Grenoble, France, 18 April 2006. Sofradir, a manufacturer of infrared detectors for military, space, and commercial applications, has released its small pixel pitch IR detector, Jupiter. A third-generation IR detector and a first for the industry, Jupiter is a 1280x1024 15-micron pitch Mercury Telluride Cadmium (MCT) midwave (MW) IR detector. It uses Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) to grow MCT material efficiently, operates in the 3- to 5-micron waveband, and offers resolution of more than one-million pixels.
"Switching to MBE technology has been crucial to succeed," says Philippe Tribolet, VP of R&D and Technologies.
Sofradir's MBE process was developed in collaboration with the LETI (Laboratoire d'Electronique de Technologie de l'Information), through a joint laboratory, DEFIR ( Design of Excellence for the Future of IR).
Sofradir will be expanding its current facility to better accommodate the production of 4 inch MBE wafer process, which is planned for mid-2007.
