US Patent 7297995 Transparent metal shielded isolation for image sensors

An isolation region formed in a substrate and lined with a transparent metal layer. The isolation region provides isolation between adjacent active areas of an integrated circuit structure, for example the inventive region may provide isolation between pixels of a pixel array. Utilizing a transparent material maintains high quantum efficiency of the pixels as photons are not blocked from penetrating into the substrate. In one exemplary embodiment, a shallow trench isolation region is formed in a substrate, lined with an oxide or other dielectric, and an indium-tin-oxide shielding layer is formed over the oxide. The lined trench may then be filled with either the transparent metal material or a transparent insulating material.