Patent ID: 7459735
Filing Date: 2008-12-02
Classification: H01L,Y02E,Y10S

Abstract:
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.