CIS modules and CMOS Sensors by CMOS Sensors Inc.

CMOS Sensor Inc. manufactures a range of CMOS linear sensors with different resolutions. These can either be used singly or assembled into a longer series. Areas of application include amongst other things the industrial quality control and the consumer market. However, the products of this manufacturer have also been used successfully in other applications, for example in the aerospace industry. Eureca is the European sales office for CMOS Sensor Inc.

CMOS sensors and CIS modules

CIS (Contact Image Sensor) modules consist of a linear array of CMOS detectors, a linear lens array as well as a LED lighting for illumination, all housed in a compact housing. Applications include scanners and fax machines as well as the inspection of flat products. If one of the standard types listed below is not suitable for your application, it can in many cases be modified accordingly even for relatively small quantities. Please contact us in such cases to examine together the exact possibilities.

IPL-Camera (Industrial Line Scan Camera)

For scanning tasks in the industrial sector, CMOS Sensor Inc. supplies a number of special CIS modules. These offer a sturdy metal housing and a very high line scan rate, so that even very fast moving materials can be tested.

Space Satellite Sensor

Surface sensors from CMOS Sensor Inc. were already part of space missions, but are also used in other high-end applications, such as in the industrial sector.

CMOS Linear Sensors and »Contact Image Sensor« (CIS) Modules

CMOS Linear Sensors

CIS modules consist of rows of CMOS image sensors, LED lighting and linear optics in a compact housing. The individual CMOS image sensor chips are manufactured on wafers and can be used in a variety of applications such as check readers, color scanners, digital copiers, mark readers, barcode readers, OCR, edge detectors, positioning and optical encoding and more.

The table provides an overview of the specifications of the available sensors. Not all are listed in the modules presented below, as these are not available in small quantities. In principle, however, all possible variations (in larger quantities) can be ordered and produced. Please contact us for an individual offer!

»Contact-Image-Sensor« (CIS) Modules

These individual CMOS image sensor chips are also designed for the application of Silicon Butting Contact Image Sensor (CIS) modules. A chip can be connected to another chip to form a long image sensor module. CIS modules are elementary components of many fax machines and scanners. Modules are available in the standard lengths of 24 mm, A9, A8, A6, A4, A3, ..., A0 in resolutions from 100 to 600 dpi.

The CIS modules listed here are optimized for scanning documents in »contact mode«. This means that the object to be scanned is guided past the sensor on the front glass plate.

• CIS Modules 200 DPI: C106 Series
• CIS Modules 300/600 DPI: C116 Series
• CIS Modules 200/400 DPI: C118 Series
• CIS ModuleS 100/200 DPI: C168 Series
• CIS Modules 300/600 DPI: C206 Series

For applications where a greater working distance is required, the modules can be disassembled to separate the individual components for example in a custom housing at the appropriate new intervals. In this way, these modules can also be used for the control of continuous goods in the industry (films, fabric, paper and the like).

It should be noted, however, that the working distance to the CIS module is maintained very precisely by good guidance of the object to be tested in order to be able to use the optimum optical resolution of the module.

The CIS modules can also be supplied on request with a minimum order quantity and without a linear optic and LED board. Hereby they can be used as a long CMOS line sensor for for example the position detection of laser beams.

From a certain order quantity, customized modifications of the modules are generally possible. These include, i.a. customer-specific housings, several parallel data outputs to increase the read-out speed or the assembly with special LEDs. Likewise, the individual CMOS sensors from which the CIS modules are made internally are available for own OEM projects in wafer form. Please contact us if interested.

IPL-Camera (Industrial Line Scan Camera)

The IPL camera is a line scan camera for industrial applications and suitable for the flat surface AOI inspection. These cameras have been developed for applications that require large-format optical scanning of materials and require a continuous, undistorted image. Available in 0.25–1.25 m (up to 3 m or longer), so for example the inspection of a Gen 8.5 LCD production line with a 2.2 m × 2.6 m glass substrate is possible with an IPL camera at least 2.25 m long.

The IPL camera is compact, robust, and all internals like lens, sensors, circuitry, etc. are housed into just one unit. So manufacturers get a reliable, low maintenance, and cost effective solution for providing the highest quality products to their customers.

Technical details

• Image Length: 0.25–1.25 m (up to 3 m or longer)
• Resolution: 300, 600, 1200 DPI
• Scan Rate: 100 Hz–18 kHz lines per second @ 600 DPI
• Pixel Clock Rate: 8 MHz fixed
• Exposure Control: 50 µs–10 ms
• Interface: Camera Link
• Output: One Camera Link per 0.25 m
• Connector: 26-pin MDR
• Light Source Control: 4 different light sources
• Operating Temperature: 0–50 °C, stationary ambient air, freestanding
• Power Supply: 5 V DC

​Application

• Glass inspection
• LCD, OLED process inspection
• LCD, OLED panel inspection
• Thin film solar panel process inspection
• LCD Back light panel inspection
• PCB inspection
• Web inspection
• Printing press inspection
• Textile inspection
• Metal can inspection
• Any flat surface

We will gladly send you a detailed data sheet on request!

Space Satellite Sensor

The following products were originally developed for use in space conditions and can be delivered as specified and tested accordingly. Of course, they are also available for other demanding applications, for example in the industry.

C468 for CMOS MSOC

• 12,000 pixels of PAN and 6,000 pixels of four Multi-spectral (B, G, R, NIR)
• Extra high speed (0.3 ms per line integration time)
• 10 µm × 10 µm for PAN and 20 µm × 20 µm for Multi-spectral

C640 for 3D Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)

• 4000 pixel linear image sensor, PGA, 12 bit ADC output
• Destructive / Non destructive readout mode
• Global exposure control pin to control integration time
• Low fixed pattern noise, high dynamic range

C650 for Hyper-Spectral Camera (Hysl)

• 256 x 512 area sensor, PGA, 12 bit ADC output
• 50 µm × 50 µm pixel size
• Snap shot function, up to 250 ms integration time
• Row wise response compensation, dark voltage cancellation
• < 1 % of the linearity

Moon Mission

Radiation specifications are:

• CCD < 100 krad
• CMOS < 300 krad

Focal Plane Array (Space Camera)

• Pan: 12,000 pixel, 10 µm pitch, @ 297 µs ± 5 % integration time
• MS (4 bands): 6,000 pixels, 20 µm pitch, @ 594 µs ± 5 % integration time
• Band to band registration error < 1 µm
• Band to band flatness < 1 µm
• Band to band peak elevation < 1 µm

SNR Requirements

You want to learn more about CMOS space sensors? Here are two documents provided by CMOS Sensor Inc. on their Space Satellite Sensor subpage.

• PDF »CMOS Sensor for RSI applications« – DOI: 10.1117/12.977606
• PDF »Multiband CMOS Sensor simplify FPA design« – DOI: 10.1117/12.2197235

Some information about these products is also available as PDF flyer .