imec - Infrared and 3D Sensing Technology
CMOS technology has made visible imaging compact, low-power and affordable. Just about every smartphone now harbors a digital camera that’s capable of professional photography. But the needs of the market are changing. Applications such as augmented reality and face recognition, autonomous driving and food scanning require a shift from imaging to sensing – from taking a picture to acquiring information. The challenge is to bring these new imaging applications within reach of the consumer technology market, by lowering their cost without compromising their resolution. This is the goal of imec’s Pixel Technology Explore research activities, which break new ground in NIR/SWIR sensing and 3D imaging. Imec intends to develop technologies for companies with a roadmap in innovative image sensors, cameras and smart imaging applications.
Near-infrared (NIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensing technology
The sensitivity range of silicon-based sensors is fundamentally limited to below 1100 nm. That’s why infrared imaging has been dominated by III-V detectors that are flip-chip-bonded to silicon readout circuits. This both drives up the costs and limits the pixel pitch and resolution.
The Pixel Technology Explore activity is looking at two methods for cost-effective uncooled IR detection:
- thin film on silicon – Materials such as organic and colloidal quantum dots offer low-cost synthesis, compatibility with a variety of substrates and processing feasibility on a large area. This article gives you an in-depth view.
- hybrid infrared imagers – Both III-V hetero-epitaxy on silicon and III-V material transfer on silicon are compatible with processing in a silicon wafer fab and reduce the manufacturing costs of IR sensors.
In 2023, imec was able to integrate thin-film pinned photodiode into superior short-wave-infrared imaging sensors. Read the press release
Watch this demonstration of SWIR imaging. The imec QDPD camera captures the image through the silicon wafer: