iPhone X's TrueDepth Module Dissected

Why Apple wanted ST's NIR sensors to use SOI

Junko Yoshida, EETimes
11/17/2017 00:01 AM EST

PARIS — Although experts in the imaging industry are aware of a complex “TrueDepth” module that Apple has devised for its iPhone X, most other details inside the device’s 3D system — chips, components, and all the way down to substrates — remain a deep, dark secret.

EE Times talked to Yole Développement, which completed this week a teardown of Apple iPhone X TrueDepth module in collaboration with its partner, System Plus Consulting. They deduced that silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers are being used in near-infrared (NIR) imaging sensors. They noted that SOI has played a key role in improving the sensitivity of NIR sensors — developed by STMicroelectronics — to meet Apple’s stringent demands.

Pierre Cambou, activity leader for imaging and sensors at Yole Développement, called the SOI-based NIR image sensors “a very interesting milestone for SOI.”

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