Patent ID: 8546742

Claim:
An image sensor comprising one or more upstanding nanowires on a substrate, the one or more nanowires being configured to transmit a first portion of an electromagnetic radiation beam incident on the sensor, and the substrate comprising an anti-reflective material that absorbs a second portion of the electromagnetic radiation beam incident on the sensor, wherein the first portion is substantially different from the second portion, wherein the anti-reflective material absorbs at least 68 percent of optical light incident on the anti-reflective material, and wherein the anti-reflective material does not disrupt electronic surface properties of epitaxial silicon to cause surface current leakage or provide sites for recombination of carriers generated by photons when the anti-reflective material is contacted with epitaxial silicon; wherein the first portion comprises electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of light of a first color and the second portion comprises electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of light of a second color wherein the second color is a complementary color of the first color; wherein diameters of the one or more nanowires are larger than λ/2n w , wherein λ are the wavelengths of light of the first color and n w is a refractive index of the one or more nanowires.