Samsung patent application US20150041940 "Image sensor and electronic device including the same" by Gae Hwang Lee, Kyu Sik Kim, and Yong Wan Jin proposes a micro color splitter instead of color filter in front of the pixels, somewhat similar to what Panasonic presented 2 years ago. Samsung's application shows nano-structures splitting the light:
Update: Incidentally, Nokia patent application US20150042850 "Apparatus and a method for imaging" by Radu Bilcu and Martin Schrader published almost simultaneously with the Samsung one. Nokia presents a hierarchical color splitter between different image sensors or parts of them:
Update: Incidentally, Nokia patent application US20150042850 "Apparatus and a method for imaging" by Radu Bilcu and Martin Schrader published almost simultaneously with the Samsung one. Nokia presents a hierarchical color splitter between different image sensors or parts of them: