Lynred boosts thermal sensitivity across range of 12-micron infrared detectors

These 12 µm pixel pitch infrared detectors, based on a microbolometer technology, come with enhanced thermal sensitivity, permitting use in limitless applications.

Applications include integration into outdoor leisure equipment for use at dawn or at night.

Lynred’s range of 12 µm microbolometers are suitable for enabling optronics systems to deliver the image quality end-users seek to observe nature in early forest mist and in all-weather conditions.  

“Lynred is proud to have increased the maturity and strength of its entire range of 12µm thermal imaging microbolometers,” said Jean-Yves Dussaud, Chief Marketing Officer at Lynred.

“These higher sensitivity advancements enable us to better respond to the diversified needs in new markets.”  

The 12µm pixel pitch microbolometer is the emerging standard for producing smaller thermal cameras that use space-saving optics. NETD (noise equivalent temperature difference) is one of several key parameters used to evaluate the image quality of optronics systems and thermal cameras. With Lynred’s 12µm products, customers will benefit from gains in the performance of their NETD lower than 40 or 50mK, depending on the product grade, and other performance criteria: scene dynamics and mechanical robustness.  

Range of 12 µm products

• Atto320-02: a compact and low-power consumption 320x240 digital 12µm microbolometer offering fluid and crisp images – available Q1 2022
• Atto640-02: a compact, low power 640x480 12µm microbolometer (in analogue and digital formats) for SWaP (size, weight and low-power) applications, offering fluid and crisp images – available end 2021
• Atto1280-02: a robust and compact 1280x1024 12µm microbolometer, offering long range detection and high-quality wide field of view images; it has the smallest packaging footprint in its category - available Q1 2022

Lynred’s microbolometer technology portfolio

Lynred has within its technology portfolio several compound semiconductor materials. It decides which device to develop and manufacture based on the merits of the material that best suits and meets the needs of a target application. The materials Lynred uses to develop microbolometers includes a-Si (amorphous silicon), the principal material underpinning the company’s 17µm microbolometer; this product line has had a long and successful track record among international clients in a cross-section of markets: leisure, security & surveillance, defense and thermography.

Other materials include Vox, a supplementary technology Lynred developed with the support of CEA-Leti, a high-tech research institute pioneering micro- and nanotechnologies, for integration in the 12-micron IR detector product family. It was introduced to provide the most adapted offer to the optronics needs of clients, with a view to having the same performance while reducing pixel size.