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October 29th, 2020
The tunable sensitivity of ActLight Dynamic Photodiode enables improved 3D sensing performance in LiDAR

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LAUSANNESwitzerland – ActLight, the Swiss technology firm known for its best in class signal-to-noise ratio photodiodes, announced today that the continuous development of its patented low voltage single photon sensitivity technology has reached outstanding results.

The single photon devices currently used in smartphones’ Lidar scanners to create the depth map of the surrounding space and enable AR apps are very sensitive to ambient light and they are blinded in presence bright light: this problem is now solved with the tunability of ActLight Dynamic PhotoDiode.

In fact, in addition of being capable of measuring absolute depth in low light thanks to its single photon sensitivity, ActLight technology keep depth measurements accuracy in bright light conditions by tuning the photodiode sensitivity to the adequate level and preventing it to be blinded. The tuning is performed by adjusting the bias voltage on the photodiode.

To see the demo of the Dynamic PhotoDiode tunable sensitivity, click here

The other unique feature of the Dynamic PhotoDiode is its low voltage operating mode (1V to 2V) which, combined with its tunability and small size, makes it suitable for a true low power Lidar system.

“The fast adoption of LiDAR in smartphones has created a big demand in terms of light sensors performance improvement and we are in talk with the major players of the LiDAR supply chain and their customers to bring this technology to market,” said Serguei Okhonin, Co-founder & CEO at ActLight. “With its tunable sensitivity and low voltage, our Dynamic PhotoDiode is unique and well positioned to take depth sensing to the next level.”

About ActLight SA

ActLight SA, the start-up company founded in 2011 and based in Switzerland, focuses on the field of CMOS photonics by developing a new type of photodetector, the Dynamic PhotoDiode (DPD). Being a fabless company, ActLight specializes in the Intellectual Property (IP) of this area and operates primarily in the IP licensing business model.

The patented CMOS-based photonics technology allows the substantial improvement of the efficiency and accuracy of various light sensing applications, such as Time Of Flight (TOF) depth sensing, vital signs monitoring, 3D/2D cameras and much more. ActLight operates in the Internet of Things (IoT) market, with a focus on smartphones and wearable devices, healthcare/medtech, autonomous driving, drones and robotics.

More info about ActLight available at http://www.act-light.com