This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-215000, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device and its manufacturing method, specifically to a semiconductor device provided with a light-receiving element and its manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CSP (Chip Size Package) has received attention in recent years as a new packaging technology. The CSP means a small package having about the same outside dimensions as those of a semiconductor die packaged in it.
An illuminance sensor provided with a light-receiving element has been known as one of products packaged in the CSP. The illuminance sensor is incorporated in a wide variety of electronic equipment. When it is incorporated in a mobile phone, for example, it is used to measure a luminance of a visible wavelength range of light components of external light as a reference for adjusting luminance of a display panel and turning on/off of lighting of a keyboard.
An example of a structure of the illuminance sensor is described hereafter. A light-receiving element 113 such as a photo diode is disposed on a top surface of a semiconductor substrate 10 constituting the illuminance sensor, and an insulation film 114 is disposed to cover it, as shown in
Furthermore, a protection film 121 is disposed to cover the wiring 120, and bump electrodes 122, each connected with the wiring 120 through an opening formed in the protection film 121, are disposed on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate 10.
With the illuminance sensor, the luminance can be measured only for light components in the visible wavelength range included in the external light by removing the light components in the infrared wavelength range with the infrared cut filter 116 from the external light incident on the light-receiving element 113.
The CSP incorporating the light-receiving element covered with the infrared cut filter is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-200966, for example.
However, the infrared cut filter 116 constituting the illuminance sensor causes an increase in the manufacturing cost, since it is a so-called interference type infrared cut filter that is formed by many times of vapor deposition of metal such as titanium oxide, which is not included in an ordinary semiconductor manufacturing process to form a semiconductor device.
In order to cope with it, it is conceivable that a resin including fine bits of metal such as titanium oxide is formed to cover the light-receiving element 113 as a material to cut the infrared radiation, instead of bonding the supporter 117 provided with the infrared cut filter 116. However, there is a problem that a reduction rate of the infrared radiation by the material is only about 50% of the reduction rate by the interference type infrared cut filter 116.
The invention provides a semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor substrate, a first light-receiving element and a second light-receiving element formed in the semiconductor substrate, a first optical color resist covering the first and second light-receiving elements, a second optical color resist covering only the second light-receiving element, an arithmetic circuit calculating a difference between a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the first light-receiving element and a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the second light-receiving element. The first optical color resist allows light transmission only in a green wavelength range and an infrared wavelength range, and the second optical color resist allows light transmission only in a red wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range.
The invention also provides a semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor substrate, a first light-receiving element and a second light-receiving element formed in the semiconductor substrate, a supporter bonded to the semiconductor substrate through an adhesive layer so that the supporter covers the first and second light-receiving elements, a first optical color resist formed on the supporter so as to cover the first and second light-receiving elements, a second optical color resist formed on the semiconductor substrate so as to cover only the second light-receiving element, and an arithmetic circuit calculating a difference between a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the first light-receiving element and a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the second light-receiving element. The first optical color resist allows light transmission only in a green wavelength range and an infrared wavelength range, and the second optical color resist allows light transmission only in a red wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range.
The invention further provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a first light-receiving element and a second light-receiving element in the semiconductor substrate, forming in the semiconductor substrate an arithmetic circuit calculating a difference between a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the first light-receiving element and a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the second light-receiving element, forming a first optical color resist so as to cover the first and second light-receiving elements, and forming a second optical color resist so as to cover only the second light-receiving element. The first optical color resist allows light transmission only in a green wavelength range and an infrared wavelength range, and the second optical color resist allows light transmission only in a red wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range.
The invention also provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a supporter having a first optical color resist formed on the supporter, providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a first light-receiving element and a second light-receiving element in the semiconductor substrate, forming in the semiconductor substrate an arithmetic circuit calculating a difference between a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the first light-receiving element and a value of an electric output corresponding to an amount of light detected by the second light-receiving element, forming a second optical color resist on the semiconductor substrate so as to cover only the second light-receiving element, and bonding the supporter to the semiconductor substrate through an adhesive layer so that the first optical color resist covers the first and second light-receiving elements. The first optical color resist allows light transmission only in a green wavelength range and an infrared wavelength range, and the second optical color resist allows light transmission only in a red wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range.
A semiconductor device and its manufacturing method according to a first embodiment of this invention will be described hereafter referring to the drawings.
First, the semiconductor substrate 10 made of single crystalline silicon of P+ type, for example, is provided as shown in
A first light-receiving element 13A consisting of a photo diode is formed in a surface of the semiconductor layer in one of the element forming regions, while a second light-receiving element 13B consisting of a photo diode is formed in a surface of another of the element forming regions. One each of the light-receiving elements, the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B, is formed in a region where one of the semiconductor devices is to be formed. However, this invention is not limited to the above, and a plurality of each of the light-receiving elements may be formed in the region.
In order to form the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B, an N+ type layer is formed by doping a surface region of the undoped semiconductor layer in the semiconductor substrate 10 with N type impurities such as phosphorus (P), so that a surface of the N+ type layer serves as a light-receptive surface, for example. An insulation film 14 such as a silicon oxide film is formed by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), for example, to cover the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B.
An arithmetic circuit 50 connected with the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B is formed in the region in the semiconductor substrate 10, where the one of the semiconductor devices is to be formed. The arithmetic circuit 50 includes electronic devices such as transistors, and calculates a difference between a value of an electric current corresponding to an amount of light detected by the first light-receiving element 13A (that is, a value of an electric current representing a relative sensitivity against the light) and a value of an electric current corresponding to an amount of light detected by the second light-receiving element 13B (that is, a value of an electric current representing a relative sensitivity against the light). The arithmetic circuit 50 may be formed of an analog subtracter or a combination of A/D converters and a digital arithmetic unit, for example.
Next, a first green pass filter 15A is formed on the insulation film 14 so as to cover the first light-receiving element 13A, while a second green pass filter 15B is formed on the insulation film 14 so as to cover the second light-receiving element 13B, as shown in
The first green pass filter 15A and the second green pass filter 15B are made of a first optical color resist that allows light transmittance only in a green wavelength range and an infrared wavelength range out of external light incident on them. The first optical color resist includes a pigment dispersed in an organic resin, which makes a so-called OCF (Optical Color Filter) used as a color filter for a liquid crystal display device and the like.
After the first optical resist is applied all over the insulation film 14, the first green pass filter 15A and the second green pass filter 15B are formed preferably spaced from each other as shown in the drawing, by removing unnecessary portions by photolithography or the like, in order to reserve a region to form an electrode and the like in subsequent process steps. If the region is considered not to be required in the subsequent process steps, the first green pass filter 15A and the second green pass filter 15B may be formed all over the insulation film 14 without separation.
After that, a red pass filter 16 is formed to cover the second green pass filter 15B that is formed to cover the second light-receiving element 13B. The red pass filter 16 covers the second light-receiving element 13B, but does not cover the first light-receiving element 13A. The red pass filter 16 is made of a second optical color resist that allows light transmission only in a red wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range out of the external light incident on it. The second optical color resist includes a pigment dispersed in an organic resin, which makes a so-called OCF used as a color filter for a liquid crystal display device and the like.
In the structure described above, note that the green wavelength range is included in a range between 500 nm and 600 nm, the red wavelength range is included in a range between 600 nm and 700 nm, and the infrared wavelength range is included in a range between 700 nm and 1200 nm, for example.
Next, an electrode 17A, that is to make a cathode electrode or an anode electrode, is formed on a portion of the first light-receiving element 13A extending beyond the first green pass filter 15A as shown in
Although not shown in the drawings, a pad electrode connected with the first light-receiving element 13A, a pad electrode connected with the second light-receiving element 13B, a wiring connected with each of the pad electrodes and extending over a back surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 through an insulation film, a protection film covering the wiring, a bump electrode connected with the wiring through an opening in the protection film and the like may be formed in the process steps described above. Those structures may be the same structures as exemplified by the pad electrode 118, the insulation film 119, the wiring 120, the protection film 121 and the bump electrode 122, as shown in
An example of how the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B in the semiconductor device are used as the illuminance sensor is described hereafter.
A curve C1 shown in
The curves C1, C2, C3 and C4 show that light components in a wavelength range between 200 nm and 1200 nm are detected and that no light component out of the range is detected. Also, they show that very small amount of light components is detected in a wavelength range around 200 nm and in a wavelength range around 1200 nm. This is because absorption of light by silicon included in layers forming the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B hardly occurs for the light component of the wavelength shorter than 200 nm and the light component of the wavelength longer than 1200 nm, so that no or very small amount of electric current is caused for the light components of those wavelength ranges.
As seen from the curve C1 in
And the curve C4 is obtained by calculating with the arithmetic circuit 50 the difference between the electric current corresponding to the light detected by the first light-receiving element 13A, which represents the relative sensitivity shown by the curve C1, and the electric current corresponding to the light detected by the second light-receiving element 13B, which represents the relative sensitivity shown by the curve C2, as shown in
Also, measuring the luminance only for the visible wavelength range of the light components included in the external light does not require the infrared cut filter that is required in the conventional art and increases the manufacturing cost. Instead, the first green pass filter 15A, the second green pass filter 15B and the red pass filter 16 are provided. Increase in the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor device can be suppressed since these filters are formed using the optical color resist that is inexpensive and easy to form.
Also, the low reduction rate of the infrared radiation by the material used in the conventional art is no longer a problem, since the light components in the infrared wavelength range are not removed, and instead the light components are detected by the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B through the optical color resist and the relative sensitivity of the light components in the visible wavelength range is calculated with the arithmetic circuit 50 based on the results of the detection.
Furthermore, as seen from the curve C2 in
A proximity sensor that requires detecting light components in the infrared wavelength range may be named as one of appropriate usage of the second light receiving element 13B as an infrared sensor, for example. That is, the semiconductor device has the function of the illuminance sensor as well as the function of the proximity sensor.
Although the second green pass filter 15B and the red pass filter 16 are stacked on the second light-receiving element 13B in the order as described, this invention is not limited to the above, and the red pass filter 16 may be formed first followed by forming the second green pass filter 15B thereupon. The effects described above can be obtained in this case also.
The semiconductor device according to the first embodiment described above may have a structure as a chip size package. This case is described hereafter as a second embodiment and a third embodiment of this invention.
First, the second embodiment is explained. In the second embodiment, an interlayer insulation film 18 such as a silicon oxide film is formed on the insulation film 14 so as to cover the first green pass filter 15A, the second green pass filter 15B and the red pass filter 16, as shown in
Next, a supporter 20 is bonded to the interlayer insulation film 18 on the semiconductor substrate 10 through an adhesive layer 19. The supporter 20 is made of a transparent or semitransparent material, such as a glass substrate or a plastic. The other structural features and process steps are similar to those in the first embodiment. The same effects as in the first embodiment are obtained in the second embodiment.
Next, the third embodiment is explained. In the third embodiment, a single green pass filter 15 is formed on the supporter 20 as shown in
In this case, the green pass filter 15 may be formed on the supporter 20 before the supporter 20 is bonded to the semiconductor substrate 10, and the supporter 20 with green pass filter 15 may be bonded to the semiconductor substrate 10 afterward. The other structural features and process steps are similar to those in the first embodiment. The same effects as in the first embodiment are obtained in the third embodiment.
In addition, the semiconductor devices having the structure providing the effects equivalent to those obtained in the embodiment can be manufactured more effectively according to the process steps as described above, since a large number of the supporters 20, on each of which the green pass filter is formed, can be pre-manufactured to be stored.
This invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and may be modified within the scope of the invention.
For example, a blue pass filter made of an optical color resist that allows light transmission only in a blue wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range may be formed instead of the first green pass filter 15A, the second green pass filter 15B or the green pass filter 15 in each of the embodiments described above, although it is not shown in the drawings. In this case, the second light-receiving element 13B can be used by itself as an infrared sensor based on the principle as described above, although its characteristic is not as good as one described in the embodiments. On the other hand, the first light-receiving element 13A, the second light-receiving element 13B and the arithmetic circuit 50 can be used as the illuminance sensor to measure the luminance for the visible wavelength range of the light components based on the principle as described above. It is noted that the light component measured in this case has a peak in the blue wavelength range as a whole, and that the usage of the sensor is to measure the light component in the blue wavelength range.
Also, although it is stated that the semiconductor device according to the embodiments described above may include the same structures as exemplified by the pad electrode 118, the insulation film 119, the wiring 120, the protection film 121 and the bump electrode 122 as shown in
Also, although the single chip of the semiconductor device is provided with the first light-receiving element 13A, the second light-receiving element 13B and the arithmetic circuit 50 according to the embodiments described above, this invention is not limited to the above. That is, although not shown in the drawing, the first light-receiving element 13A, the second light-receiving element 13B and the arithmetic circuit 50 in the first embodiment may be formed separately each as a bare chip or a combination of two of them as a bare chip. The first green pass filter 15A, the second green pass filter 15B and the red pass filter 16 are formed in a bare chip, in which the first light-receiving element 13A and the second light-receiving element 13B are formed, as described above. In this case, each of the bare chips may be used by itself, or may be mounted in a single package.
According to this invention, measuring the luminance for the visible wavelength range of light components included in the external light does not require the infrared cut filter that increases the manufacturing cost. Because the optical color resist that can be formed easily and less expensively is used instead, the increase in the manufacturing cost can be suppressed.
Also, the low reduction rate of the infrared radiation by the material used in the conventional art is no longer a problem, since the light components in the infrared wavelength range are detected by the first light-receiving element and the second light-receiving element through the optical color resist and the relative sensitivity of the light components in the visible wavelength range is calculated with the arithmetic circuit based on the results of the detection.
Also, the light incident on the second light-receiving element through the first optical color resist and the second optical color resist is practically made of the light component in the infrared wavelength range. That is, the second light-receiving element can be used as an infrared sensor by itself. On the other hand, the first light-receiving element, the second light-receiving element and the arithmetic circuit can be used as the illuminance sensor to measure the luminance for the visible wavelength range of the light components by working in concert with each other.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008-215000 | Aug 2008 | JP | national |