Patent attributes
A CMOS image sensor includes a semiconductor substrate; a pinned photodiode formed in a light-sensing region of the semiconductor substrate, the pinned photodiode comprising a charge-accumulating diffusion region and a surface pinning diffusion region overlying the charge-accumulating diffusion region; a transfer transistor, wherein the transfer transistor has a transfer gate comprising a protruding first gate segment with a first gate dimension and a second gate segment with a second gate dimension that is smaller than the first gate dimension. A first overlapping portion between the protruding first gate segment and the charge-accumulating diffusion region is greater than a second overlapping portion between the second gate segment and the charge-accumulating diffusion region.