Senseeker claims DROIC is world’s first eight micron pitch, dual-band version
Claimed to be the first dual-band, infra red imaging digital read-out integrated circuit (DROIC) the Oxygen RD0092 is shipping now from Senseeker Engineering.
The specialist in digital infra red image sensing technology, says it is the first eight micron pitch dual-band DROIC, to be available in the industry. It supports a 1280 x 720 frame size at over 500 frames per second and dual-polarity inputs to provide compatibility with all industry-standard direct-injection detector materials. It was designed to optimise infra red imaging system performance through multiple operating modes.
The company’s custom products are used in proprietary designs, so it was a natural progression to create an off-the-shelf version, said Kenton Veeder, Senseeker Engineering’s president. “This allows infra red image system developers to get immediate access to the latest technology without the cost and risk associated with custom designs,” he added.
In infra red search and track systems, the global shutter mode and windowing capability enables an unlimited number of 32 x 32 windows at over 8,000 frames per second to detect and track multiple objects in real-time. This is particularly targeted at surveillance and reconnaissance applications.
For situation awareness applications, where threat detection is critical, high dynamic range (HDR), dual integration mode can expand the possible dynamic range over 110dB. This mode runs two integration times simultaneously on a checkerboard pattern of pixels to optimise range, resolution and detection sensitivity of the system.
The Oxygen RD0092 DROIC supports time of flight or range gated imaging, through asynchronous integration and only a propagation delay between clock input and pixel operation.
The operating modes or window sizes can be changed on-the-fly, and users can toggle detector polarity or checkerboard integration pattern between frames, “by flipping just a few bits,” explained Dr Thomas Poonnen, director of engineering at Senseeker.
Applications also include infra red search and track and infra red astronomy.
Senseeker Engineering is a US-owned transducer IC semiconductor company that specialises in the design of digital imaging sensors and read-out integrated circuits for hybrid infra red image sensing arrays. Senseeker’s products and intellectual property (IP) are used by designers in a variety of infra red image sensing solutions.
