Patent ID: 8530989

Claim:
A solid-state imaging apparatus comprising: a plurality of pixels, each including a photoelectric conversion element, and a light shielding layer that covers said photoelectric conversion element, wherein said light shielding layer includes: a first light shielding portion that covers at least part of a region between the photoelectric conversion elements that are adjacent to each other, a second light shielding portion for that partially shields said photoelectric conversion element of each of said plurality of pixels from incident light, and an aperture, through which the remaining component of the incident light passes, wherein said aperture has a shape that includes a cruciform portion having a portion extending in a first direction and a portion extending in a second direction that intersects said first direction, wherein each of said plurality of pixels further includes an in-pixel read-out circuit configured to output a signal corresponding to a charge generated by said photoelectric conversion element to a signal line, and wherein said photoelectric conversion element includes: a first semiconductor region having a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor region, located over said first semiconductor region, having a second conductivity type different from said first conductivity type, and a third semiconductor region, located inside said second semiconductor region, having said second conductivity type and a higher impurity concentration than that of said second semiconductor region, wherein said third semiconductor region includes a first portion that overlaps an intersection portion with said cruciform portion, and a plurality of second portions that extend to overlap said aperture in both said first direction and said second direction.