KR20100045204A - Image sensor and operating method for image sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An image sensor and an operating method for an image sensor are provided to enable one pixel to receive a visible ray having plural wavelengths with an infrared ray by using plural bonded areas having a laminated photodiode structure. CONSTITUTION: A light absorbing unit(120) includes a bonded area, and the bonded area absorbs a visible ray having different wavelengths. The bonded area is formed at a different depth from a surface by the boding of a first conductive semiconductor with a second semiconductor. The bonded is able to absorb a non-visible ray, and detectors(111,112,113) detects a color value from the absorption of the visible ray.

Description

Image sensor and its operation method {IMAGE SENSOR AND OPERATING METHOD FOR IMAGE SENSOR}

One embodiment according to the present invention relates to an image sensor and a method of operating the image sensor.

Recently, portable devices (eg, digital cameras, mobile communication terminals, etc.) having an image sensor have been developed and sold. In order to acquire a 3D image using the image sensor, it is necessary to obtain not only the color but also information on the distance between the object and the image sensor. In general, a reconstructed image of a distance between an object and an image sensor is sometimes represented as a depth image in the corresponding field. In general, the depth image may be obtained using infrared light outside the visible light region.

Conventionally, an image sensor using a Bayer pattern has been used to obtain color and distance information in order to acquire a 3D image. The image sensor using the Bayer pattern has a color filter in which each pixel that receives light in the red, green, and blue regions of visible light and a pixel that receives light in the infrared region are arranged in a rectangle. In the image sensor using the Bayer pattern, the size of the pixel that receives the light in the infrared region is larger than other pixels, so that a space is generated between the pixels, and an additional pixel that receives the light in the green region may be required.

An image sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention detects a color value from the absorption of the visible light and a light absorbing portion consisting of junction regions absorbing visible light of different wavelengths, and detects a distance value from the absorption of the invisible light. Wherein each of the junction regions is formed at different depths from a surface by a junction of a first conductivity type semiconductor and a second conductivity type semiconductor, and one of the junction regions further absorbs invisible light can do.

The first conductivity type semiconductor according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a P type semiconductor, and the second conductivity type semiconductor may be an N type semiconductor.

In addition, the light absorbing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed at the first depth by the junction of the first conductive semiconductor substrate and the deep second conductive semiconductor to absorb the first wavelength visible light and invisible light A junction region, a second junction region formed at a second depth by a junction of the deep second conductivity type semiconductor and the first conductivity type semiconductor well to absorb a second wavelength visible light, the first conductivity type semiconductor well and a shallow agent It may include a third junction region formed at the third depth by the junction of the two conductivity type semiconductor to absorb the third wavelength visible light.

In addition, the detector according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first detector for selectively controlling the detection of the first wavelength color value from the absorption of the first wavelength visible light and the detection of the distance value from the absorption of the invisible light, the second And a second detector configured to detect the second wavelength color value from the absorption of the wavelength visible light, and a third detector configured to detect the third wavelength color value from the absorption of the third wavelength visible light.

In addition, the first detector according to an embodiment of the present invention may selectively control the detection of the first wavelength color value and the detection of the distance value by using a switch.

The first detector may detect a distance value from absorption of the invisible light using the first wavelength color value detected from absorption of the first wavelength visible light.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first wavelength visible light may be red visible light, the second wavelength visible light may be green visible light, and the third wavelength visible light may be blue visible light.

In addition, the image sensor operating method according to an embodiment of the present invention absorbs visible light of different wavelengths into each of the junction regions formed at different depths from the surface by the bonding of the first conductive semiconductor and the second conductive semiconductor. -One of the junction regions further absorbs invisible light-detecting a color value from absorption of the visible light and detecting a distance value from absorption of the invisible light.

Embodiments of the present invention can provide an image sensor and an operating method thereof capable of receiving a plurality of wavelengths of visible light and infrared light in one pixel by using a plurality of junction regions formed of a stacked photodiode structure.

One embodiment of the present invention provides an image sensor and a method of operating the same, by using a photodiode for visible light and a photodiode for infrared light, which can more efficiently obtain color values and distance values without additional resolution and degradation of resolution. can do.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an image sensor capable of obtaining a high quality image without a color filter by using visible light and infrared light having different wavelengths absorbed through each of the junction regions formed at different depths from the sensor surface. It is possible to provide a method of operation thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout.

1 is a view showing an overview of the operation of the image sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image sensor 100 obtains distance information together with color values for 2D image information of an object in order to obtain a 3D image image. One example of a method for detecting distance information between an object and an image sensor is a time of flight (TOF) method. The TOF method is a method of measuring the time taken for the light from the light source to return from the object and detecting the distance information between the object and the image sensor 100 from the measured time. As shown in FIG. 1, the light emitted from the light source may be modulated into an appropriate shape according to a method of extracting a distance from the light incident on the image sensor 100. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the light source may include a lens for spreading the light so that the light from the light source shines on the entire object at the same time. Distance information may be detected by applying Equation 1 from the time when the light emitted from the light source is reflected by the object and returns.

In this case, d is distance information, V _c is the speed of light, and t _travel is the time taken for the light from the light source to be reflected from the object and returned to the image sensor.

In addition, the light used for distance measurement is mainly invisible light rather than visible light, which is to prevent the quality of the visible light absorbed by the image sensor 100 to obtain image information from being degraded by the light emitted from the light source. For sake. In this case, one example of the invisible light may be infrared light.

As such, the image sensor 100 should be able to obtain distance information together with image information in order to obtain a 3D image. Accordingly, the image sensor 100 includes a photodiode for visible light for sensing image information and a photodiode for invisible light for obtaining distance information.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an image sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image sensor 100 includes a detector 110 and a light absorber 120.

The light absorbing part 120 is formed of junction regions that absorb visible light having different wavelengths. In this case, each of the junction regions is formed at different depths from the surface of the light absorbing portion by the bonding of the at least one first conductivity type semiconductor and the at least one second conductivity type semiconductor. In addition, any one of the junction regions may further absorb invisible light along with absorption of visible light. Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first conductivity type semiconductor may be a P-type semiconductor, and the second conductivity type semiconductor may be an N-type semiconductor.

For example, the light absorbing unit 120 is formed by joining one P-type semiconductor and two N-type semiconductors, that is, N-type, P-type, and N-type semiconductors, which are formed at two different depths from the surface. It can comprise three junction regions. In addition, the light absorbing unit 120 is formed by joining two P-type semiconductors and two N-type semiconductors, that is, N-type, P-type, N-type, and P-type semiconductors, and formed at three different depths from the surface. Three junction regions may be included. In addition, each of these junction regions can act as a photodiode that absorbs visible light of different wavelengths, and any one of these junction regions can act as a photodiode that further absorbs invisible light.

3 is a view illustrating an image sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 3 looks at in more detail the light absorbing unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the light absorbing part 120 is formed at the first depth 124 by the bonding of the first conductive semiconductor substrate and the deep second conductive semiconductor to provide the first wavelength visible light and the invisible light. A first junction region to absorb, a second junction region formed at a second depth 123 by a junction of the deep second conductivity type semiconductor and the first conductivity type semiconductor well to absorb a second wavelength visible light, and the first junction region It may be formed as a third junction region formed at the third depth 122 by the junction of the conductive semiconductor well and the shallow second conductive semiconductor to absorb the third wavelength visible light.

At this time, P-sub shown in Figure 3 is a P-type semiconductor is included in one example of the first conductivity type semiconductor substrate, Deep N-well is an N-type semiconductor is included in one example of the deep second conductivity type semiconductor , PP-well is a P-type semiconductor is included in one example of the first conductivity type semiconductor well, N ⁺ is an N-type semiconductor may be included in one example of the shallow second conductivity type semiconductor. In addition, the stacked structure formed of the P-type semiconductor substrate and the N-type, P-type and N-type semiconductors as shown in FIG. 3 may be represented by a triple well structure.

In addition, the first junction region, the second junction region, and the third junction region may each operate as a photodiode that absorbs visible light of different wavelengths, and the junction regions may be formed by junctions of different conductive semiconductors. It may mean a depletion region.

, 제2 깊이(123)는 0.6

, 제3 깊이(122)는 0.2

일 수 있다. Referring to FIG. 3, the first junction region is formed at the first depth 124 by the junction of the first conductive semiconductor substrate and the deep second conductive semiconductor to absorb the first wavelength visible light. A photodiode operated with photodiode D ₁ , wherein the second junction region is formed at a second depth 123 by a junction of a deep second conductivity type semiconductor and a first conductivity type semiconductor well to absorb a second wavelength visible light. A photodiode D, operated at D ₂ , wherein the third junction region is formed at a third depth 122 by the junction of the first conductivity type semiconductor well and the shallow second conductivity type semiconductor to absorb third wavelength visible light. _{Can work as 3} . At this time, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first wavelength visible light may be red visible light, the second wavelength visible light may be green visible light, and the third wavelength visible light may be blue visible light. That is, the light absorbing unit 120 absorbs different visible light for each bonding region by using the property that visible light having a longer wavelength reaches the junction region of a deeper region from the surface even without a separate color filter. can do. Thus, the red visible light is visible light of a longer wavelength than the green visible light and blue visible light, and the green visible light is longer than the blue visible light. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the first depth 124 is 2

, The second depth 123 is 0.6

, The third depth 122 is 0.2

Can be.

의 근적외선일 수 있다. 또한, 상기 적외선은 거리를 측정하기 위해 광원에서 펄스 혹인 사인곡선의 형태로 모듈레이션된 것일 수 있다. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first junction region may further absorb invisible light. In this case, one example of the invisible light may be infrared rays, and the invisible light may be reflected light reflected by light irradiated by a light source. That is, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, the light absorbing unit 120 may absorb reflected light of infrared rays emitted from the light source through the first bonding region. Specifically, the first junction region is used for receiving red visible light, but the infrared light receives more infrared rays in addition to the red visible light due to the property that the longer the wavelength of light reaches the deeper region of silicon constituting the semiconductor. In this case, one example of the infrared is a maximum limit of 1.1 that silicon can accept

May be near infrared. In addition, the infrared light may be modulated in the form of a pulse or sinusoid in a light source to measure a distance.

The detector 110 detects a color value from the absorption of the visible light and detects a distance value from the absorption of the invisible light. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the detector 110 includes a first detector 111, a second detector 112, and a third detector 113.

The first detector 111 selectively controls the detection of the first wavelength color value from the absorption of the first wavelength visible light and the detection of the distance value from the absorption of the invisible light, thereby detecting the first wavelength color value and the distance value. do. At this time, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first detector 111 may selectively control the detection of the first wavelength color value and the detection of the distance value by using a switch. That is, the first detector 111 may selectively detect the first wavelength color value from the absorption of the first wavelength visible light and the distance value from the absorption of the invisible light using a switch. In addition, as described above, the first wavelength visible light may be red visible light, and the invisible light may be infrared light.

An operation example of the first detector 111 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3. In order to selectively detect a red color value and a distance value by using a transistor switch, the first detector 111 is configured to absorb red visible light. The readout circuit for detecting a red color value correspondingly output and the readout circuit for detecting a distance value output in response to absorption of infrared rays may be separately included. As shown in FIG. 3, examples of the readout circuit for detecting the red color value and the readout circuit for detecting the distance value may be a red image sensing circuit and an infrared ray (IR) image sensing circuit, respectively. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first detector 111 may include a reset transistor, a source follower (SF) transistor, a SW1 transistor, a SW2 transistor, and a bias circuit. At this time, the supply voltage V _DD is connected to the reset terminal and the drain terminal of the SF transistor, and the reset transistor is a transistor for periodically resetting the photodiode D ₁ formed by the junction of the deep N-well and the P-sub. As a result, a pulse type voltage is applied to the gate terminal of the reset transistor to adjust the time for integrating light. In addition, the SF transistor may serve as a source follower to convert the charge generated in the photodiode D ₁ into a voltage form and transfer it to the readout circuit.

In addition, the SW1 transistor acts as a switch and is turned on when receiving red visible light, and the voltage output from the source terminal of the SF transistor due to the charge generated at the photodiode D ₁ by the absorption of the red visible light is applied to the red image. It can be transferred to the sensing circuit. In addition, the SW2 transistor may transfer a voltage output from the source terminal of the SF transistor to the IR image sensing circuit due to the charge generated in the photodiode D ₁ by absorption of infrared rays. In addition, the readout circuit red image sensing circuit detects the red color value using the voltage determined due to the charge generated in the photodiode D ₁ , and the IR image sensing circuit detects the voltage determined due to the charge generated in the photodiode D ₁ . Distance value can be detected.

In addition, the first detector 111 may detect a red color value from the absorption of the red visible light during the first time interval, and detect a distance value from the absorption of the infrared ray during the second time interval.

4 is a timing diagram for selective control of detection of a color value and detection of a distance value according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An operation example of the first detection unit 111 for sequentially detecting the red color value and the distance value during the first time period and the second time period will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4. The first detector 111 resets the photodiode D ₁ to a predetermined voltage level by applying a constant pulse to the gate terminal of the reset transistor while the infrared light source is turned off. In this case, when the reset transistor is an NMOS transistor, the predetermined voltage level may be V _DD -V _th , and when the reset transistor is a PMOS transistor, the predetermined voltage level may be V _DD .

Next, when the first detection unit 111 turns on the SW1 transistor during the first time interval 402, the cathode voltage of the photodiode D ₁ due to the charge generated by the red visible light while the reset transistor is turned off. Is lowered from the reset voltage level, and the voltage of the source terminal of the SF transistor output due to the cathode voltage determines the output voltage of the SW1 transistor, and this output voltage can be transferred to the red image sensing circuit. In addition, the red image sensing circuit may determine the red color value using the output voltage.

In addition, during the time interval 403, the first detector 111 applies a constant pulse to the gate terminal of the reset transistor to reset the photodiode D ₁ to the predetermined voltage level and then turns off. Finally, when the first detection unit 111 turns on the SW2 transistor and simultaneously turns on the light source to irradiate the modulated infrared light with a pulse or sinusoidal state during the second time interval (404), the infrared light from the light source is emitted from the light source and the object. After a certain time delay depending on the distance to the photodiode D ₁ is absorbed. In addition, due to the charge generated by the absorption of infrared rays, the cathode voltage of the photodiode D ₁ is lowered from the reset voltage level, and the voltage of the SF transistor source terminal outputted by the cathode voltage causes the output voltage of the SW2 transistor to be reduced. This output voltage can then be passed to an IR image sensing circuit. In addition, the IR image sensing circuit may determine the distance value using the output voltage. This distance value can also be used to calculate distance information between the object and the light source.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the infrared rays may be continuously irradiated while the SW2 transistor is turned on, or may be irradiated and turned off for a predetermined time, and may be modulated in the form of a sine curve or a pulse train sequentially coming out. Can be. That is, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the infrared rays may be determined in various forms. In addition, the first detection unit 111 may operate differently according to various embodiments of the present invention, such as changing the order of detecting the red color value and the distance value, or reading the red color value once while reading the distance value several times. Can be.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first detector 111 may detect a distance value from the absorption of the infrared light by using the red color value detected from the absorption of the red visible light. For example, red visible light can still be absorbed while infrared is absorbed into the photodiode D ₁ , so the output of the IR image sensing circuit when the light source is turned on and SW2 is turned on responds to the absorption of infrared and red visible light. It may contain all of them. Therefore, the first detector 111 may determine the distance value from the output of the IR image sensing circuit by subtracting the output of the red visible light when the light source is turned off and the SW2 is turned on. As such, the first detector 111 may reflect the red color value in the detection of the distance value.

In addition, the operating method of the first detection unit 111 has been described so far with the focus on detecting the red color value and the distance value by using the charge generated by the photodiode D ₁ . Accordingly, the first detector 111 may detect the red color value and the distance value by using the current generated by the photodiode D ₁ .

In addition, an embodiment of the first detection unit 111 described with reference to FIG. 3 is merely selected for convenience of description. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the above contents described through FIG. That is, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the first detector 111 may selectively detect the first wavelength color value and the distance value by using the first wavelength visible light and the invisible light absorbed by any one of the junction regions. It can be implemented in various forms of circuits.

The second detector 112 detects the second wavelength color value from the absorption of the second wavelength visible light. In this case, as described above, the second wavelength visible light may be green visible light.

Referring to FIG. 3, an operation example of the second detector 112 will be described in more detail. The second detector 112 may include a green image sensing circuit as a reset transistor, an SF transistor, and a readout circuit. At this time, the supply voltage V _DD is connected to the drain terminal of the SF transistor, the specific voltage V _SS is connected to the drain terminal of the Reset transistor, and the reset transistor is a photodiode D ₂ formed by the junction of the PP-well and the Deep N-well. As a transistor for periodically resetting the voltage, a pulse type voltage is applied to the gate terminal of the reset transistor to adjust the time for integrating light. In addition, the SF transistor may serve as a source follower to convert the charge generated in the photodiode D ₂ into a voltage to transfer it to a green image sensing circuit. In addition, the green image sensing circuit may detect the green color value using the voltage determined by the charge generated in the photodiode D ₂ .

In addition, an embodiment of the second detector 112 described with reference to FIG. 3 is merely selected for convenience of description. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the above contents described through FIG. That is, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the second detector 112 may be implemented as various types of circuits capable of detecting the second wavelength color value by using the second wavelength visible light absorbed into any one of the junction regions. have.

The third detector 113 detects the third wavelength color value from the absorption of the third wavelength visible light. In this case, as described above, the third wavelength visible light may be blue visible light.

Referring to FIG. 3, an operation example of the third detector 113 will be described in more detail. The third detector 113 may include a blue image sensing circuit as a reset transistor, an SF transistor, and a readout circuit. At this time, the supply voltage V _DD is connected to the drain terminals of the SF transistor and the reset transistor, and the reset transistor is a transistor for periodically resetting the photodiode D ₃ formed by the junction of N ⁺ and PP-well, and the gate terminal of the reset transistor. The voltage in the form of a pulse is applied to adjust the time to integrate the light. In addition, the SF transistor may serve as a source follower to convert the charge generated in the photodiode D ₃ into a voltage to transfer it to a blue image sensing circuit. In addition, the blue image sensing circuit may detect the blue color value using the voltage determined due to the charge generated in the photodiode D ₃ .

In addition, an embodiment of the third detection unit 113 described with reference to FIG. 3 is merely selected for convenience of description. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the above contents described through FIG. That is, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the third detector 113 may be implemented as various types of circuits capable of detecting the third wavelength color value by using the third wavelength visible light absorbed into any one of the junction regions. have.

In addition, the detector 110 may detect two-dimensional image information by using the first wavelength color value, the second wavelength color value, and the third wavelength color value, and detect the distance information by using the distance value. In addition, the detector 110 transmits the image information and the distance information to an image device including at least one image sensor, and the image device is three-dimensional through the image information and the distance information received from the at least one image sensor. An image may be generated. In this case, the image device may include a plurality of pixels forming an array, and each of the plurality of pixels may be an image sensor. For example, the image device may have a resolution of 320 × 240 when 240 pixels form one row and 320 pixels form one column. In addition, the image device may access each of the plurality of pixels by a combination of row address and column address.

However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the detector 110 extracts the first wavelength color value, the second wavelength color value, the third wavelength color value, and the distance value to include an image including at least one image sensor. And transmit to a device, and generate a 3D image image through the first wavelength color value, the second wavelength color value, the third wavelength color value, and the distance value. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the detection unit 110 detects the image information and distance information, generates three-dimensional image information using the image information and the distance information, and the three-dimensional image information The image device may transmit to the image device, and the image device may generate a 3D image image through the plurality of 3D image information received from the plurality of image sensors.

5 is an operation flowchart illustrating a method of operating an image sensor according to an exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the image sensor operating method may be performed in steps S501 to S503. In addition, such an image sensor operating method may be performed by the image sensor 100.

In operation S501, the image sensor 100 absorbs visible light having a different wavelength into each of the junction regions formed at different depths from the surface by bonding the first conductive semiconductor and the second conductive semiconductor. In this case, any one of the junction regions may further absorb invisible light. Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first conductivity type semiconductor may be a P-type semiconductor, and the second conductivity type semiconductor may be an N-type semiconductor.

Specifically, in step S501, the image sensor 100 uses the first junction region formed at the first depth by the junction of the first conductivity-type semiconductor substrate and the deep second conductivity-type semiconductor to display the first wavelength visible light and the ratio. Absorbs visible light and absorbs second wavelength visible light using a second junction region formed at a second depth by the junction of the deep second conductivity type semiconductor and the first conductivity type semiconductor well, and the first conductivity type The third wavelength visible light can be absorbed by using the third junction region formed at the third depth by the junction of the semiconductor well and the shallow second conductivity type semiconductor.

Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the first wavelength visible light is red visible light, the second wavelength visible light is green visible light, the third wavelength visible light, and the invisible light is infrared light. Can be. In addition, the invisible light may be reflected light reflected by light irradiated by a light source.

In step S502, the image sensor 100 detects a color value from the absorption of the visible light, and in step S503, the image sensor 100 detects a distance value from the absorption of the invisible light.

Specifically, the image sensor 100 selectively controls the detection of the first wavelength color value from the absorption of the first wavelength visible light and the detection of the distance value from the absorption of the invisible light, thereby providing the first wavelength color value and the distance value. The second wavelength color value may be detected from the absorption of the second wavelength visible light, and the third wavelength color value may be detected from the absorption of the third wavelength visible light.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the image sensor 100 may use a switch to selectively control the detection of the first wavelength color value and the detection of the distance value. In addition, the image sensor 100 may detect a first wavelength color value from absorption of the first wavelength visible light during a first time interval, and detect a distance value from absorption of the invisible light during a second time interval. In addition, the image sensor 100 may use the first wavelength color value detected from the absorption of the first wavelength visible light to detect a distance value from the absorption of the invisible light. For example, the image sensor 100 may determine the distance value obtained by subtracting the first wavelength color value from the distance value absorbed from the invisible light.

In addition, the matters that are not described with respect to the above steps (S501) to (S503) are the same as those described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 or more easily described by those skilled in the art will be omitted. .

The image sensor operating method according to the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of program instructions that may be executed by various computer means and may be recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks, such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

In the present specification, an embodiment of an image sensor implemented by a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) has been mainly described, but embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a case implemented using a charge coupled device (CCD).

Embodiments of the present invention may be applied to an imaging device such as a digital camera, a camcorder, a camera attached to a portable communication device, a closed circuit television (CCTV), and the like.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications and variations from such descriptions. This is possible.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the claims below but also by the equivalents of the claims.

1 is a view showing a general operation of the image sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an image sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view illustrating an image sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a timing diagram for selective control of detection of a color value and detection of a distance value according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an operation flowchart illustrating a method of operating an image sensor according to an exemplary embodiment.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: image sensor

110: detector

120: light absorption unit

Claims (12)

A light absorbing portion consisting of junction regions absorbing visible light of different wavelengths, each of the junction regions being formed at different depths from the surface by bonding of the first conductive semiconductor and the second conductive semiconductor, Any one of the regions further absorbs invisible light; And A detector for detecting a color value from the absorption of the visible light and a distance value from the absorption of the invisible light Image sensor comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the first conductivity type semiconductor is a P type semiconductor, and the second conductivity type semiconductor is an N type semiconductor. The method of claim 1, The light absorbing unit, A first junction region formed at a first depth by a junction of the first conductivity type semiconductor substrate and the deep second conductivity type semiconductor to absorb the first wavelength visible light and the invisible light, A second junction region formed at a second depth by the junction of the deep second conductivity type semiconductor and the first conductivity type semiconductor well to absorb a second wavelength visible light, And a third junction region formed at a third depth by the junction of the first conductivity type semiconductor well and the shallow second conductivity type semiconductor to absorb third wavelength visible light. The method of claim 3, The detection unit, A first detector for selectively controlling detection of a first wavelength color value from absorption of the first wavelength visible light and detection of a distance value from absorption of the invisible light; A second detector configured to detect a second wavelength color value from absorption of the second wavelength visible light; And A third detector configured to detect a third wavelength color value from the absorption of the third wavelength visible light Image sensor comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein The first detection unit, And selectively control the detection of the first wavelength color value and the detection of the distance value using a switch. The method of claim 4, wherein The first detection unit, And a first wavelength color value from the absorption of the first wavelength visible light during a first time period and a distance value from the absorption of the invisible light during a second time period. The method of claim 4, wherein The first detection unit, And detecting a distance value from absorption of the invisible light using the first wavelength color value detected from absorption of the first wavelength visible light. The method of claim 3, The first wavelength visible light is red visible light, the second wavelength visible light is green visible light, and the third wavelength visible light is blue visible light. The method of claim 1, The invisible light is infrared light. The method of claim 1, And the invisible light is reflected light reflected by light irradiated by a light source. Absorbing visible light of different wavelengths into each of the junction regions formed at different depths from the surface by the junction of the first conductivity type semiconductor and the second conductivity type semiconductor, wherein any one of the junction regions receives invisible light. Absorbs more; Detecting a color value from the absorption of visible light; And Detecting a distance value from absorption of the invisible light Image sensor operation method comprising a. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method of claim 11 is recorded.

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