INDUSTRY NEWS
The MEMS Zone
Fab
to make IR sensor
Sarnoff
Technology of Princeton, NJ, has received a contract to manufacture an
advanced MEMS infrared sensor array developed by Sarcon Microsystems of
Knoxville, TN. Sarcon says its uncooled 320 X
240-pixel array has 10 to 20 times the sensitivity of competing detectors.
Among potential customers are manufacturers of temperature sensors and
thermal cameras. The IR imaging is used to monitor overheating in equipment
and in night-vision systems.
The
company expects to ship integrated IR detector and ROIC electronics
to OEM customers for evaluation by the end of the first quarter of 2003.
Full production is set for the fourth quarter of 2003. A packaging plant
for the IR detector engines will be set up at Sarnoff's site on the
Princeton University campus in New Jersey. The foundry will finish developing
the 320 X
240 chips before ramping to full production.
The
IR detector engines use a MEMS-based microcantilever structure to provide
heightened sensitivity and low noise levels. Manufacturing costs are
low because standard IC processes are used to make the devices, Sarcon
says.
Microscopic
cantilevered elements are machined on the surface of a standard CMOS
silicon wafer, says Scott Hunter, Sarcon's vice president for R&D.
"The cantilevers represent pixels in an image. As they bend in response
to the heat of invisible infrared light, they generate electrical signals
that create a thermal image of objects in a scene."
In
addition to low production costs, an important advantage of the microcantilever
design is that it allows accurate imaging of "very small differences
in object temperature," Hunter notes.
Sarcon
is a Sarnoff Technology venture company founded five years ago to commercialize
the IR microcantilever technology. Formerly RCA Laboratories, Sarnoff
is a subsidiary of SRI International.
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