Independent foundry TowerJazz (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) has signed a deal with silicon-on-insulator developer Soitec to develop a high end CMOS image sensors lighting solution for industrial, medical and automotive applications.
The firms will collaborate on a backside illumination (BSI) platform for CMOS image sensors. Yole Developpement principal analyst Jerome Baron said, “The BSI image sensor market will be mainly driven by digital cameras and cell-phone applications, but high performance imaging applications such as medical, industrial and automotive vision sensors are also an important segment." He estimates the market for high-end BSI image sensors to reach $120 million by 2013.
Soitec is one of four units of The Soitec Group, which is headquartered in Bernin, France.
BSI is gaining traction in the image sensor market for its higher resolution, smaller pixels that capture more light, higher quantum efficiency (QE), and improved performance. The technology provides very high light sensitivity in high-end applications.
TowerJazz VP and specialty business unit general manager Dr. Avi Strum said that the collaboration will result in high-performance image sensors and "will allow fabless designers to create new generations of ultra-sensitive image sensors which in turn will enable exciting new applications for cinematography, DSLR cameras, space cameras, and high-end medical cameras, among others.”
Shares in Migdal Ha'emek-based TowerJazz were unchanged yesterday at $1.15, giving a market cap of $192.3 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 2, 2010
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