Claims
- 1. An image sensor comprising:
a first conductive layer, which is part of a circuitry of an integrated circuit device; a light sensing device disposed vertically atop said first conductive layer and the circuitry, said first conductive layer coupled to one electrical side of said light sensing device; and a second conductive layer disposed above the light sensing device and coupled to an opposite electrical side of said light sensing device, said second conductive layer coupled to provide a circuit coupling for the circuitry when said light sensing device conducts.
- 2. The image sensor of claim 1 wherein said light sensing light sensing device is comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 3. The image sensor of claim 1 wherein said light sensing device is comprised of intrinsic amorphous silicon disposed between n-doped and p-doped amorphous silicon.
- 4. The image sensor of claim 2 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying diode.
- 5. The image sensor of claim 4 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 6. The image sensor of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of light sensing device formed each atop a plurality of separate first conductive regions formed as part of the first conductive layer, each light sensing device and corresponding underlying circuitry forming an array of pixels for said image sensor.
- 7. An image sensor comprising:
a first conductive layer, which is part of a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry for controlling a pixel of the image sensor; a first dielectric layer disposed over said first conductive layer and having an opening therethrough to expose a portion of said first conductive layer; a photodiode disposed vertically atop said first conductive layer and said first dielectric layer, in which a bottom contact layer of said photodiode resides in the opening of the first dielectric layer and contacts said first conductive layer; a second dielectric layer disposed over said photodiode and having an opening therethrough to expose a portion of a top contact layer of said photodiode; and a second conductive layer disposed above said photodiode and coupled to the top contact layer of said photodiode, said second conductive layer coupled to provide a closed circuit coupling for the circuitry when light is sensed by said photodiode.
- 8. The image sensor of claim 7 wherein said photodiode is comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 9. The image sensor of claim 8 is fabricated as a p-doped/intrinsic/n-doped, p-i-n, photodiode.
- 10. The image sensor of claim 9 wherein said diode is comprised of intrinsic amorphous silicon disposed between n-doped and p-doped amorphous silicon.
- 11. The image sensor of claim 10 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying photodiode.
- 12. The image sensor of claim 11 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 13. An image sensor comprising:
a first conductive layer, which is part of a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry for controlling a pixel of the image sensor; a photodiode disposed vertically atop said first conductive layer, said photodiode comprised of an intrinsic material residing between a top and bottom contact layers, in which the bottom contact layer resides atop said first conductive layer; and a second conductive layer disposed above said photodiode and coupled to the top contact layer of said photodiode, said second conductive layer coupled to provide a circuit coupling for the circuitry when light is sensed by said photodiode.
- 14. The image sensor of claim 13 wherein said photodiode is comprised of amorphous silicon and fabricated as a p-doped/intrinsic/n-doped, p-i-n, photodiode.
- 15. The image sensor of claim 14 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying photodiode.
- 16. The image sensor of claim 15 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 17. A method of fabricating an image sensor comprising:
forming a first conductive layer, which is part of a circuitry of a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit, in which the first conductive layer is an upper layer of the circuit formed on a substrate; forming a first dielectric layer disposed over the first conductive layer; forming an opening in the first dielectric layer to expose a portion of the first conductive layer; forming a photodiode disposed vertically atop the first conductive layer and the first dielectric layer, in which a bottom contact layer of the photodiode resides in the opening of the first dielectric layer and contacts the first conductive layer; forming a second dielectric layer disposed over the photodiode; forming an opening in the second dielectric layer to expose a portion of a top contact layer of the photodiode; and forming a second conductive layer disposed above the photodiode and coupled to the top contact layer of the photodiode.
- 18. The method of claim 17 wherein said forming the photodiode forms a photodiode comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said forming the photodiode forms a p-doped/intrinsic/n-doped, p-i-n, photodiode.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said forming the photodiode forms a photodiode comprised of intrinsic amorphous silicon disposed between n-doped and p-doped amorphous silicon.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein said forming the second conductive layer forms a second conductive layer from a material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying photodiode.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein said forming the second conductive layer forms a second conductive material from a material comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 23. A method of fabricating an image sensor comprising:
forming a first conductive layer, which is part of a circuitry of a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit, in which the first conductive layer is an upper layer of the circuit formed on a substrate; forming a photodiode disposed vertically atop the first conductive layer, the photodiode comprised of an intrinsic material residing between a top and bottom contact layers, in which the bottom contact layer resides atop the first conductive layer; and forming a second conductive layer disposed above the photodiode and coupled to the top contact layer of the photodiode.
- 24. The method of claim 23 wherein said forming the photodiode forms a photodiode comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 25. The method of claim 24 wherein said forming the photodiode forms a p-doped/intrinsic/n-doped, p-i-n, photodiode.
- 26. The method of claim 25 wherein said forming the photodiode forms a photodiode comprised of intrinsic amorphous silicon disposed between n-doped and p-doped amorphous silicon.
- 27. The method of claim 26 wherein said forming the second conductive layer forms a second conductive layer from a material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying photodiode.
- 28. The method of claim 27 wherein said forming the second conductive layer forms a second conductive material from a material comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 29. A method comprising:
forming a first conductive layer coupled to a circuitry of an integrated circuit device, said first conductive layer disposed above said circuitry; forming a light sensing device disposed vertically atop said first conductive layer and above said circuitry, said first conductive layer coupled to one electrical side of said light sensing device; forming a first dielectric layer disposed over said light sensing device and having an opening to expose a portion of a top contact layer of said light sensing device; and forming a second conductive layer disposed above said light sensing device and coupled to an opposite electrical side of said light sensing device, said second conductive layer coupled to provide a circuit coupling for the circuitry when said light sensing device conducts.
- 30. The method of claim 29 wherein said light sensing light sensing device is comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 31. The method of claim 29 wherein said light sensing device is comprised of intrinsic amorphous silicon disposed between n-doped and p-doped amorphous silicon.
- 32. The method of claim 29 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of material having optical transmissivity property to allow light to pass through the material to reach the underlying light sensing device.
- 33. The method of claim 32 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 34. A method comprising:
forming a first conductive layer coupled to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry, said first conductive layer disposed above said CMOS circuitry; forming a first dielectric layer disposed over said first conductive layer; forming an opening in said first dielectric layer to expose a portion of said first conductive layer; forming a photodiode disposed vertically atop said first conductive layer and said first dielectric layer, in which a bottom contact layer of the photodiode resides in the opening of said first dielectric layer and contacts said first conductive layer; forming a second dielectric layer disposed over said photodiode; forming an opening in said second dielectric layer to expose a portion of a top contact layer of said photodiode; and forming a second conductive layer disposed above said photodiode and coupled to the top contact layer of said photodiode, said second conductive layer coupled to provide a closed circuit coupling for the circuitry when light is sensed by said photodiode.
- 35. The method of claim 34 wherein said photodiode is comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 36. The method of claim 35 wherein said photodiode is fabricated as a p-doped/intrinsic/n-doped, p-i-n, photodiode.
- 37. The method of claim 36 wherein said photodiode is comprised of intrinsic amorphous silicon disposed between n-doped and p-doped amorphous silicon.
- 38. The method of claim 34 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying photodiode.
- 39. The method of claim 38 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of indium tin oxide.
- 40. A method comprising:
forming a first conductive layer coupled to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry, said first conductive layer disposed above said CMOS circuitry; forming a photodiode disposed vertically atop said first conductive layer, said photodiode comprised of an intrinsic material residing between a top and bottom contact layers, in which the bottom contact layer resides atop said first conductive layer; forming a first dielectric layer disposed over said photodiode and having an opening to expose a portion of the top contact layer of said photodiode; and forming a second conductive layer disposed above said photodiode and coupled to the top contact layer of said photodiode, said second conductive layer coupled to provide a circuit coupling for the circuitry when light is sensed by said photodiode.
- 41. The method of claim 40 wherein said photodiode is comprised of amorphous silicon.
- 42. The method of claim 41 wherein said photodiode is fabricated as a p-doped/intrinsic/n-doped, p-i-n, photodiode.
- 43. The method of claim 40 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of material having optical transmissivity property which allows light to pass through the material to reach the underlying photodiode.
- 44. The method of claim 43 wherein said second conductive layer is comprised of indium tin oxide.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/474,177 filed Dec. 29, 1999 entitled “Method of Fabricating Image Sensors Using A Thin Film Photodiode Above Active CMOS Circuitry.”
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09474177 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Child |
10280253 |
Oct 2002 |
US |