Patent ID: 7573014

Claim:
An image sensor, comprising: a plurality of well regions comprising first, second and third well regions each respectively associated with and formed above a plurality of photoelectric transformation regions formed in a substrate; wherein each one of the plurality of well regions is formed between adjacent stacked interconnection elements comprising a plurality of dielectric layers respectively separating a plurality of stacked interconnection layers; wherein the first well region has a first depth, the second well region has a second depth less than the first depth, and the third well region has a third depth less than the second depth; a plurality of color filters comprising first, second and third color filters respectively formed in the first well region, second well region, and third well region; a continuous passivation layer separating the plurality of color filters from respective adjacent stacked interconnection elements; and a plurality of lens respectively formed over each one of the plurality of well regions, wherein the plurality of dielectric layers comprises N dielectric layers, and the first depth is defined by removal of M of the N dielectric layers in the first well region, the second depth is defined by removal of (M−1) of the N dielectric layers in the second well region, and the third depth is defined by removal of (M−2) of the N dielectric layers in the third well region.