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Framos publishes interviews with Framos North America VP Sebastian Dignard and ON Semi Go To Market Manager Michael DeLuca on image sensor innovations:

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Edoardo Charbon and Junichi Nakamura has been elevated to IEEE Fellows. Thanks to AT for the info!

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Nikkei publishes an article with more details on Hitachi lens-less camera:

"In general, the method that Hitachi employed for its lens-less camera uses a "moire stripe" that can be obtained by stacking two concentric-patterned films with a certain interval and transmitting light through them. The numerous light-emitting points constituting the image influence the pitch and orientation of the moire stripe. The location of light, etc can be restored by applying two-dimensional Fourier transformation to the moire stripe.

This time, Hitachi replaced one of the films (one that is closer to the image sensor) with image processing. In other words, one film is placed with an interval of about 1mm, but the other film does not actually exist. And, instead of using the second film, a concentric pattern is superimposed on image data."

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ISSCC publishes its 2017 advance program. Sony is going to present its 3-die stacked sensor, a somewhat expected evolution of the stacking technology:

A 1/2.3in 20Mpixel 3-Layer Stacked CMOS Image Sensor with DRAM
T. Haruta, T. Nakajima, J. Hashizume, T. Umebayashi, H. Takahashi, K. Taniguchi, M. Kuroda, H. Sumihiro, K. Enoki, T. Yamasaki, K. Ikezawa, A. Kitahara, M. Zen, M. Oyama, H. Koga, H. Tsugawa, T. Ogita, T. Nagano, S. Takano, T. Nomoto
Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Atsugi, Japan
Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, Atsugi, Japan
Sony LSI Design, Atsugi, Japan

Canon presents, apparently, a version of its IEDM global shutter sensor paper with more emphasis on the readout architecture:

A 1.8erms Temporal Noise Over 110dB Dynamic Range 3.4μm Pixel Pitch Global Shutter CMOS Image Sensor with Dual-Gain Amplifiers, SS-ADC and Multiple-Accumulation Shutter
M. Kobayashi, Y. Onuki, K. Kawabata, H. Sekine, T. Tsuboi, Y. Matsuno, H. Takahashi, T. Koizumi, K. Sakurai, H. Yuzurihara, S. Inoue, T. Ichikawa
Canon, Kanagawa, Japan

Other nice papers in the Imager session are listed below:

A 640×480 Dynamic Vision Sensor with a 9μm Pixel and 300Meps Address-Event Representation
B. Son, Y. Suh, S. Kim, H. Jung, J-S. Kim, C. Shin, K. Park, K. Lee, J. Park, J. Woo, Y. Roh, H. Lee, Y. Wang, I. Ovsiannikov, H. Ryu
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon, Korea;
Samsung Electronics, Pasadena, CA

A Fully Integrated CMOS Fluorescence Biochip for Multiplex Polymerase Chain-Reaction (PCR) Processes
A. Hassibi, R. Singh, A. Manickam, R. Sinha, B. Kuimelis, S. Bolouki, P. Naraghi-Arani, K. Johnson, M. McDermott, N. Wood, P. Savalia, N. Gamini
InSilixa, Sunnyvale, CA

A Programmable Sub-Nanosecond Time-Gated 4-Tap Lock-In Pixel CMOS Image Sensor for Real-Time Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
M-W. Seo, Y. Shirakawa, Y. Masuda, Y. Kawata, K. Kagawa, K. Yasutomi, S. Kawahito
Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan

A Sub-nW 80mlx-to-1.26Mlx Self-Referencing Light-to-Digital Converter with AlGaAs Photodiode
W. Lim, D. Sylvester, D. Blaauw
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

A 2.1Mpixel Organic-Film Stacked RGB-IR Image Sensor with Electrically Controllable IR Sensitivity
S. Machida, S. Shishido, T. Tokuhara, M. Yanagida, T. Yamada, M. Izuchi, Y. Sato, Y. Miyake, M. Nakata, M. Murakami, M. Harada, Y. Inoue
Panasonic, Osaka, Japan

A 0.44erms Read-Noise 32fps 0.5Mpixel High-Sensitivity RG-Less-Pixel CMOS Image Sensor Using Bootstrapping Reset
M-W. Seo, T. Wang, S-W. Jun, T. Akahori, S. Kawahito
Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan;
Brookman Technology, Hamamatsu, Japan

A 1ms High-Speed Vision Chip with 3D-Stacked 140GOPS ColumnParallel PEs for Spatio-Temporal Image Processing
T. Yamazaki, H. Katayama, S. Uehara, A. Nose, M. Kobayashi, S. Shida, M. Odahara, K. Takamiya, Y. Hisamatsu, S. Matsumoto, L. Miyashita, Y. Watanabe, T. Izawa, Y. Muramatsu, M. Ishikawa;
Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Atsugi, Japan;
Sony LSI Design, Atsugi, Japan
University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Japan

The tutorials day includes one on deep learning processors:

Energy-Efficient Processors for Deep Learning
Marian Verhelst
KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium

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Basler: After a successful conclusion of the evaluation phase and extremely positive customer feedback, Basler first ToF camera is now entering series production. The VGA ToF camera is said to stand out for its combination of high resolution and powerful features at a very attractive price. This outstanding price/performance ratio puts the Basler ToF camera in a unique position on the market and distinguishes it significantly from competitors' cameras.

The Basler ToF camera operates on the pulsed time-of-flight principle. It is outfitted with eight high-power LEDs working in the NIR range, and generates 2D and 3D data in one shot with a multipart image, comprised of range, intensity and confidence maps. It delivers distance values in a working range from 0 to 13.3 meters at 20fps. The measurement accuracy of the Basler ToF camera is +/-1 cm at a range from 0.5 to 5.8 meters, while consuming 15W of power.

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ARMDevices interviews Movidius VP Marketing, Gary Brown, on the company low power advantages of their vision processor in different applications:

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IEEE Electron Devices Society publishes a list of this year's awards. Jaroslav Hynecek receives 2016 EDS J.J. Ebers Award for "For the pioneering work and advancement of CCD and CMOS image sensor technologies." The Award is to be presented at IEDM in December.

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Open-access Sensors journal publishes Purdue University paper "Images from Bits: Non-Iterative Image Reconstruction for Quanta Image Sensors" by Stanley H. Chan, Omar A. Elgendy, and Xiran Wang. From the abstract:

"Because of the stochastic nature of the photon arrivals, data acquired by QIS is a massive stream of random binary bits. The goal of image reconstruction is to recover the underlying image from these bits. In this paper, we present a non-iterative image reconstruction algorithm for QIS. Unlike existing reconstruction methods that formulate the problem from an optimization perspective, the new algorithm directly recovers the images through a pair of nonlinear transformations and an off-the-shelf image denoising algorithm. By skipping the usual optimization procedure, we achieve orders of magnitude improvement in speed and even better image reconstruction quality. We validate the new algorithm on synthetic datasets, as well as real videos collected by one-bit single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) cameras."


Thanks to EF for the link!

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ARM fellow Jem Davies describes the company approach to imaging opportunities:

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Xilinx publishes a demo of its neural learning network. Alexnet, although somewhat dated by modern standards, seems to remain the most popular for such capability statements:

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Tesla publishes a nice demo of its new self-driving platform, together with computer-interpreted images from its 3 cameras:



A longer version of this video is here.

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Opli quotes Nature Photonics paper "Near-unity quantum efficiency of broadband black silicon photodiodes with an induced junction" by Mikko A. Juntunen, Juha Heinonen, Ville Vähänissi, Päivikki Repo, Dileep Valluru & Hele Savin from Aalto University, Espoo, Finland. From the abstract:

"Present-day photodiodes notably suffer from optical losses and generated charge carriers are often lost via recombination. Here, we demonstrate a device with an external quantum efficiency above 96% over the wavelength range 250–950 nm. Instead of a conventional p–n junction, we use negatively charged alumina to form an inversion layer that generates a collecting junction extending to a depth of 30 µm in n-type silicon with bulk resistivity larger than 10 kΩ cm. We enhance the collection efficiency further by nanostructuring the photodiode surface, which results in higher effective charge density and increased charge-carrier concentration in the inversion layer. Additionally, nanostructuring and efficient surface passivation allow for a reliable device response with incident angles up to 70°."


Thanks to TG for the link!

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Sharp CMOS sensors lineup keeps evolving. Whereas a year and a half ago, Sharp used to have 7 CMOS products, the newly released catalog features just two of them:

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EMVA 1288 Release 3.1 standard is to include a new template for machine vision camera datasheet, among other improvements:

"The new release is now open for public review and discussion and will become the official release 3.1 on December 30, 2016, if no objections are filed.

The new release contains only a few refinements and additions, because release 3.0 proved already to be a robust and stable release. The major progress is the new data template sheet. This makes it easy to compare the main features of cameras with data summarized in a standardized way on a single page. The two other major additions are: total SNR curve including the spatial non-uniformities, and diagrams of horizontal and vertical profiles for illustration of the spatial non-uniformities. The document can be downloaded from EMVA’s website at http://www.emva.org/standards-technology/emva-1288/emva-standard-1288-downloads/"

Thanks to TL for the info!

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ST publishes a promotional video on its ToF sensors:

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XDA-Developers publishes a popular explanation of features of Sony IMX378 image sensor found in a number of recent smartphones, including Google Pixel.

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Image Sensor Americas conference to be held on October 25-26, 2016 in San Francisco, publishes an interview with Jonathan Phillips, Staff Image Scientist at Google. Jonathan talks about the main mobile imaging challenges:

"From an image quality standpoint, capturing images at low light continues to be a challenge for not only the image sensor but also the image processing. Fewer photons means less signal for the hardware, so the software has to do more to generate good images. Another challenge is the latency and accuracy of autofocus. Camera users want to capture in-focus memories without having a lag after pushing the shutter button. With moving objects and camera handshake, this isn't always easy."

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FLIR publishes a video on application possibilities for its low cost thermal imager:

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MIPI Alliance publishes Mixel and Northwest Logic presentation on its camera interface roadmap and progress:

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Reuters-1, Reuters-2: Sony will bring production of image sensors to full capacity in the October-March half-year, said Yasuhiro Ueda, president of Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp at a news conference on Friday at Sony's Kumamoto fab in southern Japan. The combined monthly production would rise to 73,000 wafers at Sony's five image sensor plants, from 70,000 wafers now.

"The business environment for our customers is improving," Ueda said. He said brisk demand for Sony's sensors reflects the firm's effort to diversify its client base, noting clients had recently experienced some ups and downs (does Uedo mean Apple?). "Our client portfolio is getting less reliant on specific customers, as we are adding Chinese smartphone makers that are recently thriving," he said.

He also said sensor shipments from the Kumamoto fab, which was damaged by a series of earthquakes earlier this year, have recovered to pre-disaster levels.

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IEDM 2016 to be held on December 3-7, 2016 in San Francisco publishes its agenda with many image sensor papers:

8.1 Backside Illuminated SPAD Image Sensor with 7.83μm Pitch in 3D-Stacked CMOS Technology,
T. Al Abbas, N. Dutton*, O. Almer, S. Pellegrini*, Y. Henrion* and R. Henderson, The University of Edinburgh, *STMicroelectronics

We present the first 3D-stacked backside illuminated (BSI) single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) image sensor capable of both intensity, and time-resolved imaging. The 128x120 prototype has a 7.83μm pixel pitch with 45% fill factor. A 40nm bottom tier hosts the processing electronics while a 65nm top tier hosts the photo-detectors.

8.2 256×256, 100kfps, 61% Fill-factor Time-resolved SPAD Image Sensor for Microscopy Applications,
I. Gyongy, N. Calder, A. Davies*, N. Dutton**, P. Dalgarno*, R. Duncan*, C. Rickman* and R. Henderson, University of Edinburgh, *Heriot-Watt University, **STMicroelectronics

A 256×256 Single Photon Avalanche Diode image sensor operating at 100kfps with 61% fill factor and 16µm pixel pitch is reported. Gating and cooling allow the suppression of dark noise, which, together with the high fill factor, enables competitive low-light performance with electron multiplying CCDs whilst offering time-resolved imaging.

8.3 An APD-CMOS Image Sensor Toward High Sensitivity and Wide Dynamic Range (Invited),
M. Mori, Y. Sakata, M. Usuda, S. Kasuga, S. Yamahira, Y. Hirose, Y. Kato, A. Odagawa and T.Tanaka, Panasonic Corp.

8.4 Novel Stacked CMOS Image Sensor with Advanced Cu2Cu Hybrid Bonding,
Y. Kagawa, N. Fujii*, K. Aoyagi*, Y. Kobayashi, S. Nishi, N. Todaka, S. Takeshita, J. Taura, H. Takahashi*, Y. Nishimura*, K. Tatani*, M. Kawamura, H. Nakayama, T. Nagano*, K. Ohno*, H. Iwamoto*, S. Kadomura and T. Hirayama, Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, *Sony Semiconductor Solutions

We have successfully mass-produced novel stacked back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. In the new CIS, we introduced advanced Cu2Cu hybrid bonding that we had developed. The electrical test results showed that our robust Cu2Cu hybrid bonding achieved remarkable connectivity and reliability. The performance of image sensor was also investigated

8.5 An Over 1Mfps Global Shutter CMOS Image Sensor with 480 Frame Storage Using Vertical Analog Memory Integration,
M. Suzuki*, M. Suzuki*, R. Kuroda*, Y. Kumagai, A. Chiba, N. Miura, N. Kuriyama and S. Sugawa*, LAPIS Semiconductor Miyagi Co., Ltd., *Tohoku University

An over 1Mfps global shutter CMOS image sensor with 480 analog memories/pixel is presented using developed vertical analog memory integration technology. The fabricated prototype chip with 96H×128V pixels achieved ultra high speed video capturing at 1Mfps with 480 and 960 frames by full pixel and checkered-pattern half pixel modes, respectively.

8.6 A 1.8e- Temporal Noise Over 90dB Dynamic Range 4k2k Super 35mm Format Seamless Global Shutter CMOS Image Sensor with Multiple Accumulation Shutter Technology,
K. Kawabata, M. Kobayashi, Y. Onuki, H. Sekine, T. Tsuboi, Y. Matsuno, H. Takahashi, S. Inoue and T. Ichikawa, Canon Inc.

A low noise and high dynamic range global shutter (GS) CMOS image sensor (CIS) with multiple accumulation shutter technology is described. The pixel having a 6.4μm pitch, achieved 1.8e- temporal noise and full well capacity of 70,000e- with charge domain memory, corresponding to 92dB dynamic range in 30fps operation. In the signal readout procedure, light exposure and signal readout are executed simultaneously, hence the seamless signal accumulation can be carried out.

8.7 Four-Directional Pixel-Wise Polarization CMOS Image Sensor Using Air-Gap Wire Grid on 2.5-µm Back-Illuminated Pixels,
T. Yamazaki, Y. Maruyama, Y. Uesaka, M. Nakamura, Y. Matoba, T. Terada, K. Komori, Y. Ohba, S. Arakawa, Y. Hirasawa*, Y. Kondo*, J. Murayama*, K. Akiyama, Y. Oike, S. Sato and T. Ezaki, Sony Semiconductor Solutions, *Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing

This paper presents a four-directional pixel-wise polarization CMOS image sensor using an air-gap wire grid on 2.5µm back-illuminated pixels. The 150nm-pitch air-gap wire grid polarizer achieved the smallest polarization pixel with a transmittance of 63.3% and an extinction ratio of 85 at 550nm, realizing various mega-pixel fusion-imaging applications.

14.6 Current Status and Challenges of the Modeling of Organic Photodiodes and Solar Cells (Invited),
R. R. Clerc, B. Bouthinon*, M. Mohankumar**, P. Rannou**, J. Vaillant***, T. Maindron***, B. Racine***, Y.-F. Chen^, L. Hirsch^, J.-M. Verilhac^^, A. Pereira^^ and A. Revaux^^, Institut d Optique Graduate School, CNRS *ISORG, **INAC, CEA, ***CEA LETI, ^University of Bordeaux, ^^CEA, LITEN

Progress in the modeling of charge transport in solution processed solar cells and photodiodes is reviewed. Through several examples involving modeling and original experiments, the role of intentional doping, structural defects and oxygen contamination is discussed.

32.4 High-detectivity Printed Organic Photodiodes for Large Area Flexible Imagers (Invited),
A. Pierre and A. Arias, University of California, Berkeley

32.5 Dual-Gate Photosensitive FIN-TFT with High Photoconductive Gain and Near-UV to NearIR Responsivity,
H. Ou, K. Wang, J. Chen, A. Nathan*, S. Z. Deng and N. Xu, Sun Yat-sen Univeristy, *University of Cambridge

We report the first three-dimensional dual-gate photosensitive a-Si:H thin-film transistor operating in the sub-threshold regime for low-level light detection. The measured photoconductive gain is greater than 100 with photo-response ranging from near- ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, making it a potential candidate as an image sensor for UV, visible, IR and X-rays.

32.6 Extending the Functionality of FDSOI N- and P-FETs to Light Sensing,
L. Kadura, L. Grenouillet, T. Bedecarrats, O. Rozeau, N. Rambal, P. Scheiblin, C. Tabone, D. Blachier, O. Faynot, A. Chelnokov and M. Vinet, CEA LETI

We demonstrate that FDSOI transistors co- integrated with a diode implemented below the buried oxide (BOX) become strongly sensitive to visible light. The carriers photogenerated in the diode create a Light Induced VT Shift (LIVS) in both NFET & PFET transistors by means of capacitive coupling, without direct electrical connection between the photodiode and the sensing transistor. This optical back biasing effect is carefully examined as a function of both transistor and diode technological parameters. The experimental results are supported by TCAD simulations, suggesting that the proposed FDSOI/photodiode co-integration scheme can be used for efficient photodetectors. We also study the transient effects, and propose an efficient reset mechanism. Finally, we demonstrate for the first time that SRAM cells can be made controllable by light illumination.

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LIPS ToF Camera received Taitronics 2016 Technology Innovation Award from Taiwan government:

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Google Pixel smartphone 12MP, 1.55um-pixel F2.0 camera earned top DxOMark scores:

Stills scores

Video scores

The Pixel camera does not have OIS. Instead, it uses gyroscope sampled at 200Hz to implement video stabilization with rolling shutter correction:



Update: More details from Google Pixel site:

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Rice University publishes a PhD Thesis "2D Optoelectronics: Challenges and Opportunities" by Sidong Lei dispelling some myths about graphene and similar 2D photodetectors:

"...the low absorption issue is more challenging in 2D materials, because the atomic thickness in 2D materials results in an intrinsically low absorption rate usually less than 10%. In typical single layered graphene, the absorption rate is about 2.3%.

As mentioned in the previous chapters, the low absorption rate is an issue must be face when fabricating an optoelectronic device. The issue should be more significant in atomically thin materials. However, one can easily found it is not always the case when reviewing recent publications in 2D photodetectors. It is very sarcastic that it is very common that 2D photodetector can have external quantum efficiency much higher than 100%, and it is more awkward that the society more or less accepts this strange phenomenon without careful consideration and even competes for even higher quantum efficiency. Table 3.1 listed some most cited reports stating very high quantum efficiency."


"But this does not means the 2D based photodetector is much more supreme than traditional silicon based photodetector. Actually, it can be found that most reported 2D photodetectors have very long response times, making the 2D photodetector nearly useless in actual application.

Pursuing higher responsivity is not blamable, but photoresponsivity is not the only key parameter that determines the performance of a photodetector and other optoelectronics. Other parameters such as response time, signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) are also as important, especially when facing the applications in optoelectronic communication, signal processing, etc. Consequently, the competition on photoresponsivity by compromising other indexes is unreasonable.

Even worse, few publications ever discussed the origin of such high quantum efficiencies in 2D photodetectors, leaving so much unpredictable, unrepeatable and irresponsible results and misleading the field."

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ResearchInChina publishes "Global and China Automotive Lens Industry Report, 2016-2020." Few quotes from the report:

"In 2015, the global shipments of OEM automotive lens approximated 48.5 million pieces, embracing 11.1 million pieces of front view automotive lens and 37.4 million pieces of rear view and surround view lens. In the next few years, the global shipment of OEM automotive lens will benefit from ADAS-related policies, maintain quick growth and reach 136.2 million pieces by 2020.

At present, the companies involved in the automotive lens industry are mostly traditional camera lens vendors, including Sekonix, Fujifilm, Sunny Optical, Largan Precision, GSEO, Union Optech, AbilityOpto-Electronics Technology and so on. Sunny Optical is the world's largest supplier of automotive lenses, serving Mobileye, Gentex, TRW, Valeo, Bosch, Continental, Delphi, Magna, among others. In 2015, Sunny Optical realized the shipment of 16.516 million pieces and enjoyed the market share of 34.1%."

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2017 Electronic Imaging Conference to be held on Jan 29-Feb. 2, 2017 in Burlingame, CA, USA (new location near SFO airport), announces its agenda with quite a lot of image sensor content. Few papers, out of many are below:

Keynotes:

• Bayer pattern and image quality, Joerg Künze, Basler AG (Germany)
• Silicon retina technology (Invited), Tobi Delbruck, Institute for Neuroinformatics (INI) (Switzerland)
• CMOS image sensor pixel design and optimization, Boyd Fowler, OmniVision Technologies USA
• Automotive imaging, Patrick Denny, VALEO (Ireland)
• In the quest of vision-sensors-on-chip: Pre-processing sensors for data reduction, Angel Rodríguez-Vázquez, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)

Regular papers:

• A full-resolution 8K single-chip portable camera system, Tomohiro Nakamura, Takahiro Yamasaki, Ryohei Funatsu, and Hiroshi Shimamoto, NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (Japan)
• Filter selection for multispectral imaging optimizing spectral, colorimetric and image quality, Yixuan Wang, Rochester Institute of Technology USA
• Hot pixel rate behavior as pixel sizes go to 1 micron, Glenn Chapman, Rahul Thomas, Israel Koren, and Zahava Koren; Simon Fraser University (Canada) and University of Massachusetts Amherst USA
• Octagonal CMOS image sensor for endoscopic applications, Elena Reis, Alice Andrade, Martin Wäny, Pedro Santos, Ricardo M. Sousa, and Natércia Sousa, Awaiba,Lda (Portugal)
• Optimization of CMOS image sensor utilizing variable temporal multi-sampling partial transfer technique to achieve full-frame high dynamic range with superior low light and stop motion capability, Salman Kabir, Craig Smith, Gerrit Barnard, Alex Schneider, Frank Armstrong, Michael Guidash, Thomas Vogelsang, and Jay Endsley, Rambus Inc. USA
• A lateral electric field charge modulator with bipolar-gates for time-resolved imaging, Yuki Morikawa, Keita Yasutomi, Shoma Imanishi, Taishi Takasawa, Keiichiro Kagawa, Nobukazu Teranishi, and Shoji Kawahito, Shizuoka Univ. (Japan)
• RTS and photon shot noise reduction based on maximum likelihood estimate with multi-aperture optics and semi-photon-counting-level CMOS image sensors, Haruki Ishida, Keiichiro Kagawa, Shoji Kawahito, Taishi Takasawa, Keita Yasutomi, Bo Zhang, Min Seo, and Takashi Komuro; Shizuoka Univ. and Saitama Univ. (Japan)
• Linearity analysis of a CMOS image sensor, Fei Wang and Albert Theuwissen; Technische Univ. Delft (Netherlands) and Harvest Imaging (Belgium)

Thanks to AD for letting me know!

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Imec publishes a Vimeo video on its hyperspectral camera usage in the food quality control:

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PRNewswire: Axcelis has received its first order for the Purion VXE, a new extended energy range model of Purion XE high energy implanter. The new system delivers the highest energy range in the Purion platform. The customer plans to use the 300mm Purion VXE to support R&D for image sensors in the mobile and IoT markets. The system is scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter.

John Aldeborgh, EVP, customer operations, commented, "We're excited about the opportunity to provide this new model of the Purion XE platform to support the burgeoning image sensors and power device markets. The Purion EXE™ and VXE, provide the highest energy levels available in a production implanter, to perform ultra-high energy implants, with extremely precise and deep doping profiles."

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Delft University publishes MSc thesis "Characterization of CMOS Image Sensor" by Utsav Jain with fairly detailed description of measurement setups for most essential image sensor parameters.

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TSMC patent application US20160276285 "Method for forming alignment marks and structure of same" by Cheng-hsien Chou, Sheng-chau Chen, Chun-wei Chang, Kai-chun Hsu, Chih-yu Lai, Wei-cheng Hsu, Hsiao-hui Tseng, Shih Pei Chou, Shyh-fann Ting, Tzu-hsuan Hsu, Ching-chun Wang, Yeur-luen Tu, and Dun-nian Yaung proves that the company prepares STI-less pixel designs: "Embodiments presented below, for example, may describe formation of alignment marks for an image sensor formed without using a shallow trench isolation (STI) process."


Also, TSMC application US20160276382 talks about the STI-less isolation.

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