ams and SmartSens collaborate on 3D and NIR sensors

ams AG (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, today announced that it has signed a formal letter of intent with SmartSens Technology, a global provider of high performance CMOS image sensors, to collaborate closely in the field of image sensors.

This collaboration will complement ams’ strategic path to further expand and enrich its product portfolio for all 3D technologies – Active Stereo Vision (ASV), Time of Flight (ToF) and Structured Light (SL). At the same time, it will accelerate market delivery and provide a more competitive new product portfolio. In order to quickly meet the growing demand for 3D sensing solutions in mobile devices, the collaboration will initially focus on 3D near-infrared (NIR) sensors for facial recognition and applications that require high quantum efficiency (QE) in the NIR range (2D and 3D).

To accelerate time-to-market for customers, the two companies will collaborate on a 3D ASV reference design to support the planned future 1.3MP stacked BSI global shutter image sensor with up to 40% QE at 940nm. This NIR sensor is a perfect complement to ams’ 3D lighting portfolio, expanding ams’ 3D portfolio while optimizing overall system performance. The reference design will enable high-performance depth maps for payment, facial recognition and AR/VR applications at a very competitive system cost.

“Our collaboration with SmartSens in the image sensor space will be of great benefit to customers and will significantly accelerate time-to-market for mobile phones and other devices (including IoT) that use technologies such as Active Stereo Vision (ASV) and Structured Light (SL) based on ams’ industry-leading 3D technology and voltage-domain global shutter core IP,” said Stéphane Curral, Executive Vice President Image Sensor Solutions at ams. “In addition, this collaboration will help customers accelerate the introduction of exciting innovative 2D and 3D sensor solutions for automotive cockpit applications.”

Chris Yiu, Chief Marketing Officer at SmartSens Technology, said: “We are very excited to combine our expertise in image sensors and NIR technology with ams’ expertise in 3D and core image sensing IP. We are confident that this combination of expertise and sales channels will enable us to provide the best solutions for our customers.”