Editing Foveon X3 sensor (section)

==Operation==
[[File:Absorption-X3.png|thumb|right|500px|Wavelength-dependent absorption in silicon and the Foveon X3 sensor. See text for explanation.]]

The diagram to the right depicts how the Foveon X3 sensor works. The image on the left shows the absorption of colors for each wavelength as it passes through the [[wafer (electronics)|silicon wafer]]. The image on the right shows a layered sensor stack depicting the colors it detects at each absorption level for each output pixel. The sensor colors shown are only examples. In practice, the color attributes of each output pixel using this sensor result from the camera's [[image processing]] algorithms, which use a matrix process to construct a single RGB color from all the data sensed by the photodiode stack.<ref name="Rush and Hubel"/>

The depth of the silicon wafer in each of the three sensors is less than five [[micrometre|micrometer]]s that creates a negligible effect on [[Focus (optics)|focusing]] or [[chromatic aberration]]. However, because the collection depth of the deepest sensor layer (red) is comparable to collection depths in other silicon [[CMOS]] and [[Charge-coupled device|CCD]] sensors, some diffusion of electrons and loss of sharpness in the longer wavelengths occurs.<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Ji Soo Lee|url= http://www.cse.yorku.ca/~visor/pdf/JiSoo_Lee_PhD.pdf|title= Photoresponse of CMOS Image Sensors|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090219083724/http://www.cse.yorku.ca/~visor/pdf/JiSoo_Lee_PhD.pdf|archive-date=2009-02-19|url-status=dead|type=Ph.D. dissertation|publisher=University of Waterloo|date=2003}}</ref>