Patent ID: 6998659

Claim:
An image sensor comprising: a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type; an epitaxial layer on said semiconductor substrate; and an array of pixels on said epitaxial layer, each pixel comprising a photodiode well having a second conductivity type within said epitaxial layer defining a photodiode collection node, and an active element well within said epitaxial layer comprising at least one active pixel element, said active element well being laterally spaced away from said photodiode well so that all sides of said photodiode well except for an upper surface thereof are completely surrounded by said epitaxial layer, said photodiode well and said active element comprising regions doped at different levels with respect to remaining lateral regions of said epitaxial layer; each pixel having a width within a range of about 40 to 60 μm, and each photodiode well having a width within a range of about 3 to 10 μm.