ISOCELL 2.0 Technology Explained

When Samsung announced its 0.7um pixel in September 2020, the PR mentioned that "the new 0.7μm lineup will adopt enhanced pixel technology with boosted light sensitivity, ISOCELL 2.0, later this year." By that time, ISOCELL 2.0 was said to increase the light sensitivity by 12%.

Now, Samsung explains how ISOCEL 2.0 is different from the previous generations:

"Samsung has now introduced next-level ISOCELL 2.0, which further refines the technology by replacing the metallic grid between color filters with a new material. In the first generation ISOCELL pixels, slight optical loss occurred when the metallic grid between the color filters absorbed small portions of the incoming light.

To solve this problem, ISOCELL 2.0 began with the establishment of ISOCELL Plus, the first phase of ISOCELL 2.0’s development. ISOCELL Plus replaced the metal barriers with an optimized new material. However, the barriers still contained some metal that caused the lower parts of the color filter barriers to absorb light, resulting in some optical loss.

Now, the second phase of ISOCELL 2.0 replaced the lower portion of the color filter barriers with a more reflective material. It further reduces optical loss in each pixel and drastically improves light sensitivity, allowing smartphones to produce even more vivid pictures with reduced noise.

By delivering enhanced light sensitivity, ISOCELL 2.0 allows even smaller pixels in the sensor to absorb more light, giving the sensor the tools it needs to produce photographs that are made up of a greater number of pixels. This enables the production of images with very fine detail without compromising the sensor’s vivid color reproduction."