SONY Exmor and STARVIS sensor series: Basic information and architecture

As a globally recognized image sensor supplier, Sony has been driving innovation in the sensor market and offers a diverse range of sensor products to meet the specific needs of a wide range of fields, including industrial, retail, agriculture, smart city, and medical. Among them, Sony's Exmor, Exmor R, STARVIS and Exmor RS series of sensors are popular in the market due to their excellent performance and wide range of applications. These sensors are not only technologically advanced, but also excel in image capture capabilities in low-light environments and near-infrared light areas, providing strong support for a variety of high-end vision applications.We talked about SONY sensors in the previous article.

This article will take an in-depth look at the key features, architecture and application areas of these sensors to provide you with a comparative analysis of sony exmor vs. STARVIS sensors.

What are the basic features of Sony Starvis, Exmor, Exmor R and Exmor RS sensors?

The Exmor sensor is a revolutionary technology introduced by Sony, whose core advantage lies in significantly reducing noise and improving image quality by digitizing pixel data at an early stage of image data transmission.The Exmor sensor uses a front-illuminated structure (FSI), which performs analog/digital signal conversion and two-step noise reduction in parallel on each column of the CMOS image sensor. Reduction.See here for more information on image noise.

The Exmor R series (the fifth generation of Exmor) has realized an increase in sensitivity by shifting from FSI (front-illuminated) to BSI (back-illuminated) technology. This shift makes the BSI sensor approximately twice as sensitive as a normal front-illuminated image sensor, greatly enhancing performance in low-light conditions.

The STARVIS sensor, a member of the Exmor R series, is known for its high sensitivity in the visible and near-infrared light region (NIR), offering 2000 mV/μm² or more. This back-illuminated pixel technology is designed for CMOS image sensors and is used to achieve high image quality in extreme low-light conditions.

The Exmor RS series, on the other hand, addresses the Exmor R series' shortcomings in NIR spectral performance by increasing the depth of the pixel well. In addition, sony cmos sensor introduced a stacked image sensor architecture in the Exmor RS, which arranges the sensor circuitry for each pixel underneath the silicon substrate instead of next to it. This design helps collect more light in the NIR region, which improves the quantum efficiency (QE) of that spectrum.

What is the architecture of the Sony Exmor, Exmor R, STARVIS and Exmor RS sensors like?

Exmor sensors use a front-illuminated structure (FSI), a design that allows analog/digital signal conversion to occur at the front of the pixel, but this also limits the efficiency of light reception.

As per Sony's website, the hierarchical structure of the Exmor sensor consists of:

1. microlens on the chip
2. Color filters
3. Metal wiring
4. Light receiving surface
5. Photodiode

This structure performs well when processing high-speed image data, but has limitations in sensitivity in low-light and near-infrared light areas.

The Exmor R series sensors, on the other hand, utilize a back-illuminated structure (BSI), which is a major technological breakthrough that exposes the light-receiving surface and the photodiode directly to light, dramatically improving the sensitivity of the sensor.

The order of the Exmor R's layer structure is as follows:

1. Microlens on the chip
2. Color filter
3. Light receiving surface
4. Photodiode
5. Metal wiring

This architecture optimizes light reception, resulting in a significant improvement in sensor performance under low-light conditions.

The STARVIS sensor, part of the Exmor R series, inherits the advantages of the BSI architecture and specifically optimizes image quality in low-light and near-infrared light areas.

The Exmor RS series sensors innovate further by adopting a stacked image sensor architecture. In this architecture, the sensor circuitry is stacked underneath the silicon substrate instead of next to it, a design that not only improves light reception efficiency, but also enhances the sensor's quantum efficiency in the near-infrared light region. Ideal for imaging under extreme light conditions.

Popular application areas for Sony Exmor and STARVIS sensors

Medical microscopy

In the field of medical imaging, especially in microscopy applications, where image quality and sensitivity are highly demanded, exmor r sony camera STARVIS sensors, with their excellent low-light performance and high NIR sensitivity, are ideally suited for use in medical microscopy, providing clear images and accurate diagnostic support.

Intelligent Surveillance Systems

Intelligent surveillance cameras need to operate in a variety of lighting conditions, including low-light or nighttime environments. the high sensitivity and low-noise characteristics of sony exmor r and STARVIS sensors make them ideal for these applications. These sensors provide clear images and support functions such as people counting, crowd analysis and vehicle counting.

Sinoseen's Sony Sensor-based Camera Modules

Sinoseen offers a wide selection of products based on Snoy sensors, including but not limited to IMX290, IMX298, IMX462, etc., IMX577. a partial list of product links is provided below:

SNS21799-V1.0-2MP 120FPS IMX290 Night Vision Camera Module

XLS-GM974-V1.0-16MP IMX298HDR Camera Module

SNS-462-V1.0-120FPS HDR IMX452 Camera Module

SNS-GM1024-V1.0-37-4K 12MP USB3.0 IMX577 Camera Module

If you are struggling to find the right embedded vision solution for your embedded vision project, contact us. Learn more about Sinoseen's customization services.