Patent Abstract:
A CMOS pixel responsive to different colors of optical radiation without the use of color filters is described. A deep N well is formed in a P type silicon substrate. An N well is then formed at the outer periphery of the deep N well to form a P well within an N well structure. Two N +  regions are formed in the P well and at least one P +  region is formed in the N well. A layer of gate oxide and a polysilicon electrode is then formed over one of the N +  regions. The PN junction between the deep N well and the P type silicon substrate is responsive to red light. The PN junction between the deep N well and the P well is responsive to red light. The PN junction between the P well and the N +  region which is not covered by polysilicon and the PN junction formed by the N well and the P +  region are responsive to green or blue light. The PN junction formed by the junction between the P well and the N +  region which is covered by polysilicon is responsive to green light. The green signal is subtracted from the blue/green signal to produce a blue signal.

Full Description:
[0001]    This Patent Application claims priority to the following U.S. Provisional Patent Application, herein incorporated by reference:  
         [0002]    60/462,828, filed Apr. 14, 2003 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    (1) Field of the Invention  
           [0004]    This invention relates to CMOS pixels using a vertical structure and sub-micron processes. More particularly the invention relates to pixels which can detect red, green, and blue signals without the need for color filters and to pixels which use a deep N well and a P well as a gate in a vertical charge transfer active pixel sensor.  
           [0005]    (2) Description of the Related Art  
           [0006]    In the use of pixels for digital imagers, color filters are often used to separate color information into appropriate color signals. It is advantageous to use pixels which can provide color separation without the need for color filters.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,875 to Merrill describes a digital imager apparatus which uses the differences in absorption length in silicon of light of different wavelengths for color separation. A preferred imaging array is based on a three-color pixel sensor using a triple-well structure.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,300 to Cao et al. describes a color detection active pixel sensor. The device includes a number of doped regions. The doped regions conduct charge when receiving photons of different wavelengths.  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,786 B1 to Rhodes describes a photodiode photosensor for use in a CMOS imager exhibiting improved infrared response.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,833 B1 to Berezin describes a CMOS image sensor using two or three superposed layers. Each pixel in the image sensor includes a plurality of superposed photosensitive PN junctions with individual charge integration regions.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    Typically color filters are used to achieve color separation in pixels used in imagers. There is an advantage in being able to achieve color separation in pixels without the use of color filters. Color separation without the use of filters is especially important when pixel designs are implemented in sub micron CMOS, complimentary metal oxide semiconductor, processes.  
           [0012]    It is a principle objective of this invention to provide a CMOS pixel suitable for fabrication in a sub micron CMOS process which achieves color separation without the use of color filters.  
           [0013]    It is another principle objective of this invention to provide a pixel circuit which achieves color separation without the use of color filters.  
           [0014]    These objectives are achieved using CMOS pixels which make use of a vertical pixel structure to take advantage of the difference in absorption coefficient of different spectral components as they travel through the silicon pixel.  
           [0015]    A deep N well is formed in a P type silicon substrate. An N well is then formed at the outer periphery of the deep N well to form a P well within an N well structure. Two N +  regions are formed in the P well and at least one P +  region is formed in the N well. A layer of gate oxide and a polysilicon electrode is then formed over one of the N +  regions. This structure is formed using standard CMOS processing. The PN junction formed by the junction between the deep N well and the P type silicon substrate is responsive to red light. The PN junction formed by the junction between the P well and the N +  region which is not covered by polysilicon and the PN junction formed by the N well and the P +  region are responsive to blue light. The PN junction formed by the junction between the P well and the N +  region which is covered by polysilicon is responsive to green light, since blue light is blocked by the polysilicon. Charge accumulated at these junctions can be used to separate incident light into red, green, and blue components. The circuits used to detect the red, green, and blue components of the incident light can be structured to detect a blending of red/green and blue/green components in the incident light.  
           [0016]    In addition to color separation the vertical structure can be used in a manner similar to a junction field effect transistor. The potential of the P well can be used to control the charge depletion of the overlap region between the N well and the deep N well. The potential of the P well can be set to deplete the charges in the overlap region and isolate the deep N well. During charge integration charge is accumulated at the deep N well P type substrate junction. During readout the potential of the P well is adjusted so that the overlap region is no longer depleted and the accumulated charge is transferred to the N well.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1A shows a cross section view of a vertical structure pixel of this invention formed on a P type substrate.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1B shows a top view of the vertical structure pixel of FIG. 1A.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1C shows a cross section view of a vertical structure pixel of this invention formed on an N type substrate.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the photosensitive diodes of the vertical structure pixel shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 shows a cross section view of another vertical structure pixel of this invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a circuit used to implement the pixel shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 shows a cross section view of a part of the P type substrate of the pixel of FIG. 3 showing two NMOS transistors formed in the P type substrate.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]    Refer now to FIGS. 1A-5 of the drawings for a description of the preferred embodiments of this invention. FIG. 1A shows a cross section of the vertical APS, active pixel sensor, structure of this invention. The pixel is formed in a P type epitaxial silicon substrate  126 . A deep N well  114  is formed in the substrate  126  as shown in FIG. 1A. The depth of the deep N well is the same as the penetration depth for red, infrared, and deep red light in silicon and is between about 5 and 8 microns. As an example the deep N well  114  can be formed using methods such as ion implantation. An N well  112  is formed at the periphery of the deep N well  114 , extending between the top surface of the substrate  126  and the deep N well, thereby forming a P well  116  within the N well  112  and above the deep N well  114 . An overlap region  102  connects the deep N well  114  and the N well  112 . As another example, the structure could also be formed by first forming a large N well in the substrate and a P well  116  in the large N well thereby forming the N well  112 , the deep N well  114 , and the overlap region  102 .  
         [0025]    A first N +  region  118  and a second N +  region  120  are formed in the P well  116 . A P +  region  124  is formed in the N well  112 . A dielectric layer  121 , such as a gate oxide, and a polysilicon layer  122  are formed over the second N +  region and extend far enough to cover the junction between the second N +  region  120  and the P well  116 . The first N +  region  118  and the P +  region  124  are shallow and the PN junction between the first N +  region  118  and the P well  116  and the PN junction between the P +   124  region and the N well  112  respond to blue or green light. Although the second N +  region  120  is also shallow and has the same depth as the first N +  region  118 , the second N +  region  120  is covered by a layer of polysilicon  122 , which blocks blue light, so that the PN junction formed by the second N +  region  120  in the P well  116  responds to green light.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 1B shows a top view of the structure shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1A is a cross section view of the structure shown in FIG. 1B taken along line  1 A- 1 A′ of FIG. 1B. The periphery of the deep N well is shown as a dotted line  110  in FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 1B, the N well  112  has an inner periphery  109  and an outer periphery  111 . FIG. 1B shows the inner periphery  109  and outer periphery  111  of the N well  112  as being essentially circular. While this example shows these peripheries to be circular, the inner periphery  109  and outer periphery  111  can have any suitable closed shape.  
         [0027]    A schematic diagram of the pixel structure of FIGS. 1A and 1B is shown in FIG. 2. In the diagram shown in FIG. 2, the combined N well/deep N well is shown as a first node  214 , the P well is shown as a second node  216 , the P type substrate is shown as a third node  226 , the first N +  region is shown as a fourth node  218 , the second N +  region is shown as a fifth node  220 , and the P +  region is shown as a sixth node  224 . The PN junction between the combined N well/deep N well  214  and the P type substrate  226  is shown as a photodiode  236 . The PN junction between the P well  216  and the combined N well/deep N well  214  is shown as a photodiode  232  and responds to red light. The PN junction between the second N +  region  220  and the P well  216 , which is covered by a layer of polysilicon, is shown as a photodiode  228  and responds to green light. The PN junction between the P +  region  224  and the combined N well/deep N well  214  is shown as a photodiode  234  and responds to blue or green light. The PN junction between the first N +  region  218  and the P well  216  is shown as a photodiode  238  and responds to blue or green light. Appropriate circuitry, which will presently be described, can be used to extract the red, green, and blue signals or to extract combined red/green and blue/green signals.  
         [0028]    As those skilled in the art will recognize, this pixel can also be formed by replacing the P type substrate by an N type substrate, the first P region by a first N region, the N regions by P regions, the N +  regions by P +  regions, and the P +  region by an N +  region. This is shown in FIG. 1C showing a deep P well  114 A formed in an N type epitaxial substrate  126 A. A P well  112 A is formed at the periphery of the deep P well  114 A, extending between the top surface of the substrate  126 A and the deep P well, thereby forming an N well  116 A within the P well  112 A and above the deep P well  114 A. An overlap region  102 A connects the deep P well  114 A and the P well  112 A. A first P +  region  118 A and a second P +  region  120 A are formed in the N well  116 A. An N +  region  124 A is formed in the P well  112 A. A dielectric layer  121 A, such as a gate oxide, and a polysilicon layer  122 A are formed over the second P +  region and extend far enough to cover the junction between the second P +  region  120 A and the N well  116 A. The first P +  region  118 A and the N +  region  124 A are shallow and the PN junction between the first P +  region  118 A and the N well  116 A and the PN junction between the N +  region  124 A and the P well  112 A respond to blue or green light. Although the second P +  region  120 A is also shallow and has the same depth as the first P +  region  118 A, the second P +  region  120 A is covered by a layer of polysilicon  122 A, which blocks blue light, so that the PN junction formed by the second P +  region  120 A in the N well  116 A responds to green light.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIGS. 3-5 show an embodiment of a circuit which can be used with the pixel shown in FIGS. 1A-2. FIG. 3A shows a cross section view of the CMOS pixel shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B with some additions. The pixel is formed in a P type epitaxial silicon substrate  326 . A deep N well  314  is formed in the substrate  326  as shown in FIG. 1A. The depth of the deep N well  314  is the same as the penetration depth of red, infrared, or deep red light in silicon. The deep N well  314  can be formed using methods such as ion implantation. An N well  312  is formed at the periphery of the deep N well  314 , extending between the top surface of the substrate  326  and the deep N well  314 , thereby forming a P well  316  within the N well  312  and above the deep N well  314 . An overlap region  302  connects the deep N well  314  and the N well  312 . The structure could also be formed by first forming a large N well in the substrate and a P well  316  in the large N well thereby forming the N well  312 , the deep N well  314 , and the overlap region  302 .  
         [0030]    A first N +  region  318  and a second N +  region  320  are formed in the P well  316 . A first P +  region  324  is formed in the N well  312 . A first dielectric layer  321 , such as a first gate oxide, and a first polysilicon layer  322  are formed over the second N +  region  320  and extend far enough to cover the junction between the second N +  region  320  and the P well  316 . The first N +  region  318  and the P +  region  324  are shallow and respond to the penetration depths of blue and green light in silicon. Although the second N +  region  320  is also shallow, and may have the same depth as the first N +  region  318 , the second N +  region  320  is covered by a layer of polysilicon  322 , which blocks blue light, so that the second N +  region  320  responds to green light. If the first N +  region  318  and the second N +  region have the same depth, a depth corresponding to blue and green light, the green signal can be removed from blue/green signal of the first N +  region  318  by subtracting the green signal of the second N +  region  320 .  
         [0031]    The pixel at this point is the same as the pixel previously described. In this pixel a third N +  region  317  is formed in the P well  316  to form a reset diode. In this pixel the first dielectric  321  layer and the first polysilicon layer  322  are made large enough to cover the channel between the first N +  region  318  and the second N +  region  320  thereby forming an NMOS transistor  440  in the P well  316 . A PMOS transistor  450  is also formed in the N well  312  by forming a second P +  region  323 , a third P +  region  325 , a second polysilicon layer  327 , and a second gate dielectric layer  329 , such as a gate oxide. The PMOS transistor  450  can be used to reset the N well  312  and the deep N well  314 .  
         [0032]    The circuit of this invention will be described with reference to the cross section diagram of the structure shown in FIG. 3 and the schematic diagram for the circuit for this pixel shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4 the combined N well/deep N well is shown as a first node  414 , the P well is shown as a second node  416 , and the P type substrate is shown as a third node  426 . The PN junction between the combined N well/deep N well and the P type substrate is shown as a first diode  452  which responds to red light. The PN junction between the P well and the combined N well/deep N well is shown as a second diode  444  which responds to red light. The anode of a third diode  446 , formed by the junction between the first P +  region  324  and the N well  314 , see FIG. 3, is connected to a first reset voltage node  462 . The cathode of a fourth diode  442 , formed by the junction between the third N +  region  317  and the P well  316  is connected to a second reset voltage node  460 . The cathodes of the first  452 , second  444 , and third  446  diodes are all connected together by the first node  314  representing the combined N well/deep N well regions. The anodes of the second  444  and fourth  442  diodes are connected together by the second node  416  representing the P well  316 .  
         [0033]    A first NMOS transistor  440  is formed by the first  318  and second  320  N +  regions in the P well  316  and is responsive to blue/green light. A PMOS transistor  450  is formed by the second  323  and third  325  P +  regions in the N well  314  and is responsive to red/green light. The source of the first NMOS transistor  440  is connected to the drain of a second NMOS transistor  454 . The drain of the first NMOS transistor  440  is connected to a high potential, V DD , often the highest potential in the circuit. The drain of the PMOS transistor  450  and the P type substrate  326  are all connected to a low potential, in this example ground potential. The source of the PMOS transistor  450  is connected to the source of a third NMOS transistor  448 . The source of the second NMOS transistor  454  is connected to a blue/green output node  480 . The drain of the third NMOS transistor  448  is connected to a red/green output node  464 . The gate of the second NMOS transistor  454  is connected to a first row select node  456 . The gate of the third NMOS transistor  448  is connected to a second row select node  470 .  
         [0034]    The operation of the pixel circuit shown in FIG. 4 is a follows. During the reset cycle the second reset node  460  is set at ground potential and the first reset node  462  is set a V DD . This back biases the first  452  and second  444  diodes. At the start of the charge integration period the first reset node  462  is set at ground potential and the second reset node  460  is set at V DD  to back bias the third  446  and fourth  442  diodes. The potential of the P well will be responsive to optical radiation in the blue and green range and the first NMOS source follower transistor will generate a signal representing a combination of the blue and green radiation. A blue/green signal can be extracted at the blue/green output node  480  when the second NMOS transistor  454  is turned on by a signal at the first row select node  456 . The potential of the combined N well/deep N well will be responsive to optical radiation in the red and green range and the PMOS source follower transistor  450  will generate a signal representing a combination of the red and green radiation. A red/green signal can be extracted at the red/green output node  464  when the third NMOS transistor  448  is turned on by a signal at the second row select node  470 . As shown in FIG. 5, the second  454  and third  448  NMOS transistors can be formed in the P type substrate  326  outside the N well, deep N well, and P well.  
         [0035]    Refer again to FIGS. 1A and 1B. The structure shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B can also be used as vertical charge transfer APS, active pixel sensor. In this mode of operation the overlap region  102  is intentionally designed to be smaller, so that when the P well  116  is set to a reasonable negative bias the overlap region  102  is totally depleted even when the deep N well  114  is at its minimum potential of zero volts, thereby isolating the deep N well  114 . In this mode of operation the charge depletion in the overlap region  102  is controlled by the potential of the P well  116 . To reset the pixel in this operational mode the N well  112  is set to the reset voltage while the P well  116  is held at a positive voltage, so that the overlap region  102  is not depleted, and the deep N well  114  is set to the reset voltage via the overlap region  102 . The P well  116  is then set to a negative voltage depleting the overlap region  102  and isolating the deep N well  114 . The deep N well is then isolated and set to the reset voltage. During the charge integration cycle the potential of the deep N well  114  changes due to electron hole pairs generated by incoming light intensity. During the readout cycle the potential of the P well  116  is set to a positive voltage, the overlap region  102  is no longer depleted, and the potential of the deep N well  114  is transferred to the N well  112  where it can be read out.  
         [0036]    This ability to deplete the overlap region  102  also allows the pixel to be used in a snapshot mode. After the potential of the deep N well  114  is transferred to the N well  112  the overlap region  102  can again be depleted so that the potential can be stored in the N well  112  until it is read out.  
         [0037]    While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7