Sony is one of the leading camera sensor makers, along with brands such as Omnivision and Samsung.
The company has introduced the potential of other innovations in this space.
Sony revealed its newest innovation in smartphone camera technology at the IEEE international electron device meeting.
The Japanese company launched the first multi-layer CMOS in the world (complementary metal semiconductor oxide) image sensor equipped with a 2-layer transistor pixel.
Sony has also posted images to provide better ideas about what’s new compared to traditional sensors.
Double CMOS image sensors are different from conventional CMOS image sensors because they have independent photodiodies along with pixel transistors in several substrate layers.
CMOS image sensor comes with layered construction which includes a pixel processor with pixels that turns on again accumulating on a logic processor that has a signal processing circuit.
Unlike the old CMOS image sensors, which come with photodiodes and pixel transistors in the same substrate layer, Sony technology has photodiodes and pixel transistors in different substrate layers.
Sony claims that this solution will double the sensor saturation signal level which will therefore produce a broader dynamic range.
The company even mentions that transferring pixel transistors to different layers reduce chamber waste and increase the size of the amp transistor.
It is explained that larger amp transistors produce significantly reduced noise, which can be very important for low light photography.
The company also added that this technology will allow pixels to sensors to withstand or improve current performance which is expected to work even in smaller pixel size.
According to Sony, this technology will be the key to smartphone cameras with higher resolution and smaller pixels.
It can also turn into an important enabler if the brand ever wants to follow Xiaomi or Samsung and offer a 108MP or 200MP camera.
The company said that this technology was only developed for smartphones, but it has not provided the timeline for when expecting the first sensor with this layout.
However, it is still very interesting to know that the innovator sensor camera explores this space.