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Tag: cmos

  • Sony Commercializes World's First 16MP CMOS Sensors for Mobile Phones

    Sony announced the commercialization of two new "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS image sensors with improved photographic performance including high sensitivity and low noise.

    In addition, Sony will launch two new lens modules equipped with these image sensors, which also include the smallest and thinnest model for mobile phones. This is also the first time that "Exmor R" is commercialized for the use in mobile phones.

    "IMX081PQ" is world’s first type 1/2.8 back-illuminated CMOS image sensor which realizes 16.41 effective megapixel resolution, and adopts the industry’s smallest unit pixel size of 1.12μm achieved by the fine pixel fabrication process technology. In theory, when a unit pixel size is made smaller, there are also some issues such as color mixture among smaller unit pixels. Sony said they solved this problem by implementing a “unique” formation of photo diodes optimally designed for fine pixel structure to realize a CMOS image sensor with high resolution, high sensitivity and low noise.

    "IMX105PQ" is a type 1/3.2 back-illuminated CMOS image sensor which realizes 8.13 effective megapixel resolutions for higher sensitivity and adopts a unit pixel size of 1.4μm. By embedding these highly sensitive sensors into mobile phones, including those without camera flash, users can capture high quality photos and videos even in low light settings.

    Furthermore, Sony will commercialize "IU081F" and "IU105F2" compact auto-focus lens modules which include the two new "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. According to Sony, these down-sized modules are “suitable and efficient for mobile phones with relatively limited space and are equipped with high performance lens which maximize the image sensors’ respective performances.”

    "IU081F" is the industry’s smallest and thinnest auto-focus lens module (W10.5 X D10.5 X H7.9mm) and is equipped with the 16.41 megapixel CMOS image sensor. "IU105F2" adopts the 8.13 effective megapixel CMOS image sensor, and belongs in the industry’s smallest and thinnest size class (W8.5 X D8.5 X H5.67mm).

    Sony first announced the development of "Exmor R" on Jun, 2008. "Exmor R" has been incorporated in Sony’s digital imaging products since 2009, and its use in other products has continued to expand.

    In this back-illuminated CMOS image sensor, light is directed onto the silicon substrate from behind, allowing light to be used with a level of efficiency not possible with conventional front-illuminated structures.

    Since 2009, Sony has been mass producing "Exmor R" for Digital Still Cameras and Digital Video Camcorders on wafer lines (with diameter of 200mm). At the end of 2010, the company plans to start the mass production of "Exmor R," including those for mobile phones announced today, on cutting-edge wafer lines (with diameter of 300mm).

  • Intel and Numonyx Announce a Breakthrough in PCM Technology

    Intel and Numonyx, a provider of memory technologies, announced a key breakthrough in the research of phase change memory (PCM), a new non-volatile memory technology that combines many of the benefits of today’s various memory types.

    For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a 64Mb test chip that enables the ability to stack, or place, multiple layers of PCM arrays within a single die.

    These findings pave the way for building memory devices with greater capacity, lower power consumption and optimal space savings for random access non-volatile memory and storage applications, the companies announced.

    The achievements are a result of an ongoing joint research program between Numonyx and Intel that has been focusing on the exploration of multi-layered or stacked PCM cell arrays.

    Intel and Numonyx say their researchers are now able to demonstrate a vertically integrated memory cell – called PCMS (phase change memory and switch). PCMS is comprised of one PCM element layered with a newly used Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS) in a true cross point array.

    The ability to layer or stack arrays of PCMS provides the scalability to higher memory densities while maintaining the performance characteristics of PCM, a challenge that is becoming increasingly more difficult to maintain with traditional memory technologies.

    Memory cells are built by stacking a storage element and a selector, with several cells creating memory arrays. Intel and Numonyx researchers were able to deploy a thin film, two-terminal OTS as the selector, matching the physical and electrical properties for PCM scaling.

    With the compatibility of thin-film PCMS, multiple layers of cross point memory arrays are now possible. Once integrated together and embedded in a true cross point array, layered arrays are combined with CMOS circuits for decoding, sensing and logic functions.

    "We are encouraged by this research milestone and see future memory technologies, such as PCMS, as critical for extending the role of memory in computing solutions and in expanding the capabilities for performance and memory scaling," said Al Fazio, Intel Fellow and director, memory technology development.

    Greg Atwood, senior technology fellow at Numonyx, added that the results show the potential for higher density, scalable arrays and NAND-like usage models for PCM products in the future.

    “This is important as traditional flash memory technologies face certain physical limits and reliability issues, yet demand for memory continues to rise in everything from mobile phones to data centers" he said.

    To provide more information about the memory cell, cross point array, experiment and results, Intel and Numonyx will publish a joint paper titled "A Stackable Cross Point Phase Change Memory,” which will be presented at the 2009 International Electron Devices Meeting in Baltimore on Dec. 9.