IEDM 2021: Samsung Presents 0.8um Color Routing Pixel, Sony 6um SPAD Achieves 20.2% PDE at 940nm

IEDM 2021 presents many image sensor papers in its program:

• 20-1 A Back Illuminated 6 μm SPAD Pixel Array with High PDE and Timing Jitter Performance,
  S. Shimada, Y. Otake, S. Yoshida, S. Endo, R. Nakamura, H. Tsugawa, T. Ogita, T. Ogasahara, K. Yokochi, Y. Inoue, K. Takabayashi, H. Maeda, K. Yamamoto, M. Ono, S. Matsumoto, H. Hiyama, and T. Wakano.
  Sony
  This paper presents a 6μm pitch silicon SPAD pixel array using 3D-stacked technology. A PDE of 20.2% and timing jitter FWHM of 137ps at λ=940nm with 3V excess bias were achieved. These state-of-the-art performances were allowed via the implementation of a pyramid surface structure and pixel potential profile optimization.
• 30-1 Highly Efficient Color Separation and Focusing in the Sub-micron CMOS Image Sensor,
  S. Yun, S. Roh, S. Lee, H. Park, M. Lim, S. Ahn, and H. Choo.
  Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology
  We report nanoscale metaphotonic color-routing (MPCR) structure that can significantly improve the lowlight performance of a sub-micron CMOS image sensor. Fabricated on the Samsung's commercial 0.8μm pixel sensor, MPCR structures confirms increased quantum efficiency (+20%), a luminance SNR improvement (+1.22 dB@5lux), a comparably low color error and great angular tolerant response.
• 20-2 3.2 Megapixel 3D-Stacked Charge Focusing SPAD for Low-Light Imaging and Depth Sensing (Late News),
  K. Morimoto, J. Iwata, M. Shinohara, H. Sekine, A. Abdelghafar, H. Tsuchiya, Y. Kuroda, K. Tojima, W. Endo, Y. Maehashi, Y. Ota, T. Sasago, S. Maekawa, S. Hikosaka, T. Kanou, A. Kato, T. Tezuka, S. Yoshizaki, T. Ogawa, K. Uehira, A. Ehara, F. Inui, Y. Matsuno, K. Sakurai, T. Ichikawa.
  Canon Inc.
  We present a new generation of scalable photon counting image sensors for low-light imaging and depthsensing, featuring read-noise-free operation. Newly proposed charge focusing SPAD is employed to a prototype 3.2 megapixel 3D backside-illuminated image sensor, demonstrating the best-in-class pixel performance with the largest array size in APD-based image sensors.
• 23-4 1.62µm Global Shutter Quantum Dot Image Sensor Optimized for Near and Shortwave Infrared,
  J. S. Steckel, E. Josse, A. G. Pattantyus-Abraham, M. Bidaud, B. Mortini, H. Bilgen, O. Arnaud, S. Allegret-Maret, F. Saguin, L. Mazet, S. Lhostis, T. Berger, K. Haxaire, L. L. Chapelon, L. Parmigiani, P. Gouraud, M. Brihoum, P. Bar, M. Guillermet, S. Favreau, R. Duru, J. Fantuz, S. Ricq, D. Ney, I. Hammad, D. Roy, A. Arnaud , B. Vianne, G. Nayak, N. Virollet, V. Farys, P. Malinge, A. Tournier, F. Lalanne, A. Crocherie, J. Galvier, S. Rabary, O. Noblanc, H. Wehbe-Alause , S. Acharya, A. Singh, J. Meitzner, D. Aher, H. Yang, J. Romero, B. Chen, C.Hsu, K. C. Cheng, Y. Chang, M. Sarmiento, C. Grange, E. Mazaleyrat, K. Rochereau,
  STMicroelectronics
  We have developed a 1.62µm pixel pitch global shutter sensor optimized for imaging in the NIR and SWIR. This breakthrough was made possible through the use of our colloidal quantum Dot thin film technology. We have scaled up this new platform technology to our 300mm manufacturing toolset.
• 30-2 Automotive 8.3 MP CMOS Image Sensor with 150 dB Dynamic Range and Light Flicker Mitigation (Invited),
  M. Innocent, S. Velichko, D. Lloyd, J. Beck, A. Hernandez, B. Vanhoff, C. Silsby, A. Oberoi, G. Singh, S. Gurindagunta, R. Mahadevappa, M. Suryadevara, M. Rahman, and V. Korobov,
  ON Semiconductor
  New 8.3 MP image sensor for automotive applications has 2.1 µm pixel with overflow and triple gain readout. In comparison to earlier 3 µm pixel, flicker free range increased to 110 dB and total range to 150dB. SNR in transitions stays above 25 dB up to 125°C.
• 30-3 A 2.9μm Pixel CMOS Image Sensor for Security Cameras with high FWC and 97 dB Single Exposure Dynamic Range,
  T. Uchida, K. Yamashita, A. Masagaki, T. Kawamura, C. Tokumitsu, S. Iwabuchi,. Onizawa, M. Ohura, H. Ansai, K. Izukashi, S. Yoshida, T. Tanikuni, S. Hiyama, H. Hirano, S. Miyazawa, Y. Tateshita,
  Sony
  We developed a new photodiode structure for CMOS image sensors with a pixel size of 2.9μm. It adds the following two structures: one forms a strong electric field P/N junction on the full-depth deep-trench isolation side wall, and the other is a dual-vertical-gate structure.
• 30-4 3D Sequential Process Integration for CMOS Image Sensor,
  K. Nakazawa, J. Yamamoto, S. Mori, S. Okamoto, A. Shimizu, K. Baba, N. Fujii, M. Uehara, K. Hiramatsu, H. Kumano, A. Matsumoto, K. Zaitsu, H. Ohnuma, K. Tatani, T. Hirano, and H. Iwamoto,
  Sony
  We developed a new structure of pixel transistors stacked over photodiode fabricated by 3D sequential process integration. With this technology, we successfully increased AMP size and demonstrated backsideilluminated CMOS image sensor of 6752 x 4928 pixels at 0.7um pitch to prove its functionality and integrity.
• 35-3 Computational Imaging with Vision Sensors embedding In-pixel Processing (Invited),
  J.N.P. Martel, G. Wetzstein,
  Stanford University
  Emerging vision sensors embedding in-pixel processing capabilities enable new ways to capture visual information. We review some of our work in designing new systems and algorithms using such vision sensors with applications in video-compressive imaging, high-dynamic range imaging, high-speed tracking, hyperspectral or light-field imaging.