SI Sensors announces groundbreaking technology for imaging

This innovative approach, known as CCD-in-CMOS, significantly enhances the capabilities of burst mode imaging, enabling ultra-fast capture speeds with unprecedented speed and sensitivity.

Developed at the company’s R&D facility based in Cambridge, UK, the novel CCD-in-CMOS technological advance combines the best of both CCD and CMOS sensors. CCDs, for example, provide an ability to store signal in the charge domain, prior to both voltage conversion and subsequent digitisation. It is these signal conversions which limit the frame capture speed of conventional image sensors.

By comparison, CMOS technology advantageously enables system on chip architectures which integrate additional circuitry on the same chip, reducing the overall system cost and complexity. By integrating CCD memory with CMOS photodiodes and readout circuits, this hybrid technology achieves exceptional image quality at ultra-high speeds, making it ideal for applications requiring ultra-high speed image capture and analysis.

"We believe that our ability to create ultra-fast burst mode devices will revolutionise high speed imaging. Capable of recording at millions of frames per second with full resolution, this new generation of CCD-in-CMOS image sensors can provide exceptional capture speed with high signal-to-noise ratio, ensuring clear and detailed images of the fastest observable events. Adaptable to imaging applications ranging from high-speed video recording to hyperspectral imaging our CCD-in-CMOS technology enables efficient data handling through advanced in-situ storage, control and readout mechanisms that reduce system complexity," remarked Phil Brown, General Manager of SI Sensors.