ISOCELL Image Sensor
Samsung Electronics announced on September 24 that it successfully developed a new type of metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor named the ISOCELL and plans to produce them starting in Q4 of this year.
In January, the company applied for a patent on the 0.25-inch 8-megapixel ISOCELL CMOS image sensors. They are semiconductors that convert light coming through a camera lens to electrons. They are mainly used in smartphone and digital cameras.
The newly-developed ISOCELL changes the structure of sensors so as to maximize light gathered on pixels that form CMOS image sensors.
Generally, image quality is hugely affected by the amount of light on each pixel. Recently, pixel sizes have continued to decrease, since the size of CMOS image sensor chips have shrunk, and the number of pixels has increased. The problem is that smaller pixels are difficult to sufficiently absorb light. Thus, existing BSI technology has faced limitations in improving image quality.
The most notable characteristics of the ISOCELL is that with a new structure that isolates adjacent pixels, it can reduce the loss of light by minimizing undesired electrical crosstalk between pixels, an interference phenomenon where light that enters each pixel influences adjacent ones.
For five consecutive years, Samsung Electronics dominated the field of CMOS image sensors for mobile phones. Currently, the company is expanding its business with a wide range of applications, including mirrorless cameras.