SONY unveils IMX459 SPAD ToF Depth Sensor: for Automotive Lidar

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Lidar Ranging, SONY IMX459, SPAD ToF LiDAR Sensor, SONY LiDAR Sensor

September 6, 2021 - Today, SONY Semiconductor announced the launch of the industry-first Direct time-of-flight (dToF) stacked SPAD (single-photon Avalanche diode) depth sensor IMX459, which can be used in automotive lidar, according to SONY China's official micro news.

Samples of the IMX459, which can assist advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD), are expected to be shipped in March.

The SPAD (single-photon Avalanche diode) pixel and range processing circuit, with a size of only 10 square microns, is packaged on a single chip, forming a compact 1/2.9 profile size for high precision and high speed distance measurement, according to the introduction.

Among the many methods used for lidar ranging, SPAD pixels are used as a detection element in a dToF sensor, measuring the distance to an object based on the time of flight (time difference) when light emitted by a light source is reflected off the object and returned to the sensor, SONY said.

SONY unveils IMX459 SPAD ToF Depth Sensor: for Automotive Lidar

IMX459 SPAD ToF depth sensor

SONY has successfully built a unique component architecture that encapsulates SPAD pixel and range processing circuits on a single chip using technologies such as backshot pixel architecture, stacked architecture, and Cu-CU connections created during CMOS image sensor development.

This design enables pixel sizes as small as 10 square microns, achieving high resolution of about 100,000 effective pixels on the 1/2.9 size scale while being miniaturized.

At the same time, it can also enhance the efficiency of photon detection and improve the response ability, and carry out high speed and high precision distance measurement from long distance to close distance with every 15 cm as a unit.

The product meets functional safety standards for automotive applications, which helps improve LIDAR reliability, and the single-chip structure helps enable smaller, lower-cost LIDAR.

SONY unveils IMX459 SPAD ToF Depth Sensor: for Automotive Lidar

Stacked structure of SPAD ToF depth sensor (top: SPAD pixel, bottom: range processing circuit)

SONY unveils IMX459 SPAD ToF Depth Sensor: for Automotive Lidar

Imaging Example (Point cloud)

SONY unveils IMX459 SPAD ToF Depth Sensor: for Automotive Lidar