Archives for February 2020

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IFNews publishes Credit Suisse report "China Technology Sector, Hardware outlook 2020: Stay invested for 5G ramp-up." The analysts coin a new term HOVX standing for Huawei-Oppo-Vivo-Xiaomi, the leading brands in China.

"Multi-cam still a clear trend: With higher data bandwidth and traffic, photo/video sharing demand will drive the upgrade of higher solution better optical performance in camera. Penetration of triple+ camera will further increase. The new iPhone may adopt ToF for a 3D camera feature which will drive the adoption of ToF in the Android camp as well.

3D-sensing: We see 3D sensing is gaining popularity among Chinese smartphones, driven by Huawei Mate 20 series in 3Q18, and we see an increasing trend of ToF adoption among flagship Android smartphone models such as Mate 30 Pro, Honor V20, and even Galaxy Note 10+, whose share is getting close to SL 3D-sensing solutions. Our Taiwan tech analyst estimates 20 mn/25 mn units of Android Face ID shipment and 20 mn/100 mn units of ToF camera in 2019/20E, respectively."

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Physics World publishes an article "Transparent graphene photodetectors make advanced 3D camera" that proposes to use a set of sensors for depth perception:

A team of researchers led by Zhaohui Zhong, Jeffrey Fessler and Theodore Norris from the University of Michigan built a 3D camera that uses a stack of transparent sensors made from graphene to simultaneously capture images that are focused to different distances from the camera lens.

The researchers fabricated their photodetector on a transparent glass substrate using graphene as the light-sensing layer, the conducting channel layer, the gate layer and even the interconnects. Using graphene for all the different functional components of the device in this way allows for sensitive light detection and a transparency of around 95%.

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Nature publishes a paper "CMOS-based bio-image sensor spatially resolves neural activity-dependent proton dynamics in the living brain" by Hiroshi Horiuchi, Masakazu Agetsuma, Junko Ishida, Yusuke Nakamura, Dennis Lawrence Cheung, Shin Nanasaki, Yasuyuki Kimura, Tatsuya Iwata, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Kazuaki Sawada, and Junichi Nabekura from National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama, and Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan.

"Recent studies have shown that protons can function as neurotransmitters in cultured neurons. To further investigate regional and neural activity-dependent proton dynamics in the brain, the development of a device with both wide-area detectability and high spatial-ltemporal resolution is necessary. Therefore, we develop an image sensor with a high spatial-temporal resolution specifically designed for measuring protons in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that spatially deferent neural stimulation by visual stimulation induced distinct patterns of proton changes in the visual cortex. This result indicates that our biosensor can detect micrometer and millisecond scale changes of protons across a wide area. Our study demonstrates that a CMOS-based proton image sensor with high spatial and temporal precision can be used to detect pH changes associated with biological events. We believe that our sensor may have broad applicability in future biological studies."

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SeekingAlpha transcript of ON Semi Q4 earnings call updates on the company's CIS business:

"An emerging area of growth for our industrial business is e-commerce. We have built a strong design win pipeline for our CMOS image sensors for warehouse automation and delivery robots. We are engaged with the leading e-commerce retailers on many programs, and we expect strong contribution from this segment of the industrial market.

During the fourth quarter of 2019, we secured design wins for key platforms for ADAS and incabin viewing applications. Our design funnel for ADAS continues to expand at a robust pace. As we noted in our previous earnings call, we have won 16 of the 17 two-megapixel and eight-megapixel platforms awarded in 2019 for level-2 and level-3 vehicles.

Our LiDAR and radar products are gaining strong traction, and our design funnel for these products continues to expand at a rapid pace. We believe that we are enabling democratization of LiDAR with a solid-state solution, which is a fraction of cost of other existing solutions. Our low cost advantage is enabled by a CMOS based architecture as opposed to that based on exotic materials. Based on our design win pipeline, we expect to have leading share with top five global LiDAR module makers."

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R.Matthews, N.Falkner, and M.Sorella from The University of Adelaide, Australia publish an updated version of their paper "Reverse engineering the Raspberry Pi Camera V2: A study of pixel non-uniformity using a scanning electron microscope."

"In this paper we reverse engineer the Sony IMX219PQ image sensor, otherwise known as the Raspberry Pi Camera v2.0. We provide a visual reference for pixel non-uniformity by analysing variations in transistor length, microlens optic system and in the photodiode. We use these measurements to demonstrate irregularities at the microscopic level and link this to the signal variation measured as pixel non-uniformity used for unique identification of discrete image sensors."

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Broadcom Industrial Fiber Products Division (IFPD) announces new silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) devices for automotive and industrial LiDAR applications. Broadcom’s latest NIR SiPM solutions address various challenges, such as range limitations and multi-target resolution. The underlying NIR SiPM technology is said to deliver an unprecedented performance by combining a high photon detection efficiency (PDE) of 18 percent at 905 nm with a recharge time of 10 ns. HDR is achieved with the smallest cell size, while a low dark count rate (DCR), low crosstalk and after-pulsing probability make Broadcom’s NIR SiPM good fit for LiDAR applications.

Broadcom NIR SiPM highlights:

• PDE at 905 nm: 18%
• Recharge time constant: < 10 ns
• Single photon time resolution: 500 ps
• Smallest cell size
• DCR: 600 kHz/mm2
• Direct crosstalk: < 20%
• Samples available

“Broadcom IFPD successfully released NUV-HD products to the market two years ago. Now that our key SiPM milestones have been reached, we are excited to announce our new cutting-edge NIR solutions for LiDAR applications. The very high PDE, small cell size and low recharge time are critical to enabling mass market adoption of LiDAR. With a long-established history of developing and supplying automotive-grade and industrial fiber optic solutions, Broadcom is well positioned to address the growing demand of high performing LiDAR sensors for the automotive and industrial markets,” said Martin Weigert, VP and GM of Broadcom IFPD.

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Vision Research-Ametek announces the Phantom VEO 1310 equipped with a new proprietary 1.2MP CMOS sensor with 2.5X higher light sensitivity than previous VEO models. It achieves recording speeds over 10,800 fps at full 1.2MP resolution and higher rates at reduced resolutions. It has a native ISO of 25,000 (monochrome).

Key Specifications of the Phantom VEO 1310:

• 10,860 fps at 1280 x 960 resolution
• Increased frame rates at reduced resolution, for example:
  14,350 fps at 1280 x 720
  30,030 fps at 640 x 480 standard or 40,300 fps with binning enabled
• Max frame rate is 423,350 fps at 320 x 24
• Native ISO (12232 STD)—25,000 D (mono) and 6,400 D (color)

The Phantom VEO 1310 captures an ignition test via schlieren imaging:

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Sony reports its quarterly results for the quarter ended on Dec. 31, 2019. The company says:

• FY19 Q3 sales increased 29% year-on-year to 298.0 billion yen primarily due to an improvement in product mix and an increase in unit sales of image sensors for mobile devices.
• Operating income increased 28.7 billion yen year-on-year to 75.2 billion yen primarily due to the impact of the increase in sales, partially offset by an increase in research and development costs and depreciation expense.
• We revised upward our FY19 sales forecast 50 billion yen to 1 trillion 90 billion yen and our operating income forecast 30 billion yen to 230 billion yen.
• Demand for our image sensors in Q4 continues to be strong.
• Although production capacity is expanding according to plan and we continue to operate at full production capacity utilization, sales are increasing due to strong nearterm demand, and that is preventing us from stockpiling strategic inventory as originally planned.
• In addition, partly due to the introduction of a highly competitive new product this fiscal year, we have been able to maintain our overall margin, all of which has enabled us to operate this business extremely well.
• There is no change to our view that demand will continue to increase over the mid- to long-term from next fiscal year, but, in regards to next fiscal year in particular, we cannot be too optimistic due to the impact of the spread of infection from the new coronavirus that I mentioned earlier, the competitive environment and various geopolitical risks.
• We will continue to closely monitor demand trends and the external environment as we manage this business going forward.
• ToF sensors, which we expect will be the next growth driver after image sensors, have begun to sell well, although their size within the overall business is still small.
• We expect their adoption, primarily in mobile devices, to increase further from next fiscal year.
• Taking a longer-term view, as we made a point of showcasing at CES last month, we are taking steps to expand the adoption of Sony’s imaging and sensing technology in the mobility space and in the diverse industrial and factory automation space.
• We plan to proactively invest even more in technology development to grow this business in the future, such as the hiring of personnel including algorithm and software engineers, and the building of an office in Osaka to serve as a design and development center for image sensors.

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BAE Fairchild Imaging presents a new ultra low light HWK4123 sensor featuring a BSI sCMOS 3.0 technology. It is said to have "advanced the state-of-the-art in low light imaging by lowering the read noise to 0.5 electrons while improving the broad-spectrum quantum efficiency." The 4/3” 9MP HWK4123 enables night vision and surveillance cameras to image at less than 0.001 Lux (starlight). The HWK4123 is sampling now.


Thanks to RP for the info!

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SK Hynix publishes an article "Evolution of Pixel Technology in CMOS Image Sensor" by Hoon Sang Oh, Fellow of CIS Business at SK Hynix.

"SK hynix started its CIS business in 2007 and has produced 8-inch wafer-based image sensor products for more than a decade. With the advent of IoT and 5G-based ICT world, the image sensor market is growing rapidly today, and SK hynix is fostering the CIS business as the next growth engine beyond its memory business in order to meet this soaring demand. After a couple of years of preparation for the 12-inch fab CIS process, SK hynix launched a 12-inch wafer-based 1.0um product in 2019, which adopted its proprietary Black Pearl pixel technology and received good reviews from customers due to the highly competitive pixel performance. Black Pearl boasts improved noise characteristics, implementing clear images with little noise under low illumination conditions.

SK hynix is now expanding its CIS product portfolio spectrum from mid-end to high-end products based on both performance and price competitiveness. Through its investment in the CIS space in 2020 and beyond, the company aims to quickly become one of the world’s leading CIS companies."




Update: In another PR, SK Hynix reports that it has opened CIS R&D center in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 1, 2019:

"By establishing the JRC in the heart of the world’s image sensor innovation, SK hynix aims to secure the excellent CIS talent and to further strengthen its technological prowess through the creation of a global network.

Japan is home to numerous small and large image sensor manufacturers, with Sony being one of the largest. According to IHS Markit, a leading market research institution, Sony now leads the image sensor market with its 51.1% market share achieved in the first quarter of 2019.

The country is also seeing companies from overseas, such as China, bolstering their research and development by establishing research centers in Japan. “The significance of SK hynix opening up the JRC in Japan cannot be understated. The new facility will give the company ultimate access to the diverse CIS resources concentrated in Japan,” said [Shimura Masayuki, the Head of the Hynix JRC.] “This extends to joint research and development with leading Japanese universities, which is expected to contribute to various aspects of our CIS business, including the successful development of a new CIS technology.”

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Oryx Vision LiDAR startup raised $67M but closed its operations on summer 2019 and returned the remaining $40M back to investors. In a Youtube lecture, the company co-founder and former VP R&D David Ben-Bassat presents the company's technology and achievements (in Hebrew):

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