p.1 #1 · Full-frame under the microscope: Chipworks examines FF cameras.
Comment on Canon:
" with a particularly interesting tidbit to us being that the company is still working with a 0.5 µm process for its full-frame sensors where rivals have moved onto 0.35 µm, 0.25 µm, or even 0.18 µm processes"
p.1 #4 · Full-frame under the microscope: Chipworks examines FF cameras.
I've been wondering for a while about throwing a sensor into the SEM i run, just to see. I should probably get round to it but the sample cross sectioning is not so easy to do well.
p.1 #8 · Full-frame under the microscope: Chipworks examines FF cameras.
thw2 wrote:
This means the bean counters at Canon are unwilling to invest in new equipment to bring out the best for their customers
I thought Canon was squeezing users for revenue to invest in a new fab, since all of their FF sensors have been made with the .5 µm process, but then I read this part in the article:
"Canon does have a 0.18 µm generation CIS wafer fab process, featuring a specialized Cu back end of line (BEOL) including light pipes (shown below). It is possible to speculate that Canon may be preparing to refresh its FF CIS line to supply devices for a new FF camera system."
Not sure what that means in terms of investment but it looks like Canon has a .18 µm fab but it's not geared towards FF production (yet). Also unsure how good a high (36+) megapixel FF sensor would be using Canon's existing .5 µm fab...if the rumours of the D800 competitor are true then it might be that Canon is already sinking in money to new FF fab infrastructure, which is super $$$.
