DTI and Pyramids in 0.9um Pixel Design

Taiwan National Cheng Kung University publishes a MDPI paper "Deep Trench Isolation and Inverted Pyramid Array Structures Used to Enhance Optical Efficiency of Photodiode in CMOS Image Sensor via Simulations" by Chang-Fu Han, Jiun-Ming Chiou, and Jen-Fin Lin. DTI and pyramids are the key elements of the modern IR-enhanced sensors from Sony, Omnivision, SmartSens, and other companies.

"The photodiode in the backside-illuminated CMOS sensor is modeled to analyze the optical performances in a range of wavelengths (300–1100 nm). The effects of changing in the deep trench isolation depth (DTI) and pitch size (d) of the inverted pyramid array (IPA) on the peak value (OEmax.) of optical efficiency (OE) and its wavelength region are identified first. Then, the growth ratio (GR) is defined for the OE change in these wavelength ranges to highlight the effectiveness of various DTI and d combinations on the OEs and evaluate the OE difference between the pixel arrays with and without the DTI + IPA structures. Increasing DTI can bring in monotonous OEmax. increases in the entire wavelength region. For a fixed DTI, the maximum OEmax. is formed as the flat plane (d = 0 nm) is chosen for the top surface of Si photodiode in the RGB pixels operating at the visible light wavelengths; whereas different nonzero value is needed to obtain the maximum OEmax. for the RGB pixels operating in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The optimum choice in d for each color pixel and DTI depth can elevate the maximum GR value in the NIR region up to 82.2%."