Kodak teams with IBM to develop new image sensors
Rochester, NY, September 20, 2004--Eastman Kodak and IBM are joining forces to develop and manufacture image sensors for use in consumer products such as digital still cameras and camera phones. The two companies signed a multi-year agreement that will leverage Kodak's broad portfolio of image sensor technology and IBM's leading-edge complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing expertise to allow Kodak to commercialize a new family of CMOS image sensor (CIS) devices. IBM will expand its value-added foundry offerings to include the design and high-volume production of image sensors for rapidly growing digital consumer imaging applications.
"Worldwide demand for image sensor devices is expanding at an explosive pace," said Chris McNiffe, General Manager of Kodak's Image Sensor Solutions business. "Today, Kodak is a worldwide leader in charged coupled device (CCD) image sensors serving the high-performance needs of the professional and industrial imaging markets. Our partnership with IBM now allows Kodak to deploy our core competencies in image science and sensor research into high-volume consumer applications, thereby significantly expanding the market opportunities for our products."
Two of the highest growth markets for digital imaging are currently consumer digital still cameras and camera phones, segments that are ideal for CIS devices because of the design simplification and power savings offered by this technology. CIS devices currently on the market, however, often fall short of the image quality customers have come to expect from consumer digital products based on traditional CCD image sensors. Kodak and IBM will collaborate on the manufacture of CIS devices with proprietary designs from Kodak that will significantly improve image quality and take advantage of the power, integration and cost benefits of CMOS-based sensors.
A key element of the joint Kodak/IBM CIS process is Kodak's unique CIS pixel technology, including its proprietary pinned photodiode and 4T cell architectures. These technologies, licensed to IBM as part of this agreement, permit the manufacture of CIS pixels that approach the size of the smallest CCD pixels offered today, with improved photosensitivity and lower noise. The new process also will leverage innovative IBM manufacturing technologies, such as the 0.18-um CMOS copper manufacturing process already present at IBM's semiconductor facility in Burlington, Vermont, where the image sensors will be produced. When combined with Kodak's recent acquisition of additional design resources and intellectual property from National Semiconductor Corp., these next generation CIS devices will enable development of consumer products that can capture high-quality, multi-megapixel still images as well as 30-frame per second videos under low light photographic conditions.