News: Optoelectronics
2 March 2021
ams establishing imaging center of excellence in Rochester
High-performance sensor designer and manufacturer ams AG of Premstaetten, Austria is establishing an imaging center of excellence producing consumer image sensors and product validation to support key US customers from the Riverwood Tech Campus in Rochester, NY, USA. The new R&D and design center aims to continue the tradition of consumer imaging innovation into the sensor-enabled era.
A concentration of photonics expertise in R&D in the Rochester area means that there is talent base to create a center of excellence for optical imaging, notes ams. The firm is keen to expand its engineering capacity, drawing on its global position in consumer imaging and sensing in the smartphone market and the regional heritage and ecosystem in imaging and photonics.
“Rochester is the perfect choice for ams to expand its research and development in the transformative fields of consumer imaging and photonics, to create design innovations that make an impact on our world,” says David Sackett, senior director R&D, Consumer Image Sensors at ams and the site manager. “We look forward to collaborating with institutions such as the NYS American Institute for Manufacturing for Integrated Photonics, and renowned local universities and institutes.”
The Rochester location is in the renovated Riverwood Tech Campus near the Genesee River, and will be used for collaboration with customers and partners.
ams’ says that its position in optical sensing is built on its broad portfolio for 3D sensing including vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) illumination, high-quality display management including behind-OLED (BOLED) sensing, micro-scale proximity sensing, spectral and bio-sensing, and other optical applications. Continuous R&D investments allows it to drive innovation in new optical and optical/sensor module technologies, the firm adds.
Going forward, ams expects that camera-enhancing technologies to offer adoption opportunities as camera-related features will drive key value propositions for smartphone users. This includes areas such as automatic white balancing (AWB), laser-detect autofocus (LDAF)/1D time-of-flight (ToF), wide-range flicker detection and augmented reality (AR)-oriented camera support functions.
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