French infrared detector specialist Sofradir is claiming a breakthrough in cooled thermal imagers with the launch of its 640 x 512 pixel staring array which has a smaller volume, lower power and higher resolution than its current 320 x 256 mid-wave IR detector.
Chief executive Philippe Bensussan says Sofradir has halved the pitch between mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) detectors to 15µm, allowing four times as many pixels to be packaged on to the same "form and fit" array and providing TV-format image resolution. A smaller cryo-cooler reduces size and power consumption, he says.
The new detector is available as an upgrade to missile seekers and targeting pods using Sofradir's 30µm-pitch array. Bensussan sees particular benefits for high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicles, where payload weight and power are at a premium. The detector weighs 0.3kg (0.3lb) with micro-cooler and the higher resolution allows smaller optics, reducing weight and cost. "We can compete with uncooled," he says.
Bensussan says the detector is also available to developers of enhanced vision systems using 320 x 256-pixel staring arrays. Another application could be low-cost UAVs with non-stabilised imagers, requiring fast detectors to avoid smearing, he says.
Paris-based Sofradir is the second largest producer of MCT cooled detectors after Raytheon, with 25% of the open market in 2002, says Bensussan. The company, 40% owned by Sagem, 40% by Thales and 20% by French nuclear firm Areva, owns 85% of uncooled IR detector manufacturer Ulis. Sofradir sales increased 30% last year to €52 million ($62 million) and by more than 50% at Ulis, to €11 million.
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
