BSI Technology Delivers Best-in-Class Performance for Automotive ADAS and Viewing Cameras

ON Semiconductor, driving energy efficiency innovations, is expanding its highly-regarded 1/3-inch 1 megapixel (MP) image sensor portfolio with early sampling of the company’s first backside illuminated (BSI) sensor technology for the automotive imaging market. The innovative new sensor technology delivers 4x better low light signal-to-noise ratio, a 40 percent increase in visible light sensitivity, and greater than 60 percent improvement in near infrared (NIR) performance than the current market leading AR0132AT CMOS image sensor for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

“The advantages this new BSI technology brings to the automotive market are exciting,” said Sandor Barna, vice president, Automotive and Scanning Division at ON Semiconductor. “The state-of-the-art BSI devices based on this technology, that we currently have in early sampling, exhibit true industry-leading low light performance, and demonstrate our commitment to continued investment in automotive imaging technology.”

The first product to incorporate this new technology will be the AR0136AT 1/3-inch optical format CMOS digital image sensor with 1280 x 960 resolution, and 3.75 micron BSI pixels (p).  The AR0136AT supports linear and high dynamic range (HDR) modes, in a single chip HDR solution, with a 120 decibel (dB) dynamic range in HDR mode. It has an output pixel rate of 74.25 MP/second (maximum), which results in a frame rate of 45 frames per second (fps) at 960p resolution and 60 fps at 720p resolution. It has an operating junction temperature range of -40 °C to +125 °C and will be fully qualified to AEC-Q100. Engineering samples will be available in Q3 of 2015, with mass production planned for early 2016.