Sep 29 2010
InVisage Technologies, Inc. -- a Silicon Valley-based start-up revolutionizing the image sensor market -- today announced that its breakthrough technology, QuantumFilm™ won top honors in The Wall Street Journal 2010 Technology Innovation Award in the semiconductors category.
QuantumFilm is the world's first quantum dot-based material for image sensors, replacing silicon. QuantumFilm captures up to four times more light than traditional silicon-based image sensors, enabling significantly higher quality images from mobile handset cameras.
QuantumFilm is based on quantum dots -- a semiconductor material that is nanometers in size -- engineered to have unprecedented light-absorbing properties. QuantumFilm works by capturing an imprint of a light image, and then employing the silicon beneath it to read out the image and turn it into versatile digital signals. InVisage spent three years engineering the quantum dot material to produce highly sensitive image sensors that integrate with standard CMOS manufacturing processes, also developed by InVisage. The result is an image sensor that offers remarkable increases in light-capturing efficiencies over existing solutions.
John M. Leger, a Journal news editor who oversees the Innovation Awards, said: "Judges were very impressed with InVisage's QuantumFilm technology. It should open up a lot of new applications in a variety of consumer products."
"Our drive to innovate, to find solutions outside the existing image-sensor model is what led us to look beyond traditional silicon," said Jess Lee, CEO, InVisage Technologies. "By allowing consumers to take high quality photos with handheld digital devices like their cell phone even in low light, QuantumFilm is poised to become the de-facto next generation camera platform. We are honored to be so prestigiously recognized for our efforts by The Wall Street Journal."
The Wall Street Journal received nearly 600 entries, with only 8% receiving this award.
Source: http://www.invisageinc.com/