In occasione dell’IEEE, International Electron Devices Meeting, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation announced that it has developed the first stacked CMOS image sensor featuring 2 Layer Transistor Pixel technology. This technology allows, unlike when it occurs with normal CMOS sensors, to separate the photodiodes from the transistors of the pixels by placing them on different substrates.
Sony unveiled the technology to develop the first 2-Layer Transistor Pixel CMOS sensor
This new technology unveiled by Sony therefore succeeds in approximately double the saturation signal level compared to traditional CMOS sensors. In this way, the dynamic range is widened and the noise is reduced. Sony’s new image sensor technology thus ensures a marked improvement in imaging characteristics. Sony’s new proposal represents an evolution compared to the current stacked CMOS image sensor solutions.
Superior quality images with new technology
The developed technology allows to adopt architectures able to favor the optimization of both photodiodes and transistors. The transistors (with the exception of the TRG, Transfer Gate, reset, selection and amplification ones) will no longer have to share the layer with the photodiodes. In this way, it is possible increase the size of the amplification transistors and reduce the noise levels that characterize images captured in low light. Sony’s new technology will ensure the making images of ever higher quality. This solution will find application in various fields, including smartphone cameras.