Patent ID: 8413355

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a solid state image pickup device comprising: forming a semiconductor body; forming a first conductivity type well region in the semiconductor body; forming a plurality of pixels, each pixel comprising at least a photo-electric conversion element in said first conductivity type well region; and forming a first conductivity type well region for device separation between said pixels; wherein said photo-electric conversion element is comprised of a plurality of regions of a second conductivity type formed in the depth direction; and wherein said first conductivity type well region for device separation is comprised of a plurality of device separation well regions formed in the depth direction and wherein an uppermost device separation well region extends from beneath a LOCOS portion to a region adjacent a pixel beyond an edge of the LOCOS and a lower device separation well region is adjacent the uppermost device separation well region and is exclusively located beneath a thickest portion of the LOCOS.