Company patents
HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K. shows a surprising shift in its patent strategy, with a significant decline across many core categories like Optical Elements & Systems (down 30.3% in 2025) and Lasers (down 32.5% in 2025), while simultaneously demonstrating an emerging focus on Photovoltaic / Photoconductive Devices, which saw a substantial increase from 0 patents in 2023-2024 to 21 in 2025 and 22 so far in 2026, indicating a strategic pivot towards energy-related technologies.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
1,237 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 37 themes
Innovations in the physical design, materials, fabrication, or packaging of photodetectors and optical sensor elements, including thermoelectric, NIR-compliant, and self-mixing interference types, to improve performance or integration.
Methods and structures for assembling laser chips into functional modules, encompassing optical alignment, electrical interconnection, mechanical support, thermal management, and encapsulation for protection.
Techniques for manufacturing semiconductor laser chips, including active region design, mirror structures, current and optical confinement, and the integration of multiple layers or elements on a substrate.
Methods and apparatus for precise wafer positioning, ion beam uniformity, and dose monitoring during ion implantation processes in semiconductor device manufacturing.
Techniques and apparatus utilizing various spectroscopy methods (e.g., Raman, NIRS, photometric, interferometric) for identifying substances, measuring concentrations, or monitoring chemical and physical processes in industrial, environmental, or laboratory settings.
Techniques and systems utilizing laser beams for precise material modification, including cutting, cladding, ablation, and surface treatment, often for joining, shaping, or removing material.
Layout, material composition, and structural arrangement of photoelectric conversion elements and associated circuitry within image sensor arrays, including infrared detectors and back-side illuminated structures.
Techniques and devices for generating, shaping, focusing, and deflecting electron or ion beams, often involving multi-pole lenses, deflectors, and aberration correction for applications like microscopy or processing.
Development of sophisticated optical lens assemblies and computational methods to achieve high-resolution, precise, or specialized imaging, often for medical or scientific applications.
Focuses on advanced pixel architectures, often involving vertical stacking (3D) or silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures, to improve performance, density, or functionality of photodiodes, transistors, and floating diffusion regions within image sensor pixels.
Image sensors tailored for specific advanced functionalities beyond basic image capture, such as high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, single-photon detection, auto-focus, or distance measurement (LiDAR), often incorporating specialized pixel designs or processing.
Systems that employ imaging and image processing to automatically detect defects, verify states, or ensure quality control in manufactured goods, printed materials, or industrial processes.
Engineering solutions for X-ray tube components, including integrated cooling systems (e.g., oil circulation) and control mechanisms for tube voltage and current to ensure stable and safe operation.
Systems and methods for delivering radio frequency (RF) power to plasma processing chambers, including impedance matching, pulse shaping, and feedback control for stable and efficient plasma generation.
Systems and methods for acquiring and analyzing image data across multiple discrete spectral bands or a continuous spectrum, often for material characterization, environmental monitoring, or remote sensing applications.
Design and integration of lasers and associated components specifically for transmitting data over optical fibers or through free space, including modulation schemes and efficient light coupling.
Systems and methods for precisely controlling welding parameters such as power, speed, oscillation, and material feed to optimize weld quality, consistency, and efficiency, often involving automated or semi-automated processes.
Techniques and systems for ensuring the safe and precise operation of lasers, including power regulation, hazard detection, and deconfliction mechanisms in complex or dynamic environments.
Systems that combine data from multiple camera sensors or capture multiple images from different perspectives or qualities, often involving image processing techniques like synthesis to create enhanced or comprehensive views.
Methods and compositions for identifying, quantifying, or characterizing specific biological molecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites, antibodies) or microbial species, often for diagnostic, prognostic, or quality control applications.
Mechanisms and designs for actively changing or stabilizing the output wavelength, frequency, or spectral properties of a laser, often involving integrated optical filters, resonators, or pump adjustments.
Engineering of artificial subwavelength structures (meta-atoms) to create metasurfaces that manipulate light properties (phase, polarization, wavelength) for multi-functional optical devices.
Systems and components related to fiber lasers and fiber optical amplifiers, including doped fibers, pump schemes, and specialized fiber structures for gain, filtering, or thermal management.
Focuses on novel semiconductor materials, heterostructures, and doping profiles to improve photovoltaic conversion efficiency, stability, and spectral response.
Design and control of plasma processing chambers, including heating, gas delivery, electrode configurations, and magnetic field control for uniform and efficient material processing in semiconductor manufacturing.
The design and manufacturing of integrated circuits that combine optical and electronic components, particularly for high-speed data communication between processors and memory.
Systems and methods for automated substrate transport, precise positioning, temperature regulation, and chamber environment management to ensure process stability, uniformity, and yield in semiconductor manufacturing.
Systems and methods that utilize optical fibers as sensing elements or for transmitting sensing signals, often for distributed monitoring of environmental conditions, phase changes, or integrating sensing with communication.
Techniques and apparatus for achieving and maintaining vacuum conditions within charged particle and plasma processing chambers, including pump control, vacuum degree monitoring, and chamber sealing.
Methods for temporarily attaching a wafer or substrate to a carrier for thinning, dicing, or other processing, followed by controlled debonding, often using light-sensitive resins, temporary adhesives, or roughened interfaces.
Techniques for precise material removal, pattern shaping, and controlling etch selectivity or uniformity, often involving plasma, wet chemistry, or directed beams to achieve desired features on semiconductor substrates.
Specialized welding or bonding techniques and apparatuses tailored for joining small-scale electronic components, integrated circuits, or semiconductor wafers, emphasizing precision, miniaturization, and electrical connectivity.
Use of thermal and infrared sensors for non-contact temperature measurement, occupancy detection, structural health monitoring, fire/hazard detection, and process control in diverse industrial, environmental, and security applications.
Utilizing machine learning, particularly deep learning, to analyze medical data such as images, sensor readings, or physiological signals for disease prediction, diagnosis, or treatment assessment.
Systems that combine light sources, waveguides, and display elements into unified products for backlighting, automotive applications, general lighting, or color-corrected displays.
Development and use of engineered biological systems, such as organ-on-a-chip devices, dynamic hydrogels, or genetically modified cells, to mimic physiological conditions, study disease mechanisms, screen compounds, or develop cell-based therapies.
Methods for depositing thin films with controlled conformality, thickness, and material properties, including selective deposition on specific areas, often using atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or epitaxial growth.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 134
Image Sensor Pixel & Array Design