Patent ID: 7295235

Claim:
A solid-state image pickup device comprising: a photoelectric conversion portion, configured to generate signal electric charges in accordance with an amount of incident light, comprising first and second exposure regions; a plurality of color filters comprising: two adjacent color filters in the first exposure region forming a gap therebetween or overlapping each other; two adjacent color filters in the second exposure region forming a gap therebetween or overlapping each other; and a flattening layer formed on said plurality of color filters, wherein a recess is formed on a surface of the flattening layer in the first exposure region in the event the two adjacent color filters in the first exposure region form a gap therebetween, wherein a projection is formed on a surface of the flattening layer in the first exposure region in the event the two adjacent color filters in the first exposure region overlap each other, wherein a recess is formed on a surface of the flattening layer in the second exposure region in the event the two adjacent color filters in the second exposure region form a gap therebetween, wherein a projection is formed on a surface of the flattening layer in the second exposure region in the event the two adjacent color filters in the second exposure region overlap each other, wherein the thickness of the projections and recesses formed on the surface of the flattening layer in the first and second exposure regions is equal to or less than 0.2 μm, wherein said flattening layer reduces the variation in the amount of incident light reaching the first and second exposure regions arising from differences in the gaps or overlapping of adjacent color filters in the first and second exposure regions.