Image Sensors – Seeing Things That Cannot Be Seen

Sensor measures a physical quantity and converts in into a signal that can be read by an instrument or by an observer. Image sensor contains millions of photosensitive diodes known as photosites. In Early 1960 film photography was done and vacuum tubes were being used and from 1960-1975 research and development was done in the fields of CCD & CMOS. Later on from 1975-1990 commercialization of CCD took place and after 199 re-emergences of CMOS took place. There are two types of image sensors mainly; CCD & CMOS. CCD was a memory device and one could only inject charge into the device at an input register. CCDs are silicon based integrated circuits consisting of a dense matrix of photodiodes that operate by converting light energy in the form of photons into an electronic charge. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits, and also used for a wide variety of analog circuits such as image sensors, data converters, and highly integrated transceivers for communications. Image sensors are an emergent solution for automation focused machine vision application. New electronic fabrication processes, software implementations, and new application fields will dictate growth of image sensor technology in the future.

CMOS will therefore become relevant for all existing and new applications in machine vision, as well as in applications outside the factory floor such as medical or intelligent traffic systems because of the range of standard resolutions, from VGA to five megapixels and above, is expected to be covered by CMOS technology. For machine-vision applications, CCD imagers remain the detector of choice, while CMOS imagers are being used in more specialized applications requiring high speed, low cost, random access, or high dynamic range. Many scientific, medical, and security imaging applications demand low-light solid-state sensors with photon-counting sensitivity that can capture hundreds of frames per second. CCDs are capable of high quantum efficiency, low dark current, high linearity, and uniformity. Fairchild developed a low-light-level digital camera with a Camera Link interface that combines the best features of CCD imagers and CMOS technology.

Sony with its latest launch, approx. 2.13M effective pixel back-illuminated CMOS image sensors IMX290LQR and IMX291LQR with improved sensitivity in the visible-light and near infrared light regions for industrial applications. Sony is focusing on new product development and expansion as a key strategy to expand its business in market. The acquisition of Aptina vastly expands ON Semiconductor’s image-sensor business and establishes the company as a leader in the fast growing segment of image sensors in automotive and industrial semiconductor market.

Inclination of growth towards camera enabled mobile phones, digital cameras, tablets PC, implementation of machine vision, improved adoption of ADAS in vehicles, increased awareness about security are the major driving factors which are making the image sensors market to grow lucratively. The market for mobile image sensor constitutes around $5 billion in the global image sensor market. The North American market is estimated to show extensive growth in the coming years and reach $3 billion by 2015. The large consumer base for smart phones, tablets, and others consumer electronics are the major factors driving the North American image sensor market. The low cost of CMOS technology and lower power consumption have helped CMOS imagers in gradually overtaking the CCDs market segment in the image sensor market and the market for CMOS was valued at $2.6 billion in 2013, and is expected to reach of $2.7 billion by 2018.

There are limitations to human vision due to the brightness, speed, and distance of the physical object being viewed. CMOS image sensor allows these limitations to overcome. A camera that is capable of 3D imaging by combining an optical system using a relay lens and two image sensors has been developed. If this system is implemented on a single CMOS image sensor, it would be possible to take 3D photographs conveniently with a consumer DSC. Through the development of back-illuminated CMOS image sensors, Sony has established technologies for thinning silicon wafers to thicknesses on the order of a few microns. If such a thin silicon wafer is bent into a shape of an eyeball, it will be easy to capture wide angle images with a simple lens structure. By surpassing the human vision, it will be possible to see things that could not be seen previously.

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