Albert Theuwissen Receives European SEMI Award 2014

SEMI: Albert Theuwissen, CEO of Harvest Imaging and professor at Delft University of Technology, is the recipient of the European SEMI Award 2014. The Award, which recognizes Theuwissen’s outstanding contribution to the continuing education of engineers, was presented during the SEMICON Europa Executive Summit in Grenoble On Oct 7, 2014.

Albert Theuwissen worked for nearly 20 years at Philips Research and then at DALSA in lead engineering and management roles. In 2001, Theuwissen became a part-time professor at Delft University of Technology. In 1995, he wrote the textbook “Solid-State Imaging with Charge-Coupled Devices” which is now a standard reference work in the field of solid-state imaging.

After “retiring” in 2007, Theuwissen founded Harvest Imaging and has played a major role in the continuing education of engineers in the field of solid-state imaging and digital cameras. He has taught and trained over 3,000 engineers at image sensor companies (such as Kodak, Sony, Samsung, Aptina, ST Microelectronics, Micron, Intel, Philips, Canon, DALSA, and Panasonic) and consumer product companies (such as Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens, Research InMotion, Thomson, and many others). In addition, he has conducted short courses at IEEE’s IEDM, ISSCC, ICIP and SPIE’s Electronic Imaging Conference.

Continuing education — outside of the scope of university professors operating as part-time short-course instructors — within the industry is critical. By educating technologists and application specialists, Theuwissen created a successful model for future technological education: the entrepreneur-educator.

“Albert recognized the need for technical education and created a successful continuing education offering that navigates and conforms to the competitive and proprietary IP environment, benefitting thousands of electron-device engineers and also the industry,” said Heinz Kundert, president of SEMI Europe. “It is an honor to recognize Albert for his outstanding contributions to the European semiconductor and microsystems industry.”

The European SEMI Award was established more than two decades ago to recognize individuals and teams who made a significant contribution to the European semiconductor and related industries. Prior award recipients hailed from these companies: Infineon, Semilab, Deutsche Solar, STMicroelectronics, IMEC, Fraunhofer Institute, and more.

Congratulations, Albert!

Update: Somebody (not Albert) sent me a picture from the award ceremony:

Omnivision Announces Another Stacked Sensor

PRNewswire: OmniVision announced the OV16850, a 16MP imager for smartphones. Using an 1.12um pixel and leveraging OmniVision's stacked die technology, the PureCel-S OV16850 captures stills and video in native 16:9 aspect ratio.

"16-megapixel sensors represent another milestone in the 'megapixel race' for higher resolution cameras in smartphones. Coming in a native high definition 16:9 aspect ratio, the OV16850 is designed with the smartphone camera user's experience in mind," said Bahman Hadji, product marketing manager at OmniVision. "As smartphone OEMs increase display resolutions to 1080p Full HD (FHD) and 1440p Quad HD (QHD), the OV16850 offers a camera experience matching these display aspect ratios and filling the smartphone screen without any loss in field-of-view for snapshots and video. It also utilizes OmniVision's stacked die technology and a high chief ray angle to enable a 16-megapixel camera solution in a compact 9.5 mm x 9.5 mm x 5.5 mm module."

The 1/2.6-inch OV16850 is capable of capturing full-resolution 16MP images at 30fps, 4K2K video at 30fps, QHD video at 60fps, and 720p video at 120fps. It is said to deliver the best-in-class sensitivity, SNR, and full-well capacity for a 1.12um pixel. Additionally, the OV16850 features alternate-row HDR mode.

The sensor is currently sampling and is expected to enter volume production in Q1 2015.

Sharp Presents Colorized NIR Camera

Nikkei Tech publishes quite a controversial story on the new Sharp technology: Sharp has developed a camera that colorizes NIR nighttime video and exhibited it at Ceatec Japan on Oct. 7-11, 2014. The company plans to commercialize it in a monitoring camera in November 2014, and to use it in automotive camera later on. The camera color filter "separates near-infrared light into red, green and blue lights. The filter is not made of an organic material but an inorganic material."

The near-infrared LEDs emit light to a distance of 5 to 10m. The reflected light passes through the lens and the newly-developed filter to a Sharp CCD and then used to produce a color image. No further technology details are reported.

TowerJazz and KERI Collaborate to Bring Commercial X-Ray Sensor to Market

Business Wire: TowerJazz and the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), a non-profit government-funded research institute in Republic of Korea, announce an on-going collaboration which has led to successful development of a X-Ray image sensor which is ready for the commercial market.

Since 2009, TowerJazz has partnered with KERI to provide pixel IP, special R&D assistance and other support. The global X-ray equipment market for medical, dental and veterinary applications reached the $10 billion mark in 2012 and should increase by 18% to $12 billion by 2017, according to IMS Research. KERI already has agreements with various commercial companies for technology transfer and detailed plans are under discussion now. KERI expects mass production to begin in 2015 for this CMOS image sensor and expected sales revenue could easily reach over $10M per year once ramp up occurs.

“With the great support of TowerJazz, our image sensor is ready to be commercialized. Since the beginning, TowerJazz has been supporting and encouraging us throughout the development process by providing specialized technical service and prompt response from on-site experts with diverse experience. We will maintain our strong relationship while starting production in the coming year for this product and we look forward to future cooperation at TowerJazz’s 12” fab in Japan through TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co.,” said Dr. Sung Chae Jeon, Principal Research Engineer, KERI.

Invisage Gets Venture Loan

Marketwired: Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, a finance company that provides secured loans to venture capital and private equity backed development-stage companies, announces it led a venture loan facility, in which Square 1 Bank participated, for InVisage Technologies, Inc. InVisage will use the funds primarily for working capital purposes.

"We are pleased to add InVisage to our top tier list of venture loan portfolio companies," stated Gerald A. Michaud, President of Horizon. "InVisage's QuantumFilm platform and series of products address the fundamental physics limitations of today's silicon-based image sensors used in smartphone cameras and other applications. This loan facility provides InVisage with strategic capital to support the manufacturing and commercialization of its products."

InVisage President and CEO, Jess Lee, shared, "We are pleased to have Horizon as one of our investment partners and are fortunate to have attracted top-tier investors that share our vision of creating the next era of cameras -- fast, thin, high performance -- to transform the mobile, photography and connected device segments. This significant loan facility is an affirmation of the growth opportunity we see for our QuantumFilm™ platform and series of products. We now have additional financial flexibility to drive and market our capabilities to Tier 1 customers."

In April 2014, Invisage announced its latest funding round of $18M, bringing the total investment to more than $100M.

Slanted Edge MTF Measurement, Step-by-Step

Albert Theuwissen publishes a step-by-step guide of slanted edge MTF measurement.

MTF obtained by the slanted edge method.

Omnivision Announces its First Stacked Sensor

PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the OV13860, a 1/2.6-inch PureCel-S OV13860 image sensor uses large 1.3um pixels and leverages OmniVision's new stacked die technology.

"Today's smartphone OEMs are conscious of the fact that users expect higher resolution cameras in their smartphones. But this increase in resolution is often accomplished by a reduction of pixel sizes, which results in a loss of camera performance and low-light sensitivity," said Bahman Hadji, product marketing manager at OmniVision. "The OV13860 is the ideal solution to this dilemma: a unique 1/2.6-inch 13-megapixel sensor with 1.3-micron pixels – 35 percent larger in size than traditional 13-megapixel sensors. Despite its 1/2.6-inch optical format, the OV13860 uses a high chief ray angle (CRA) to enable a camera module z-height of 5.5 mm, suitable for today's slim smartphones. With its large pixels and high CRA, the OV13860 provides an extraordinary 'no-compromise' imaging solution for next-generation flagship smartphones."

The OV13860 is the first in the family of BSI PureCel sensors based on the company's stacked die technology. Among the OV13860's advanced features is autofocus contrast calculation at 120fps while imaging at full 13MP resolution to enable a fast autofocus system. When paired with a high-speed actuator, the OV13860 can provide for nearly instant AF by delivering contrast statistics at up to four times faster than traditional single frame-based contrast calculations. The OV13860 also supports alternate row dual-exposure HDR mode for delivering HDR video in challenging lighting scenes.

The OV13860's large 1.3um pixel is said to have an improved high- and low-light performance, SNR, and full-well capacity when compared to products with 1.12um pixels. The OV13860 can capture full-resolution 13MP still images at 30fps or record 4K2K video at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps, or 720p at 120fps. Each video output format includes additional pixels to support EIS.

The OV13860 is currently sampling and is expected to enter volume production in Q4 2014.