Simplifying Infrared Image Sensor Development with COTS Readouts and Electronics

Ross Bannatyne (Director of Business Development)

 

 

 

It can be notoriously time-consuming and expensive to develop a new custom infrared focal plane array (FPA). In many cases, a bespoke readout IC is designed to be hybridized with the latest generation of detector material and custom packaging and electronics must also be created to test the readout and FPA.

Senseeker's commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) readout ICs reduce the development cycle time, cost and risk of FPA development and are supported by off-the-shelf electronics evaluation kits to get started immediately. The purpose of the evaluation kits is to simplify and accelerate the evaluation of Senseeker readout ICs in the lab under uncooled or cooled conditions.

Evaluation kits include an image acquisition board that accommodates a chip-on-board (COB) readout IC and a specially developed imaging FPGA. This evaluation board is connected to a PC with a commercial frame grabber card via Camera Link and USB interfaces. The Senseeker supplied host software makes it easy to configure the readout IC for optimized operation using the Senseeker SenSPI® interface. The evaluation board for the Oxygen® RD0092 DROIC is shown below.

 

 

The Oxygen RD0092 COB occupies the center of the PCB. This configuration is used for uncooled evaluation. The same basic electronics is used for cryogenic testing, but is configured slightly differently; the COB module is removed from the PCB and is replaced by a ribbon cable that is interfaced to feedthrough connectors on a Dewar.

Senseeker has nurtured an ecosystem of partners that supply Dewars, FPGAs, software and hardware that simplify the user experience of developing an FPA. After over a decade of designing cutting-edge custom readout ICs, we are changing our customer's expectations about how easy it should be to source an off-the-shelf chip and get it up-and-running quickly.

About Senseeker Engineering

Senseeker is a wholly US owned transducer IC semiconductor company that specializes in the design of stateof-the-art digital imaging sensors and readout integrated circuits for hybrid infrared image sensing arrays. Senseeker's products and IP enable designers to produce world class infrared image sensing solutions. Read more at https://www.senseeker.com.

 

Media contact: info@senseeker.com | 1 (805) 617-0337

 

Insight # IS-20200723-01