ams invests in new imaging center of excellence in Rochester, NY to boost sensor-enabled consumer imaging expertise

Premstaetten, Austria (March 2, 2021) — ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide supplier of high-performance sensor solutions, is establishing an imaging center of excellence producing state-of-the-art consumer image sensors and product validation to support key US customers from the Riverwood Tech Campus in Rochester, New York, USA. The new research and development and design center will continue the tradition of world-class consumer imaging innovation into the sensor-enabled era.

A concentration of photonics expertise in research and development in the Rochester area means that there is world-class talent base to create a state-of-the-art center of excellence for optical imaging. ams is keen to expand its engineering capacity, drawing upon the company’s excellent global position in consumer imaging and sensing in the smartphone market and the regional heritage and ecosystem in the fields of imaging and photonics.

“Rochester is the perfect choice for ams to expand its research and development in the trans-formative fields of consumer imaging and photonics, to create design innovations that make an impact on our world. We look forward to collaborating with institutions such as the NYS American Institute for Manufacturing for Integrated Photonics, and renowned local universities and institutes,” said David Sackett, Senior Director Research and Development, Consumer Image Sensors at ams and the site manager.

The Rochester location is in the renovated Riverwood Tech Campus near the Genesee River which is modern, attractive, and ideal for creativity and collaboration with customers and partners.

Driving innovation in new optical technologies through significant R&D investments

ams’ leading position in optical sensing is built on its broad portfolio for 3D sensing including VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser) illumination, high quality display management including behind-OLED (BOLED) sensing, micro-scale proximity sensing, spectral and bio-sensing, and other optical applications. Continuous significant R&D investments allow ams to drive innovation in new optical and optical/sensor module technologies.

Going forward ams expects sophisticated camera enhancing technologies to offer attractive 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 ToF, wide-range flicker detection and AR-oriented camera support functions. As an example, ams’ innovative AWB solution uses accurate spectral sensing analysis to open a new way of boosting picture quality and natural color expression and is seeing additional market traction.