Amorphous silicon active pixel sensor with rectangular readout layer in a hexagonal grid layout

摘要

An active pixel sensor having an amorphous silicon sensing layer and a semiconductor readout layer. A plurality of P-I-N photodiodes are disposed in the sensing layer. The photodiodes define subpixels that are arranged in a hexagonal grid layout. The subpixels can have a hexagonal shape or a circular shape. The sensing layer can include color filters for implementing a color pattern, an infrared filter to absorb infrared radiation, and a microlens for focusing an image on the subpixels. The subpixels can be arranged in a triangular configuration to form a pixel and adjacent pixels can be arranged in the hexagonal grid layout. The readout layer includes a plurality of readout rectangular readout cells that correspond to the subpixels in the sensing layer. The readout cells can be arranged in a triangular configuration to match the subpixels in the sensing layer. The P-I-N photodiodes have an output for generating an output signal that is communicated to the readout cells in the readout layer.