Curved Image Sensor Using Thermoplastic Substrate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flat image sensors fail to match the curved focal plane of lenses, leading to image blurring at the edges due to out-of-focus light, which existing pixel circuitry optimizations cannot adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A curved image sensor is fabricated by bonding an imaging wafer and carrier wafer to a thermoplastic substrate, which is deformed to follow a curved mold shape, allowing the sensor to conform to the lens curvature, improving light focus and quantum efficiency across the sensor array.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a flat image sensor is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but image quality at the edges deteriorates due to out-of-focus light
Solution Approach 1:
The image sensor is fabricated with a curved surface that matches the curved focal plane of the lens. This curvature allows the sensor to properly focus light across the entire field of view, eliminating edge blurring while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through specialized fabrication processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor surface geometry is changed from flat to curved, fundamentally altering the spatial parameter of the sensor surface. This parameter change enables the sensor to conform to the optical path and achieve uniform focus across all regions.
2Reliability
If pixel circuitry is optimized, then image sensor performance improves, but optical limitations such as edge blurring cannot be overcome
Solution Approach 1:
By curving the sensor surface to match the lens's focal plane, the invention directly addresses the optical limitation of edge blurring. This geometric solution works in conjunction with pixel circuitry optimization to overcome both electrical and optical performance barriers.
3Manufacturing precision
If a curved image sensor is fabricated, then image quality and quantum efficiency improve, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The fabrication process incorporates curvature as a fundamental parameter change during manufacturing, rather than attempting to correct a flat sensor afterward. This approach integrates the curved geometry into the base fabrication process, reducing overall complexity despite the non-traditional shape.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The curved image sensor design ensures focused image light across the entire sensor, enhancing image quality at the edges to match the center in terms of brightness, sharpness, and angle response, while improving quantum efficiency of green and blue pixels.
Implementation Method 1
the substrate is deformed to follow a curved mold shape
Data Source
AI summary
An image sensor includes a plurality of photodiodes arranged in an array and disposed in a semiconductor material to receive light through a first surface of the semiconductor material. At least part of the semiconductor material is curved. A carrier wafer is attached to a second surface, opposite the first surface, of the semiconductor material, and a polymer layer is attached to the carrier wafer, so that the carrier wafer is disposed between the polymer layer and the semiconductor material.