Patent ID: 8072038

Claim:
An image sensor comprising: a semiconductor substrate having readout circuitry thereon; a dielectric layer on the semiconductor substrate; a metal line in the dielectric layer and electrically connected with the readout circuitry; an image sensing device including a first impurity region and a second impurity region on the dielectric layer, wherein the first impurity region further includes a first ion implantation region at a lower part thereof; a via hole through the dielectric layer and the image sensing device, exposing the metal line; a hard mask on a sidewall of the via hole adjacent to the second impurity region, wherein the hard mask is on the sidewall of the via hole and exposes the first ion implantation region while covering at least part of the first impurity region and an entirety of the second impurity region; and a lower electrode in the via hole to connect the first impurity region with the metal line.