Lensless image sensor using silicon through-hole array chip

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K04621
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 21060:Electron device and electronic equipment-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Arima Yutaka 九州工業大学, 産学イノベーションセンター, 教授 (10325582)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: レンズレスイメージセンサー / シリコンスルーホールチップ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It was confirmed that even a lens-less imaging device with a simple structure of a single rectangular through-hole adhered to the image sensor chip can sharpen the blurry image acquired with it. The through-hole was formed on a typical silicon substrate using semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Using regular changes in the field of view between each pixel received through the through-hole, we defined a cost function expressed in terms of spatial features of the sharpened image. It was then confirmed that the lens-less image could be sharpened by that solution whose cost was small. However, we could not obtain lensless images with sufficient accuracy in the experiments conducted during this research period. It was found that the cost function needs to be improved.

Free Research Field

電子デバイス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は光の屈折や回折・干渉現象を利用しない光学装置の可能性を検証することであり、工学的意義は究極の薄型イメージセンサーを低コストで実現することである。そこで、本研究では光の屈折現象や、回折・干渉現象を利用しない新たなレンズレス手法を考案しその可能性を実証した。イメージセンサーチップ上に一つの開口部のみを設ける単純なレンズレス撮像素子構造でも、ある程度の鮮明化画像が取得できることを示した。この手法では光の屈折や回折・干渉現象を利用しないので、レンズやレンズレス用マスク等の適用が難しい、大スケールや極狭スペースでの撮像装置を容易に形成できる優位性がある。