US 12,439,718 B2
Light receiving element, distance measurement module, and electronic equipment
Yutaro Komuro, Nagasaki (JP); Yoshiki Ebiko, Kanagawa (JP); and Hajime Yamagishi, Kanagawa (JP)
Assigned to Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Kanagawa (JP)
Appl. No. 17/770,208
Filed by SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, Kanagawa (JP)
PCT Filed Oct. 16, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/039051
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 19, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/085171, PCT Pub. Date May 6, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-197019 (JP), filed on Oct. 30, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0406827 A1, Dec. 22, 2022
Int. Cl. H10F 39/00 (2025.01); H10F 39/12 (2025.01); H10F 39/18 (2025.01)
CPC H10F 39/8057 (2025.01) [H10F 39/807 (2025.01); H10F 39/184 (2025.01); H10F 39/199 (2025.01); H10F 39/8067 (2025.01); H10F 39/811 (2025.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A light receiving element, comprising:
a semiconductor layer in which photodiodes performing photoelectric conversion of infrared rays are formed in units of pixels; and
a wiring layer in which a transfer transistor reading charge generated by the photodiodes is formed,
wherein an inter-pixel light shielding unit that shields the infrared rays is formed at a pixel boundary portion of the wiring layer,
wherein the wiring layer includes one or more metal films,
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed on a side closer to the semiconductor layer than a metal film included in the one or more metal films that is closest to the semiconductor layer,
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed at a position of a same layer as that of a gate contact that connects a gate of the transfer transistor and the metal film closest to the semiconductor layer, and
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed at a same time as when the gate contact is formed.
 
11. A distance measurement module, comprising:
a predetermined light generation source; and
a light receiving element,
wherein the light receiving element includes:
a semiconductor layer in which photodiodes performing photoelectric conversion of infrared rays are formed in units of pixels, and
a wiring layer in which a transfer transistor reading charge generated by the photodiodes is formed, and
an inter-pixel light shielding unit that shields the infrared rays is formed at a pixel boundary portion of the wiring layer,
wherein the wiring layer includes one or more metal films,
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed on a side closer to the semiconductor layer than a metal film included in the one or more metal films that is closest to the semiconductor layer,
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed at a position of a same layer as that of a gate contact that connects a gate of the transfer transistor and the metal film closest to the semiconductor layer, and
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed at a same time as when the gate contact is formed.
 
12. Electronic equipment, comprising:
a distance measurement module, including:
a predetermined light generation source; and
a light receiving element, wherein the light receiving element includes
a semiconductor layer in which photodiodes performing photoelectric conversion of infrared rays are formed in units of pixels, and
a wiring layer in which a transfer transistor reading charge generated by the photodiodes is formed, and
wherein an inter-pixel light shielding unit that shields the infrared rays is formed at a pixel boundary portion of the wiring layer,
wherein the wiring layer includes one or more metal films,
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed on a side closer to the semiconductor layer than a metal film included in the one or more metal films that is closest to the semiconductor layer,
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed at a position of a same layer as that of a gate contact that connects a gate of the transfer transistor and the metal film closest to the semiconductor layer, and
wherein the inter-pixel light shielding unit is formed at a same time as when the gate contact is formed.