Dedicated process architecture and the characteristics of 1.4 μm pixel CMOS image sensor with 8M density

A 1.4 μm-pitch pixel of CMOS image sensor, which is the smallest to date, has been successfully developed and integrated into 8M density for the first time. To overcome the crucial degradation of the saturation charge and sensitivity, a novel photodiode structure extended under transfer gate and an elaborate optical design including very thin tungsten pixel routing with 65 nm-grade design rules are introduced, which result in enhanced electrical and optical performance.