Toshiba Electronics Europe today announced the launch of a new 1.12 micrometre pixel CMOS image sensor. The latest addition to the company’s CMOS image sensor line-up combines the industry’s smallest level pixel size with the enhanced sensitivity and improved imaging performance of back-side illumination technology (BSI). Sampling of the new sensor will begin at the end of this month and mass production will follow from the end of 2011.

As smartphones get smaller and their image sensors continue to offer higher resolutions the challenge is reducing pixel size when miniaturisation can result in a fall off in performance. BSI overcomes this and brings a new level of responsiveness to CMOS imaging. BSI sensors deploy lenses on the rear of the sensor – on the silicon substrate – rather than the front, where wiring limits light absorption. This positioning boosts light sensitivity and absorption, and allows formation of finer quality image pixels in smaller CMOS image sensors. This also makes BSI CMOS sensors more suitable for motion picture applications.

Toshiba has made full use of the advantages of BSI to realize image pixels with a pitch of 1.12 micrometres, and to pack 8.08 million of them into a 1/4-inch (6.35mm) sensor. The new sensor achieves high level imaging and processing that will bring a new level of image quality to smartphones.

Toshiba expects BSI CMOS image sensors to become the mainstream technology in portable digital designs, with applications expanding from mobile phones and digital cameras to smartphones and tablets. CMOS image sensors are a focus product of Toshiba’s Analogue and Imaging Systems business. The latest addition to and enhancement of its BSI CMOS sensor line-up will reinforce the sensor business and the company’s ability