News Article
Tower’s pixel stitching CIS for Cypress
Cypress Semiconductor and Tower Semiconductor have announced the successful completion of Cypress’s first 0.18 micron stitched large format Contact Image Sensor (CIS) device. The plans state that the product will be manufactured using Tower Semiconductor’s latest generation of stitching technology at Tower’s Fab 2, in Israel.
Cypress, a developer and manufacturer of mixed signal solutions and CMOS image sensor components, have collaborated with Tower, an independent specialty foundry, on CIS products for over five years. This relationship primarily used Tower’s Fab 1 technology. Cypress now also uses Fab 2’s 0.18 micron technology, producing products in order to serve a range of operations. These include; industrial and dental imaging along with high end cameras.
The stitched CIS product is the latest addition to Tower’s Fab 2, 0.18 micron technology platform. Tower’s stitching technology overcomes tool limitations posed by photolithography, to seamlessly tile 5.5 micron pixel sections into a large array of pixels, resulting in ultra high resolution, high quality colour image sensors.
Cypress’s design expertise and patented IP in custom large die sensors, combined with Tower’s CIS process capabilities, result in sensors benefiting from high image quality and large die sizes.
It seems that both partners are equally pleased at the development of the collaboration;
“We are very pleased with the results of our first 0.18 micron stitched design in the Tower process. Tower brings unique CIS technology and manufacturing capabilities to our portfolio,” said Dr. Cliff Drowley, vice president and general manager of Cypress’s image sensor business unit. “ “We are pleased to partner with Cypress in the manufacturing of their custom CMOS image sensing designs,” said Dr. Avi Strum, general manager of the specialty product line at Tower Semiconductor.
The stitched CIS product is the latest addition to Tower’s Fab 2, 0.18 micron technology platform. Tower’s stitching technology overcomes tool limitations posed by photolithography, to seamlessly tile 5.5 micron pixel sections into a large array of pixels, resulting in ultra high resolution, high quality colour image sensors.
Cypress’s design expertise and patented IP in custom large die sensors, combined with Tower’s CIS process capabilities, result in sensors benefiting from high image quality and large die sizes.
It seems that both partners are equally pleased at the development of the collaboration;
“We are very pleased with the results of our first 0.18 micron stitched design in the Tower process. Tower brings unique CIS technology and manufacturing capabilities to our portfolio,” said Dr. Cliff Drowley, vice president and general manager of Cypress’s image sensor business unit. “ “We are pleased to partner with Cypress in the manufacturing of their custom CMOS image sensing designs,” said Dr. Avi Strum, general manager of the specialty product line at Tower Semiconductor.
