DB HiTek to expand high value-added specialized image sensor business

South Korea's chip foundry DB HiTek Co. attained foundry process technology and is set to expand its high-value-added specialized image sensor business.

The company said on Tuesday that it has secured specialized technology for global shutters and single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), which have received keen attention from the automobile, robot, and various other industries.

Based on the process technology, DB HiTek will expand its business into new high-growth areas such as industrial machine vision, self-driving cars, and augmented reality that can inspect defects in smart factories.

The global shutter is a sensor that captures images of fast-moving objects without distortion. Recently, it is widely used in machine vision, which is attracting attention as the "eye of a smart factory."

As the range of applications for robots, drones, and automobiles is rapidly widening, the market is growing fast as well.

In addition, SPAD is an ultra-sensitive 3D image sensor that detects the weakest light signals at the photon level. This is a key component that is mounted on the LiDAR of autonomous vehicles.

Recently, as AR features are supported in Apple iPhones and other phone brands, it is expected to play a bigger role in next-generation applications such as robots and drones in the future.

"Based on the global shutter and SPAD process technology we have secured recently, we plan to focus on product development with leading companies in the US, Japan, and China, and aim for mass production within the year," said a DB HiTek official.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com