Apple is working on a new fingerprint sensor technology that can work with off-axis angle light through the iPhone display. The company has been researching various types of display embedded fingerprint technology, including capacitive systems and ultrasonic sensors. Current reports show that Apple is planning to re-introduce Touch ID on future iPhones.
In a new patent application, Apple focused on optical fingerprint sensing technology, which uses light instead of ultrasonic vibration to read and analyze fingerprints. The new patent application details a new method that specifically uses reflected light. As the patent points out, this technology addresses some of the problems of optical fingerprint sensors. In other words, it alleviates the problem that the light reaches the fingerprint and is clear enough to read, and the problem of light diffraction.
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Apple explained that by capturing off-axis angle light, this method can improve the contrast of fingerprint impressions and maintain the compactness of the entire sensing system. Apple said that for some objects, the imaging signal formed by oblique light is stronger than the normal light of the imaging plane. For example, a fingerprint sensing system/device with multi-directional illumination, such as a fingerprint sensing device under a display screen, can use an oblique angle filter to capture a stronger signal to enhance image contrast.
In one embodiment of the patent, the apple can embed a light-emitting layer covered by a transparent layer to illuminate the surface. The bottom layer in this configuration can include a grating layer, a collimator layer, and a pixelated image sensor. The grating layer will bend the reflected light to produce oblique light. From there, various apertures and collimator layers can spatially process the received light. Then, the image sensor can further analyze the processed light. Another method involves Fresnel prisms or Brad gratings to rebind oblique rays into straight rays.
All of these methods can create a fingerprint reading system that can work reliably through the display but does not take up much internal space of the iPhone or other devices. Apple submits a large number of patent applications every week, but it cannot represent whether a certain function or technology will actually enter the market.
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