Optical Performance of CMOS Image Sensor Pixels: Simulation Study

CMOS image sensor (CIS) pixels are formed by stacking multiple layers of semiconductor materials. Currently, industrial development of such photonic devices includes a design step where light propagation is simulated using numerical methods such as, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD). We discuss the FDTD simulation of CIS pixels to predict the optical properties as function of wavelength and incident angle.