Sony expands CMOS image sensor production

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sony Corp. will invest approximately 40 billion yen ($474.7 million) in its Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corp. unit to increase the production capacity for its CMOS image sensors.

Sony will expand its production capacity to meet demand. Sony currently provides two CMOS image sensor models: Exmor, which adopts the "column-parallel A/D conversion technique," providing each column within the sensor with its own A/D converter to reduce noise; and Exmor R, which applies a back-illuminated structure to enhance image characteristics through high sensitivity and reduced noise.

Since 2009, Sony has been mass producing Exmor R for digital Still cameras and digital video camcorders on wafer lines with diameter of 200-mm at Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation's Nagasaki Technology Center. Furthermore, at the end of this year Sony plans to start the mass production of Exmor R on wafer lines with diameter of 300-mm at Kumamoto TEC for mobile phone and compact digital still camera markets.