Passivation planarization
DC
First Claim
1. A pixel cell of an imaging device comprising:
- a pixel circuit formed on a substrate;
an upper metal layer provided over said pixel circuit;
a first layer with a planarized upper surface provided over and in contact with said upper metal layer; and
a second layer with a uniform thickness over said first layer.
1 Assignment
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pixel cell is formed by locating a first passivation layer over the final layer of metal lines. Subsequently, the uneven, non-uniform passivation layer is subjected to a planarization process such as chemical mechanical polishing, mechanical abrasion, or etching. A spin-on-glass layer may be deposited over the non-uniform passivation layer prior to planarization. Once a uniform, flat first passivation layer is achieved over the final metal, a second passivation layer, a color filter array, or a lens forming layer with uniform thickness is formed over the first passivation layer. The passivation layers can be oxide, nitride, a combination of oxide and nitride, or other suitable materials. The color filter array layer may also undergo a planarization process prior to formation of the lens forming layer. The present invention is also applicable to other devices.
16 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A pixel cell of an imaging device comprising:
-
a pixel circuit formed on a substrate; an upper metal layer provided over said pixel circuit; a first layer with a planarized upper surface provided over and in contact with said upper metal layer; and a second layer with a uniform thickness over said first layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A pixel cell of an imaging device comprising:
-
a pixel circuit formed on a substrate; a metal layer provided over said pixel circuit; a first passivation layer provided over said metal layer; a spin-on-glass layer provided over said first passivation layer; and a planarized second layer provided over said spin-on-glass layer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A pixel cell of an imaging device comprising:
-
a pixel circuit formed on a substrate; an upper metal layer provided over said pixel circuit; a first passivation layer provided over said upper metal layer, a bottom surface of said first passivation layer being entirely above a top surface of said upper metal layer; and a planarized second layer provided over said first passivation layer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification
-
- Resources
-
Current AssigneeRound Rock Research LLC
-
Original AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
-
InventorsRhodes, Howard E.
-
Primary Examiner(s)Sarkar, Asok K.
-
Assistant Examiner(s)Yevsikov, Victor V.
-
Application NumberUS10/878,350Publication NumberTime in Patent Office798 DaysField of Search438/70, 438/71, 438/72, 438/626, 438/634, 438/645, 438/631US Class Current438/70CPC Class CodesH01L 21/76819 Smoothing of the dielectric...H01L 21/76837 Filling up the space betwee...H01L 27/14609 Pixel-elements with integra...H01L 27/14618 ContainersH01L 27/14621 Colour filter arrangementsH01L 27/14627 MicrolensesH01L 27/14687 Wafer level processingH01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrange...H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of g...
