CN115396613A - Image sensor and image acquisition device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to an image sensor and an image acquisition apparatus. The image sensor comprises a plurality of sensor sub-arrays, a plurality of color filter sub-arrays and a first cut-off filter layer, wherein the plurality of sensor sub-arrays are arranged to form a sensor array of the image sensor, the sensor array is provided with a light inlet surface, the sensor sub-arrays comprise a first sensor group, a second sensor group, a third sensor group and a fourth sensor group, the plurality of color filter sub-arrays are arranged on one side of the light inlet surface of the plurality of sensor sub-arrays in a one-to-one correspondence mode, and the first cut-off filter layer is arranged on one side of the light inlet surface of the fourth sensor to form a white pixel group of the image sensor. Above-mentioned image sensor is through setting up white pixel group, can see through the light of all wave bands to increase image sensor's the light inlet quantity, promote the SNR of night image.

Description

Image sensor and image acquisition device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of image processing technologies, and more particularly, to an image sensor and an image capturing apparatus.

Background

At present, the camera structure mainly contains camera lens, infrared cut-off filter and image sensor, and image sensor's sensor array can perception ambient brightness, and image sensor's color filter can perception ambient color. In the related art, a sensor array mostly includes only red pixels, green pixels and blue pixels, and only allows light in a certain wavelength range to pass through, so that the light input loss is large, the imaging performance of an image sensor under a dark light condition is poor, and the signal-to-noise ratio of an image of a camera is reduced at night under a weak light condition.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides an image sensor and an image acquisition device.

According to a first aspect of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides an image sensor, including a plurality of sensor sub-arrays, a plurality of color filter sub-arrays, and a first cut-off filter layer, the plurality of sensor sub-arrays being arranged to form a sensor array of the image sensor, the sensor array having an incident surface, the sensor sub-arrays including a first sensor group, a second sensor group, a third sensor group, and a fourth sensor group, the plurality of color filter sub-arrays being disposed on one side of the incident surface of the plurality of sensor sub-arrays in a one-to-one correspondence, the color filter sub-arrays including a red filter, a green filter, and a blue filter, the red filter being disposed on one side of the incident surface of the first sensor to form a red pixel group of the image sensor, the green filter being disposed on one side of the incident surface of the second sensor to form a green pixel group of the image sensor, the blue filter being disposed on one side of the incident surface of the third sensor to form a blue pixel group of the image sensor, the first cut-off filter layer being disposed on one side of the incident surface of the fourth sensor to form a white pixel group of the image sensor, the first cut-off filter layer being used to transmit visible light.

According to a second aspect of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides an image capturing apparatus, including a lens and the image sensor described above, where the lens is disposed on a light incident side of the image sensor.

The image sensor provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a plurality of sensor sub-arrays, a plurality of color filter sub-arrays and a first cut-off filter layer, wherein the plurality of sensor sub-arrays are arranged to form a sensor array of the image sensor, and each sensor sub-array comprises a first sensor group, a second sensor group, a third sensor group and a fourth sensor group which are arranged in a preset arrangement mode. The plurality of color filter sub-arrays are arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the sensor sub-arrays in a one-to-one correspondence manner and are used for filtering light rays into monochromatic light. The plurality of color filter sub-arrays may include red, green, and blue color filters. Specifically, the red color filter is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the first sensor group, so that the red color filter and the first sensor group jointly form a red pixel group; the green color filter is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the second sensor group, so that the green color filter and the second sensor group jointly form a green pixel group; the blue color filter is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the third sensor group, so that the blue color filter and the third sensor group jointly form a blue pixel group. The first cut-off filter layer is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the fourth sensor group, so that the first cut-off filter layer and the fourth sensor group jointly form a white pixel group, wherein the first cut-off filter layer is used for transmitting visible light, for example, used for cutting off light except the visible light and near infrared light.

Above-mentioned image sensor can see through the visible light of all wave bands through setting up white pixel group to increase image sensor's the light inlet quantity, promote the SNR of night image. Furthermore, a first cut-off filter layer is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the fourth sensor group and used for transmitting visible light, so that the light incident amount of each sensor subarray is increased, the light incident amount of the image sensor can be obviously improved under the condition of insufficient light, the brightness characteristic of an image is improved, and the accuracy of object identification is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of an image sensor provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 shows another schematic structural diagram of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing still another structure of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional structure of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic orthographic projection of a sub-array of pixels of the image sensor of fig. 2.

Fig. 9 shows another schematic orthographic view of a pixel sub-array of the image sensor of fig. 2.

Fig. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image sensor shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 12 is a functional block diagram of the image sensor of fig. 2.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions better understood by those skilled in the art, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It is to be understood that the embodiments described are only a few embodiments of the present application and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, certain terms are used to refer to particular components, and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a manufacturer of hardware may refer to a component by different names. The specification and claims do not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms "include" and "comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to,"; "substantially" means that a person skilled in the art can solve the technical problem within a certain error range and basically achieve the technical effect.

The image sensor and the image capturing apparatus proposed in the present application will be further described with reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 1, the present disclosure provides an image sensor 100 and an image capturing apparatus 200 equipped with the image sensor 100, wherein the image sensor 100 can be applied to the image capturing apparatus 200, and the image sensor 100 can improve the accuracy of object recognition, thereby improving the performance of the image capturing apparatus 200.

The image capturing device 200 includes a lens 210 and the image sensor 100, the lens 210 is disposed on the light incident side of the image sensor 100, and the lens 210 is used for collecting external ambient light, for example, the ambient light is reflected and focused by a prism of the lens 210 and then projected onto the image sensor 100, so as to form an image.

In some embodiments, the image capturing apparatus 200 may further include a holder body 230, and the holder body 230 is used for accommodating the lens 210 and the image sensor 100, so as to improve the stability of the image capturing apparatus 200.

In this application, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly unless otherwise specifically stated or limited. For example, the connection can be fixed, detachable or integrated; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or they may be connected through both elements, or they may be in surface contact with each other only. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as appropriate.

Referring to fig. 2, the image sensor 100 includes a plurality of sensor sub-arrays 10, a plurality of color filter sub-arrays 30, and a first cut-off filter layer 50, the plurality of sensor sub-arrays 10 are arranged to form a sensor array 101 of the image sensor 100, the sensor array 101 has an incident light surface, the incident light surface is a light-sensing side (i.e., a light-incident side) of the sensor array 101, and external ambient light is incident into sensors of the sensor array 101 from the light-incident side of the sensor array 101.

Referring to fig. 3, the sensor sub-array 10 includes a first sensor group 12, a second sensor group 14, a third sensor group 16, and a fourth sensor group 18 arranged in a predetermined arrangement pattern. A plurality of color filter sub-arrays 30 are disposed one-to-one on one side of the light incident surface of the sensor sub-array 10 for filtering light rays into monochromatic light. The color filter sub-array 30 may include red color filters 32, green color filters 34, and blue color filters 36. Specifically, the red color filter 32 is disposed on one side of the light incident surface of the first sensor group 12, so that the red color filter 32 and the first sensor group 12 together form a red pixel group 3201; the green color filter 34 is disposed on one side of the light incident surface of the second sensor group 14, so that the green color filter 34 and the second sensor group 14 together form a green pixel group 3401; the blue color filter 36 is disposed on one side of the entrance face of the third sensor group 16 such that the blue color filter 36 and the third sensor group 16 together form a blue pixel group 3601. The first cut-off filter layer 50 is disposed on one side of the light incident surface 181 of the fourth sensor group 18, so that the first cut-off filter layer 50 and the fourth sensor group 18 together form the white pixel group 3801, wherein the first cut-off filter layer 50 is used for transmitting visible light, for example, for cutting off light other than visible light and near infrared light. Further, the first cut-off filter layer 50 may be plural, and the plural first cut-off filter layers 50 and the fourth sensor groups 18 of the plural sensor sub-arrays 10 are provided in one-to-one correspondence.

By arranging the white pixel group 3801, the white pixel group 3801 can transmit light rays of all wave bands, so that the light incoming quantity of the image sensor 100 is increased, and the signal-to-noise ratio of an image at night is improved. Further, since the first cut-off filter layer 50 is provided on the light incident surface 181 side of the fourth sensor group 18 and the first cut-off filter layer 50 is configured to transmit visible light, the amount of light incident on each sensor sub-array 10 is increased, the amount of light incident on the image sensor 100 can be significantly increased in the case of insufficient light, the luminance characteristics of an image can be improved, and the accuracy of object recognition can be improved.

In the present application, the terms "first", "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present application, "plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

In the present embodiment, as for the red color filter 32, the green color filter 34, and the blue color filter 36, only light within a specific wavelength band is generally allowed to be transmitted. For example, the blue filter 36 may have a central wavelength band of about 440 nm to 475 nm and an upper cut-off wavelength band of about 550 nm, and the blue filter 36 may allow infrared light with a wavelength band greater than 800 nm to pass through; the wavelength range of the green filter 34 may be a central wavelength range of 520 nm to 550 nm, and the upper and lower cut-off wavelength ranges are about 620 nm and 460 nm, respectively, and the green filter 34 allows infrared light with a wavelength band greater than 700 nm to pass through; the red filter 32 may have a wavelength band range with a lower cut-off wavelength band of about 575 nm. Since blue light has a typical wavelength of 435 to 450 nm, green light has a typical wavelength of 492 to 577 nm, and red light has a typical wavelength of 622 to 760 nm, the blue color filter 36 may allow transmission of blue light and infrared light, the green color filter 34 may transmit green light and infrared light, and the red color filter 32 may transmit red light and infrared light.

Referring to fig. 4 to 6, fig. 5 and 6 schematically illustrate cross-sectional structure diagrams of the image sensor 100, which are only for illustrating the position relationship between the array structures, the cross-sectional structure is not completely cut along a certain plane, but may be cut along multiple planes to display elements between the pixel groups, and therefore, the position relationship between the elements shown in the figures should not limit the structure of the image sensor 100 provided in the embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, the color filter sub-array 30 may further include a white color filter 38, the white color filter 38 is disposed on the side of the light incident surface 181 of the fourth sensor group 18, the white color filter 38 covers the fourth sensor group 18, for example, the white color filter 38 may be disposed on the side of the first cut-off filter layer 50 facing away from the fourth sensor group 18. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the white color filter 38, the first cut filter layer 50, and the fourth sensor group 18 collectively form the white pixel group 3801. The white color filter 38 is used to transmit light of all wavelength bands. In other words, visible light including red light, blue light, and green light, and infrared light can pass through the white color filter 38, and the amount of light entering the image sensor 100 can be increased, thereby improving the image signal-to-noise ratio.

In other embodiments, referring to fig. 7, in order to simplify the structure of the image sensor 100, the color filter sub-array 30 may not include the white color filter 38, that is, no color filter is disposed on a side of the light incident surface 181 of the fourth sensor group 18, for example, the first cut-off filter layer 50 is disposed on a side away from the fourth sensor group 18 and forms a cavity 380 at a position corresponding to the blue color filter 36, the position of the cavity 380 and the position of the blue color filter 36 are in the same plane, and no component for blocking light propagation may be disposed in the cavity 380 (for example, the cavity 380 is in an empty state), and when ambient light from the outside propagates to the fourth sensor group 18 through the cavity 380, the ambient light is not blocked, so that the light incident amount of the image sensor 100 in this embodiment is relatively large. The first cut-off filter layer 50 may be formed on a side of the white color filter 38 facing the first sensor set 18 through a plating process.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 shows a schematic front projection view of a pixel sub-array provided in an embodiment of the present application, in which a red pixel group 3201, a green pixel group 3401, a blue pixel group 3601, and a white pixel group 3801 together form a pixel sub-array of the image sensor 100, and a plurality of pixel sub-arrays are arranged to form a pixel array of the highlight sensor 100.

Red pixel group 3201 may include one or more red pixels 123, each red pixel 123 including a red color filter and a first sensor. Since the red color filter 32 can transmit red light and infrared light, only red light and infrared light can reach the first sensor group 12 in the red pixel group 3201. The green pixel group 3401 may include one or more green pixels 143, each green pixel 143 including one green color filter and one second sensor. Since the green color filter 34 can transmit green light and infrared light, only the green light and the infrared light can reach the second sensor group 14 in the green pixel group 3401. The blue pixel group 3601 may include one or more blue pixels 163. Each blue pixel 163 includes one blue color filter and one third sensor. Since the blue color filter 36 can transmit blue light and infrared light, only blue light and infrared light can reach the third sensor group 16 in the blue pixel group 3601. The white pixel group 3801 may include one or more white pixels 183, each of the white pixels 183 including one white color filter and one fourth sensor, or including one first cut filter and one fourth sensor. Since the white color filter 38 can transmit red light, blue light, green light, and infrared light, the fourth sensor group 18 in the white pixel group 3801 can receive light of a wider spectrum than the first sensor group 12, the second sensor group 14, and the third sensor group 16, and the number of photons received by the fourth sensor group 18 is greater than the number of photons received by the first sensor group 12, the second sensor group 14, and the third sensor group 16 under the same illumination condition, so that the light incoming amount of the image sensor 100 is increased, and the light sensing sensitivity of the image sensor is improved.

In the present embodiment, the red pixel group 3201 and the green pixel group 3401 are arranged in parallel along a first direction X, the blue pixel group 3601 and the white pixel 3801 are arranged in parallel along the first direction X, and the red pixel group 3201 and the blue pixel group 3601 are arranged in parallel along a second direction Y, wherein the second direction Y is perpendicular to the first direction X. It should be understood that in other embodiments, the red pixel group 3201, the green pixel group 3401, the blue pixel group 3601, and the white pixel group 3801 may be arranged in other orders, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the area of white pixel group 3801 is larger than at least one of the area of red pixel group 3201, the area of green pixel group 3401, and the area of blue pixel group 3601 in order to increase the amount of light entering image sensor 100, thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the image in a dark light condition. In the embodiment of the present application, the area of the white pixel group 3801 is the largest among the area of the red pixel group 3201, the area of the green pixel group 3401, the area of the blue pixel group 3601, and the area of the white pixel group 3801. For example, in an eight-square-micron pixel structure, the area of the red pixel group 3201, the area of the green pixel group 3401, and the area of the blue pixel group 3601 are all one square micron, and the area of the white pixel group 3801 is five square microns. It should be understood that "area of pixel group" in the present specification refers to a projected area of a light sensing portion of the pixel group along an incoming light direction, for example, the red pixel group 3201 may include the red color filter 32 and the first sensor group 12 which are stacked, the red color filter 32 is a light incident surface side of the red pixel group 3201, and the area of the red pixel group 3201 may be equal to the surface area of the red color filter 32 in the pixel group; by analogy, the area of a green pixel group 3401 may be equivalent to the surface area of a green filter 34 in that pixel group, the area of a blue pixel group 3601 may be equivalent to the surface area of a blue filter 36 in that pixel group, and the area of a white pixel group 3801 may be equivalent to the surface area of a white filter 38 in that pixel group. Of course, if the white pixel group 3801 does not include the white color filter 38, the area of the color pixel group 3801 may be equal to the area of the first cut-off filter layer 50 in the pixel group, and so on.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 8, red pixel group 3201 includes one red pixel 123, green pixel group 3401 includes one green pixel 143, blue pixel group 3601 includes one blue pixel 163, and white pixel group 3801 includes one white pixel 183. Further, the aspect ratio of the red pixel 123 is approximately 2:1, the aspect ratio of the green pixel 143 is approximately 2:1, the aspect ratio of the blue pixel 163 is approximately 1.5:1, the aspect ratio of the white pixel 183 is approximately 1:1 to 2: 1.

It should be understood that in other embodiments, red pixel group 3201 may include a plurality of red pixels 123, green pixel group 3401 may include a plurality of green pixels 143, blue pixel group 3601 may include a plurality of blue pixels 163, and white pixel group 3801 may include a plurality of white pixels 183, as shown in fig. 9.

Referring to fig. 10, in the present embodiment, the sensors in the sensor sub-array 10 include photoelectric conversion devices 103, and the photoelectric conversion devices 103 are used for converting optical signals into electrical signals such as voltage signals or converting optical signals into electric charges. In the embodiment of the present application, the photoelectric conversion device 103 may be a photodiode. The image sensor 100 further includes a silicon substrate 60, and the photoelectric conversion device 103 is disposed on the silicon substrate 60, and the photoelectric conversion device 103 generates transition of electrons in the silicon substrate 60 by photon excitation to form photoelectric conversion, that is, photons in light transmit energy to electrons in the silicon substrate 60 to generate an electrical signal.

In the present embodiment, the sensors in the sensor sub-array 10 further include a metal layer 105, the metal layer 105 is disposed between the color filter sub-array 30 and the photoelectric conversion devices 103, and the metal layer 105 is used for transmitting electrical signals, and specifically, the metal layer 105 can control current through the switches of the transistors in the image sensor 100 and can also transmit electrical signals formed by photoelectric conversion, so as to finally form an electronic image.

In the embodiment, the absorption wavelength range of the first cut-off filter layer 50 is 400 nm to 1500 nm for cutting off light other than visible light and near infrared light, so that red light, blue light, green light and near infrared light can reach the fourth sensor group 18, the light inlet amount can be greatly increased under the condition of insufficient light, and the image signal-to-noise ratio can be further improved. In the embodiment of the present application, the cutoff frequency of the first cut-off filter layer 50 is 950 nm, which can increase the amount of light entering, thereby increasing the image signal-to-noise ratio.

In the present embodiment, the image sensor 100 further includes a second cut-off filter layer 70, the second cut-off filter layer 70 is disposed on the side of the light incident surface of the first sensor group 12, the second sensor group 14, and the third sensor group 16, and the second cut-off filter layer 70 and the first cut-off filter layer 50 are disposed in a coplanar manner, for example, the second cut-off filter layer 70 may be formed on the side of the red color filter 32, the green color filter 34, and the blue color filter 36 facing the sensor groups by a plating process. In the embodiment of the present application, the number of the second cut-off filter layers 70 may be plural, the plural second cut-off filter layers 70 correspond to the plural sensor sub-arrays 10 one to one, for example, the plural second cut-off filter layers 70 may be respectively provided between the first sensor group 12 and the red color filter 32, between the second sensor group 14 and the green color filter 34, and between the third sensor group 16 and the blue color filter 36. Further, the second cut-off filter layer 70 is an infrared cut-off filter layer, and the absorption wavelength of the second cut-off filter layer 70 is in a range of 400 nm to 3000 nm for cutting off light other than visible light. Since the photoelectric conversion devices 103 in the pixels are sensitive to infrared light, the infrared light reaching the first sensor group 12, the second sensor group 14, and the third sensor group 16 can be removed by providing the second cut-off filter layer 70, and therefore, only red light can reach the first sensor group 12, only green light can reach the second sensor group 14, and only blue light can reach the third sensor group 16, and accurate color characteristics can be provided in the case of sufficient light, and further, each pixel group can sense light independently, so that the color of the sensing result of each pixel group is more accurate. In the embodiment of the present application, the cut-off frequency of the second cut-off filter layer 70 is 650 nm, which can provide accurate color and brightness characteristics under the condition of sufficient light, and ensure the accuracy of color restoration.

Referring to fig. 11, in some embodiments, the image sensor 100 may further include a microlens array 80, and the microlens array 80 is disposed on a side of the color filter sub-array 30 facing away from the sensor sub-array 10 for converging light. Specifically, the microlens array 80 may be formed by arranging a plurality of microlenses in an array, each microlens is disposed corresponding to one pixel group in a one-to-one manner, a side of the microlens close to the color filter sub-array 30 is substantially a plane, and a side of the microlens far from the color filter sub-array 30 is substantially a convex surface, so as to condense light on the photoelectric converter 103 of the sensor sub-array 10, increase photoelectric conversion efficiency, and reduce crosstalk of optical signals between adjacent pixels.

Referring to fig. 12, in the present embodiment, the image sensor 100 may further include a charge readout module 90, the charge readout module 90 is electrically connected to the sensor array 101, and the charge readout module 90 can read out charges accumulated by the photoelectric conversion device 103 and generate original pixel data according to the read out charges. Further, the charge readout module 90 may include sub-modules such as a row driver 92, a column driver 94, a control circuit 96, an analog-to-digital converter 98, and the like.

Specifically, the row driver 92 and the column driver 94 are electrically connected to two ends of the sensor array 101, respectively, the row driver 92 can drive the row pixels in the sensor array 101 in a row unit, and the column driver 323 can select the column pixels in the sensor array 101 in a column unit. The control circuit 96 includes a timing generator or the like (not shown in the figure) that generates various timing signals, and drives and controls the row driver 92 and the column driver 94 in accordance with the various timing signals generated by the timing generator, the sensor array 11 is driven to expose under the control of the row driver 92 and the column driver 94 by the control circuit 96, and the digital-to-analog converter 98 converts an analog electric signal into a digital signal.

Further, the image sensor 100 may further include an image processor 20 and an interface 40, the digital-to-analog converter 98 inputs the converted digital signal as raw pixel data to the image processor 20 for processing, and the image processor 20 processes the input raw pixel data and exchanges information with an external circuit through the interface 40.

The image sensor provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a plurality of sensor sub-arrays, a plurality of color filter sub-arrays and a first cut-off filter layer, wherein the plurality of sensor sub-arrays are arranged to form a sensor array of the image sensor, and each sensor sub-array comprises a first sensor group, a second sensor group, a third sensor group and a fourth sensor group which are arranged in a preset arrangement mode. The plurality of color filter sub-arrays are arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the sensor sub-arrays in a one-to-one correspondence manner and are used for filtering light rays into monochromatic light. The plurality of color filter sub-arrays may include red, green, and blue color filters. Specifically, the red color filter is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the first sensor group, so that the red color filter and the first sensor group jointly form a red pixel group; the green color filter is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the second sensor group, so that the green color filter and the second sensor group jointly form a green pixel group; the blue color filter is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the third sensor group, so that the blue color filter and the third sensor group jointly form a blue pixel group. The first cut-off filter layer is disposed on one side of the light incident surface of the fourth sensor group, so that the first cut-off filter layer and the fourth sensor group together form a white pixel group, wherein the first cut-off filter layer is used for transmitting visible light, for example, for cutting off light except for visible light and near infrared light.

Above-mentioned image sensor is through setting up white pixel group, can see through the visible light of all wave bands to increase image sensor's the light inlet quantity, promote the SNR of night image. Furthermore, a first cut-off filter layer is arranged on one side of the light inlet face of the fourth sensor group and used for transmitting visible light, so that the light inlet quantity of each sensor subarray is increased, the light inlet quantity of the image sensor can be remarkably improved under the condition of insufficient light, the brightness characteristic of an image is improved, and the accuracy of object identification is improved.

In the description of the present specification, reference to the description of "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples" or the like means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Moreover, various embodiments or examples and features of various embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without being mutually inconsistent.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; such modifications and substitutions do not necessarily depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims (11)

1. An image sensor, comprising:

the image sensor comprises a plurality of sensor sub-arrays, a plurality of image sensors and a plurality of image sensors, wherein the sensor sub-arrays are arranged to form a sensor array of the image sensor, and the sensor array is provided with a light inlet surface; the sensor subarray comprises a first sensor group, a second sensor group, a third sensor group and a fourth sensor group;

a plurality of color filter sub-arrays which are arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the plurality of sensor sub-arrays in a one-to-one correspondence manner; the color filter sub-array includes a red color filter disposed at one side of the light incident surface of the first sensor group to form a red pixel group of the image sensor, a green color filter disposed at one side of the light incident surface of the second sensor group to form a green pixel group of the image sensor, and a blue color filter disposed at one side of the light incident surface of the third sensor group to form a blue pixel group of the image sensor; and

and the first cut-off filter layer is arranged on one side of the light incident surface of the fourth sensor group to form a white pixel group of the image sensor, and the first cut-off filter layer is used for transmitting visible light.

2. The image sensor as in claim 1, wherein the first cut-off filter layer has an absorption wavelength in a range of 400 nm to 1500 nm for cutting off light other than visible light and near-infrared light.

3. The image sensor of claim 1, further comprising a second cut-off filter layer disposed on a side of the light incident surfaces of the first, second, and third sensor groups.

4. The image sensor according to claim 3, wherein the second cut filter is an infrared cut filter for cutting off light other than visible light.

5. The image sensor of claim 1, further comprising a microlens array disposed on a side of the color filter sub-array facing away from the sensor sub-array.

6. The image sensor of claim 1, wherein an area of the white pixel group is larger than at least one of an area of the red pixel group, an area of the green pixel group, and an area of the blue pixel group.

7. The image sensor of claim 6, wherein the red pixel group and the green pixel group are juxtaposed in a first direction, the blue pixel group and the white pixel group are juxtaposed in the first direction, and the red pixel group and the blue pixel group are juxtaposed in a second direction, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction.

8. The image sensor of claim 6, wherein an area of the white pixel group is largest among an area of the white pixel group, an area of the red pixel group, an area of the green pixel group, and an area of the blue pixel group.

9. The image sensor of any of claims 1-8, wherein the color filter sub-array further comprises a white color filter disposed on one side of the light-in face of the fourth sensor group, the white color filter overlying the fourth sensor group; or

And one side of the light incident surface of the fourth sensor group is not provided with a color filter.

10. The image sensor of any of claims 1-8, wherein the image sensor further comprises a charge readout module, the sensors in the sensor sub-array comprising photoelectric conversion devices; the photoelectric conversion device is used for converting light rays into electric charges; the charge readout module is electrically connected with the photoelectric conversion device and used for reading out charges accumulated by the photoelectric conversion device and generating original pixel data according to the read-out charges.

11. An image acquisition apparatus, characterized by comprising:

a lens; and

the image sensor of any of claims 1-10, the lens disposed at a light entrance side of the image sensor.

Images