Patent ID: 7342268

Claim:
An image sensor, including an array of pixels comprising: a semiconductor substrate including a light sensitive element formed therein at each location of a corresponding pixel in said array for receiving incident light; a first interlevel dielectric layer formed atop said substrate: at least one metal interconnect layer formed atop said first interlevel dielectric layer, said metal interconnect layer including a Cu metal wire structure formed between each light sensitive element in said array; a barrier material layer formed atop each said Cu metal wire structure, said barrier material traversing an optical path of each pixel of said array, said barrier material formed atop said formed Cu wire in said metal interconnect layer comprises a material selected from SiN, SiON, SiC, SiCN, SiCON or SiCO; and, a second interlevel dielectric layer formed between said Cu metal interconnect layer in said array and a top layer for receiving incident light, wherein said Cu metal interconnect layer enables said first and second interlevel dielectric layers to shorten an optical path and thereby increase an amount of light received by each light sensitive element in said array.