PR99510

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Targeting volume production of Global Shutter & SPAD within the year, Korean

specialty foundry DB HiTek accelerates its entry into new high growth area i.e.

industrial machine vision, autonomous car, AR

DB HiTek starts to expand high value-added specialized image sensor business

with the foundry process technology specialized for global shutter and SPAD

(Single Photon Avalanche Diode) which is in attention in various industries

including automobile, robot and others.

Based on the secured process technology, it plans to improve the profitability

by expanding into new high growth areas such as industrial machine vision,

autonomous car, and AR (Augmented Reality).

Global shutter is a sensor which captures images of fast-moving subjects

without distortion, and it is actively applied to machine vision (a technology

that enables a computing device to inspect, evaluate and identify still or

moving images) that recently focuses attention as an 'eye of smart factory',

plus, its applied scope is spreading rapidly to robots, drones and automobiles.

The specialty of DB HiTek's global shutter is that it has the advanced

technology of 99.997% (less than 1/10,000 for noise occurrence) of GSE (Global

Shutter Efficiency) by preventing optical signal distortion by applying the

light shield and light guide technologies. It can realize the pixel size of 2.8

micrometers in minimum.

Furthermore, SPAD is a supersensitive 3D image sensor which detects weak light

signals at the photon (particles of light) level, and is a core part installed

in the LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) of autonomous cars based on its

advantage of high precision and long distance measurement availability.

Recently, it is applied rapidly by supporting AR functions on premium

smartphones, and its role would be widely expanded to the new generation of

application areas including robots and drones in the future.

LiDAR, also known as ToF (Time of Flight) sensor, is a high precision part

which shoots the laser (light) to grasp a distance between objects and forms by

measuring the returning time of the laser after hitting the object.

Meanwhile, in accordance with the market researcher, Markets and Markets, LiDAR

market is forecasted to continue its high growth of 22% in annual average with

USD3.4 billion in 2026 from USD1.3 billion in 2021.

DB HiTek's SPAD process had secured the function to detect photon in

probabilities of 3.2% from FSI (Front Side Illumination) and 7% from BSI (Back

Side Illumination) based on the wavelength of 940nm. In addition, it plans to

have the best competitiveness in the industry by raising the photon detection

probability to 15% with the process of BDTI (Backside Deep Trench Isolation,

minimizes light loss and realizes improvements in optical performance through

the formation of insulation part between pixels) in the future.

"We are focusing on the product development with the global leading companies

of the industry based on the global shutter and SPAD process, and targeting to

have volume production within the year. Our plan is to strengthen support for

customers to enter the market at the right time by providing optimum

sophisticated process and Process Design Kit (PDK)," said Cheonman Shim, DB

HiTek VP of marketing.

About DB HiTek                        

Headquartered in South Korea, DB HiTek Co., Ltd. is world leader in specialty

foundry with a broad range of support services plus a robust portfolio of

competitive process technologies that include Analog/Power(BCDMOS), CMOS Image

Sensor(CIS), Mixed-Signal, High Voltage CMOS, RF HRS/SOI CMOS, Super Junction

MOSFET technologies. For more information, visit www.dbhitek.com　

(https://dbhitek.com/default.asp).

Source: DB HiTek