High-accuracy energy measurements and photon-level data acquisition on a single chip
ATSUGI, Japan, June 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (Sony) today announced the upcoming release, mass-production, and shipment of the IMX711 direct conversion charge-integrating X-ray CMOS image sensor.
The IMX711 is an X-ray image sensor for inspection and measurement instrumentation which directly detects X-rays and outputs signals proportional to their energy. The new sensor offers the industry’s fastest*1 maximum 26,100 fps high-speed imaging, achieved thanks to Sony’s proprietary circuit technology, suppressing charge saturation for accurate measurements. It also significantly reduces noise to enable improved signal detection precision in low-flux conditions, detecting differences in photon energy. It provides both high-accuracy measurements of integrated X-ray energy at a wide dynamic range and energy information acquisition at the photon level on a single sensor, a feat that has been difficult with conventional sensors. This unique feature will contribute to the advancement and diversification of X-ray inspection and measurement technologies, which are used in a wide variety of applications, from cutting-edge device inspection to scientific measurements.
*1 Among charge-integrating X-ray CMOS image sensors. According to Sony research (as of announcement on June 9, 2026)
.
Model name
Mass-production shipment date
IMX711 3.73-type (27.88 mm × 52.85 mm HW),
approximately 280,000 effective pixel*2 direct conversion charge-
integrating X-ray CMOS image sensor
First quarter of FY2026
*2 Based on the image sensor effective pixel specification method.
The IMX711 was developed with the collaboration between Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation and RIKEN. Based on a pixel structure invented by Dr. Takaki Hatsui of RIKEN, the two parties worked together on the technological development required to make it viable as a practical X-ray image sensor, including improving sensitivity and achieving high resistance to X-ray irradiation and high-voltage tolerance. Sony developed its circuit technology, manufacturing processes and packaging technology for mass production.
X-ray inspection and measurement are widely used in a variety of fields, including inspection of advanced devices such as batteries and semiconductors, and scientific measurement in materials development and life sciences research. As these methods become more sophisticated along with advances in data analysis technology including AI, X-ray sensors are also required to evolve to deliver more efficient and highly reliable data acquisition. However, with conventional sensors,*3 it has been challenging to improve measurement accuracy and meet the requirements of diversifying downstream analysis, due to the photon counting errors in high-flux conditions and the impact of noise under low-flux conditions.
The new sensor enables the industry’s fastest*1 maximum frame rate of 26,100 fps and low-noise performance of 34 e-rms*4 (random noise of approximately 34 electrons per pixel), thereby helping to resolve the above-mentioned technical challenges. It not only accurately detects signals across a wider dynamic range than conventional sensors, but also resolves photons of varying energy levels at high resolution while offering the advantage of a charge-integrating sensor to output both integrated X-ray energy data and photon energy data. The highly reliable data acquired by this product will not only improve the performance of X-ray inspection and measurement equipment, but also contribute to the development of new analysis methods using energy information, as described below.
*3 There are two types of conventional X-ray sensors: photon-counting and charge-integrating. With photon-counting sensors that process the X-ray signal based on thresholds, the measurement precision is high under low-flux conditions, but some photons may not be counted correctly as the signal becomes stronger. On the other hand, charge-integrating sensors output photon energy as a signal with integrated energy, but the impact of noise results in reduced measurement precision under low-flux conditions.
*4 An evaluation result. This result is calculated based on the average value of pixels in the sensor’s effective area in an environment where the sensor’s internal operating temperature is at or below 20 ℃. The functional guaranteed value is 60 e-rms.
Examples of Potential Applications
Improving precision and throughput in high-speed inspection of moving objects for battery and semiconductor applicationsElemental mapping for distinguishing photons of different energy levels and rendering two-dimensional distributionSimultaneous measurement of crystal structure analysis and element analysis using photon energy information and spatial information
Main Features
High-accuracy measurements in a wide dynamic range thanks to the industry’s fastest,*1 low-noise imaging
This product achieves the industry’s fastest*1 maximum frame rate of 26,100 fps thanks to Sony’s proprietary circuit technology. Lowering the amount of accumulated charge per frame enables superior saturation characteristics compared to conventional sensors. At the same time, random noise, which is a technical challenge on charge-integrating sensors, has been reduced to 34 e-rms*4 so that even faint X-ray signals are not obscured by noise and can be reliably detected. This improves measurement precision under low-flux conditions, offering photon level detection. These features enable accurate measurement of integrated X-ray energy for all pixels across low- to high-flux conditions, supporting inspection and measurement with significant differences in brightness on a single sensor, contributing to improved device throughput and an expanded dynamic range.High energy resolution enabling inspection and measurement using photon energy
The new sensor uses the charge-integrating method, which makes it possible to acquire photon energy information without the need to set a threshold in advance. Furthermore, noise and signal variation are suppressed during reading to achieve high energy resolution for clear identification of differences in photon energy. Enabling acquisition of highly reliable data via high energy resolution will contribute to streamlining and improving precision in advanced inspection and measurement, which previously required several measurements in applications such as detecting differences in constituent elements at the element level and structural and material analysis to quantitatively evaluate minute state changes. It also enables post-processing under various conditions such as collecting the measurement data for all pixels, combining it with spatial information, and extracting specific energy data contributes to multifunctional inspection and measurement.
Related Link
IMX711 product page: https://www.sony-semicon.com/en/products/is/scientific/x-ray.html
Key Specifications
Model name
IMX711-AABY
Image size
Diagonal 59.8 mm (Type 3.73)
27.88 mm (H) × 52.85 mm (V)
Number of active pixels
384 (H) × 728 (V) – 16*5
Approx. 0.28 megapixels
Unit cell size
72.6 μm (H) × 72.6 μm (V)
Substrate material
Silicon
Sensor thickness
650 μm
Frame rate
(All-pixel readout)
26.1 k fps (Mode-A)
17.4 k fps (Mode-C Cont, HDR)
Noise
Typ 34 e-rms*6
Max 60 e-rms
Saturation count rate (12keV)
0.94 Mcps/pixel (Mode-A)
33 Mcps/pixel (Mode-C Cont)
600 Mcps/pixel (Mode-C HDR)
Output interface
SLVS-EC
Package
Chip Size Package (CSP) : 30.36 mm (H) x 69.74 mm (V)
*5 Black pixels
*6 Typical value, averaged from measured values of active pixels at Tj = 20℃.
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SOURCE Sony Electronics, Inc.
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