Sofradir gives five talks on new trends in infrared detectors at SPIE Defense and Security Symposium 2011

These latest developments from Sofradir demonstrate the consistent strengths and pioneering performance of its IR technology, Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT/HgCdTe), which the company has used to lead the cooled IR detector field for 25 years.

“We are delighted that Sofradir has increased its presence at SPIE this year, with the presentation of five technical papers on advances in IR detection,” said David Billon-Lanfrey, VP of R&D, technology & products at Sofradir. “This level of participation illustrates the cutting-edge role played by Sofradir in the defense, security and space fields.”

Scientists at the CEA-LETI, a leading international technology research center, with whom Sofradir has a long-standing collaboration, including a joint R&D laboratory, co-authored two of the five technical papers Sofradir will present at SPIE.

Philippe Chorier, head of space project management at Sofradir, will present: “Sofradir’s latest developments for infrared space detectors” that deals with detectors from visible up to VLWIR wavebands for hyperspectral imagery for space applications. Sofradir continually pushes the performance of its technology to meet the qualification challenges and stringent design requirements of systems used in space. Mr. Chorier will focus on several of the 20 space programs Sofradir is currently involved in. Sofradir has delivered 28 flight models based on its second generation IR detector technology. Five of these flight models are currently in operation on-board satellites.

The first of the co-authored papers: “HOT infrared detectors using MCT technology” will be presented by Michel Vuillermet, head of R&D and new products at Sofradir. SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) systems require HOT detectors. One of the key drivers for cooled systems is the cooler and the operating temperature. The paper presents the operating temperature results using MCT with n/p and p/n technologies or complex nBn structures.

Gerard Destefanis, IR technologies expert at CEA, will present the second co-authored paper: “MCT IR detectors in France”. This talk gives an overview of MCT IR technology developments in France. It covers crystal growth of large CZT (Cadmium Zinc Telluride) for substrates, MCT epi-layers grown by LPE (Liquid Phase Epitaxy) and MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy). The latest results on third-generation detectors, such as multicolor FPAs (Focal Plane Arrays) and FPAs for 2D or 3D imagery that use MCT APD, will also be described.

Yann Reibel, project manager, will lead the presentation on “Infrared dual-color and dual-band band detectors for next generation”. He says that the development of dual-band infrared detectors has been the core of research and technological improvements for the last ten years at CEA-LETI and Sofradir. Sofradir’s dual band structure uses a proven standard process with robust reproducibility, leading to low-risk and a facilitated ramp-up to production. This makes it the natural choice for the third generation detectors proposed by Sofradir. Mr. Reibel will discuss the new technologies that widen perspectives and open new horizons of applications, such as large dual-band FPAs and dual mode capability.

Alain Manissadjian, project manager, will talk about “Compact Dewar and electronics for large format infrared detectors”. The trend in IR system cameras is to require higher performance (achieved through higher resolution) and in parallel demand more compact devices to make integration into systems easier. This paper discusses the challenging specifications for dewar compactness, lower power consumption and reliability. The talk will include Sofradir’s MEGALINK, a new compact Command & Control Electronics compatible with most of the Sofradir IDDCAs (Integrated Detector Dewar Cooler Assemblies). MEGALINK provides all necessary input biases and clocks to the FPAs, drives up to eight inputs, and digitizes and multiplexes them to provide a 14 bit output signal through a cameralink interface, as compact as a business card.