At the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, Sony announced its latest breakthrough in smartphone camera technology. Sony revealed the world’s first stacked CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor with a dual-layer transistor pixel.
Sony’s dual CMOS image sensor differs from traditional CMOS image sensors in that it has independent photodiodes and pixel transistors on separate substrate layers. A CMOS image sensor has a layered construction that includes a pixel chip with back-illuminated pixels stacked above a logic chip with signal processing circuits.
Unlike traditional CMOS image sensors, which have photodiodes and pixel transistors on the same substrate layer, Sony’s innovative technology has photodiodes and pixel transistors on separate substrate layers.
Sony’s new CMOS technology will prevent underexposure and overexposure in situations with mixed lighting. Its latest image sensor design is promised to allow high-quality, low-noise photos even in low-light conditions.
Sony said that its new CMOS technology is intended for smartphones but did not provide a time frame when we could expect to receive phones using this new sensor design.
