Spectra are divided into ultraviolet, visible light, near‑infrared, short‑wave infrared, mid‑long‑wave infrared and other ranges, with different bands corresponding to distinct molecular vibration and chemical‑bond absorption features of materials, leading to huge application differences. The400–1000nm visible‑to‑near‑infrared bandhas become the golden range adopted uniformly by global leading manufacturers due to three core physical properties.
First,high penetration of atmosphere, rain and fog: visible‑to‑near‑infrared light penetrates thin fog, drizzle and light smoke easily, while mid‑long‑wave infrared is vulnerable to ambient thermal radiation and short‑wave infrared suffers severe water vapor absorption, making this band ideal for all‑weather automotive autonomous driving perception. Second,rich biological and human‑body features: the 600–900nm near‑infrared range covers characteristic absorption bands of oxyhemoglobin, skin micro‑circulation and living tissues, the only viable range for non‑invasive heart‑rate & blood‑oxygen monitoring, skin detection and financial‑grade liveness anti‑spoofing. Third,full compatibility with standard CMOS processes, requiring no special cooling or materials, featuring low pixel cost and mass‑production readiness for smartphones, automotive terminals and consumer hardware.
The ultraviolet band below 400nm harms human bodies and delivers low CMOS sensitivity; short‑wave/mid‑wave infrared above 1000nm requires dedicated high‑cost sensors with large size. Therefore, 400–1000nm serves as theuniversal golden band for consumer electronics, automotive perception and industrial multispectral sensing, the core photosensitive range for Sony IMX series, Imec RGB‑NIR and Tesla HW4.0.
