Patent ID: 7638853

Claim:
A solid state imaging device comprising: an imaging region formed in an upper part of a substrate made of silicon to have a photoelectric conversion portion, a charge accumulation region of the photoelectric conversion portion being of a first conductivity type; a device isolation region formed in at least a part of the substrate to surround the photoelectric conversion portion; and a MOS transistor formed on a part of the imaging region electrically isolated from the photoelectric conversion region by the device isolation region, wherein the width of the device isolation region is smaller in its lower part than in its upper part and discontinuously changes from the upper part to the lower part, the solid state imaging device further comprises a dark current suppression region surrounding the device isolation region and being of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, the dark current suppression region includes a surface dark current suppression region of the second conductivity type formed at the top surface of the charge accumulation region, and a bottom portion of the upper part of the device isolation region is located above a bottom surface of the surface dark current suppression region.