling down toward 1.0µm (Invited) , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting.