Fraunhofer Institute and Awaiba Developed 1 mm^3 Camera

Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) in Berlin, Germany and Awaiba GmbH with support of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena, Germany developed what they call the smallest camera in the world, only 1 cubic mm in volume, including its wafer-scale lens. The camera is intended for disposable endoscopy applications. It has a resolution of 62.500 pixels and transmits the image information through the endoscope via an electrical cable. Stephan Voltz, who is the CEO of Awaiba GmbH, says that "at 1,0 times 1,0 times 1.0 millimeters, this camera is as small as coarsely ground grain of salt – the smallest camera that we are aware of." About 28,000 such image sensors fit onto one wafer.