Isorg and Sumitomo Chemical Announce Partnership to Develop Organic Photodetectors

Jul. 1, 2019

Grenoble, France, and Tokyo, Japan, July 1, 2019 – Isorg, a pioneer in organic photodetectors (OPDs) and large-area image sensors, and Sumitomo Chemical, a global leader in OPD materials production and other fields, today announced their agreement to develop new OPD products for use as smartphone fingerprint sensors and hybrid organicCMOS image sensors.

This agreement expands the existing collaboration between Sumitomo Chemical and Isorg that began in 2013. Isorg will license its technology processes to its OEMs, while Sumitomo Chemical will manufacture the dedicated organic semiconductor material, as well as support Isorg in terms of production technology and marketing.

This collaboration aims to provide OEMs with materials and technology processing solutions that will enable them to bring to market products using high-performance, high-quality fingerprint and CMOS image sensors. The fingerprint sensors can be incorporated beneath the entirety of a smartphone display, allowing fingerprint recognition from any point or position on that display. The hybrid organic CMOS image sensors are intended for use in cameras, including those designed for near infrared capabilities. Sumitomo Chemical and Isorg anticipate that these sensors will meet the performance and quality standards necessary for application in the security, automotive, diagnostics and consumer electronics markets.

“Partnering with Isorg will allow us to fill a void in the market for difficult-to-manufacture, but affordable, full-size fingerprint and CMOS image sensors that are suitable for demanding applications in smartphone displays and hybrid visible and near infrared cameras,” said Hiroshi Ueda, Executive Vice President at Sumitomo Chemical. “Sumitomo Chemical is leveraging its materials platform to seize new opportunities for growth in the imager arena.”

“Isorg is honored to collaborate with Sumitomo Chemical in providing OEMs with what we believe will be the leading solution for fingerprint sensors and hybrid organic CMOS image cameras, and which offer significant performance advantages,” said Jean-Yves Gomez, CEO and co-founder of Isorg. “With the strong backing of Sumitomo Chemical, and its industrial leadership, global footprint and drive for excellence, Isorg’s customers will have added assurances in our ability to deliver quality products. We look forward to engaging with customers on the designs and applications of these products.”

Going forward, Sumitomo Chemical and Isorg will work jointly on commercialization of the products to promptly meet the needs of customers.

About Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sumitomo Chemical is one of Japan’s leading chemical companies. It offers a diverse range of products globally in the fields of petrochemicals, energy and functional materials, IT-related chemicals and materials, health and crop science products, and pharmaceuticals. The company’s consolidated sales revenue for fiscal year 2018 was JPY 2.3 trillion and number of employee is about 33,000 as of March 31, 2019. For additional information, visit the company’s website at https://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/

About Isorg

Isorg is a pioneer in organic and printed electronics for large area photo-detectors and image sensors. It offers a new generation of high-performance imagers with 3D product integration capability that can recognize any shape or form factor. Its flexible image sensors have application in medical devices, ID security and access control, IoT and consumer electronics. It developed the first large-sized high-resolution (500 dpi) flexible plastic fingerprint sensor for biometric security and other applications. Created in 2010 and partnering with CEA-Liten, a leading French innovation center for new energy technologies and nanomaterials, Isorg achieved a Series B fundraising round amounting to €8M took place in 2014, followed by a €24M fundraising round in 2018. For additional information, visit the company’s website at http://www.isorg.fr/

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