Effects of Hydrogen Annealing on 0.25-um CMOS Image Sensor

The effects of hydrogen annealing on the electrical and optical properties of CMOS image sensor fabricated by 0.25 um CMOS technology are investigated for the first time. Pixel performance is significantly improved by hydrogen annealing due to the passivation of surface traps, especially for the dark current in high-temperature operation and the photo- response of blue light at low illumination. Using hydrogen annealing combined with non-silicide and double diffusion source/drain (DDD) junction; the dark current can be drastically reduced (less than 0.1 fA per pixel).