Sofradir was established in 1986 by Thales, Sagem and. The goal of establishing Sofradir was to create an organization that developed and produced IR detectors based on the focal plane array technology developed at CEA/LETI. The Infrared Laboratory located within the public research institute at CEA/LETI located in Grenoble, France was established to perform research in order to develop future generations of FPAs. Sofradir was to bring these new generations of IR detectors to mature production levels. Sofradir headquarters are located in Chatenay-Malabry while the development and production facilities are located in Veurey-Voroize near Grenoble. These facilities first became operational by October 1987 with MCT technologies transferred to it from the infrared laboratories. Sofradir was initially headed by Jean Louis Teszner from 1986 until end of 2000. Because of Teszner's significant experience, Sofradir quickly became the largest producer of MCT products in Europe due primarily to the research transferred to it from CEA/LETI. Low rate initial production of certain infrared detectors began in 1991, with mass production beginning in 1994. In parallel, the first space program also began in 1994, launching space activity at Sofradir. In 2000, Sofradir was headed by Philippe Bensussan as chairman and CEO. Sofradir continued its development and production with second generation and third generation infrared detectors as well as others. The company also participated in the production of high performance infrared common modules for the US Army as well as 2D staring arrays mainly for use with missiles. At the beginning of 2000, Sofradir began delivering QWIP detectors in cooperation with Thales Research and Technologies and uncooled products based on the microbolometers technology which had been developed at CEA-LETI. Following these first deliveries, ULIS was established.. Sofradir continued to increase the size of its facilities, in 2008 increasing the area by 50% including a 70% increase in area for clean rooms. In December 2008, Sofradir acquired Electrophysics Corp., renamed Sofradir EC, Inc., in Fairfield NJ USA. The acquisition was expected to accelerate the development of Sofradir and its subsidiary ULIS in the North American market.
Accomplishments
Sofradir pioneered the development of second- and third-generation IR detectors. It was one of the first to produce second-generation IR detectors. Second-generation IR detectors have a high level of sophistication because they require the integration of readout electronics on the Focal Plane Array as well as signal processing. Sofradir was the first European IR detector manufacturer to have achieved space-deployed products, which are currently in orbit on Venus Express. Sofradir continues to produce highly specialized products such as those used in space applications In addition, Sofradir also produces infrared detector arrays for high volume production contracts.
Products
Product
Array Size
Spectral Range
Detector Material
Jupiter MW
1280x1024
3.7-4.8 um
MCT
Saturn SW
1000x256
0.8-2.5 um
MCT
Scorpio MW
640x512
3.7-4.8 um
MCT
Uranus MW
640x512
3.7-4.8 um
MCT
Sirius LW
640x512
7.9-9.1 um
QWIP
Neptune SW
500x256
0.8-2.5 um
MCT
Mercury LW
480x6
7.7-10.3 um
MCT
Epsilon MW
384x288
3.4-4.8 um
MCT
Venus LW
384x288
7.7-9.5 um
MCT
Vega LW
384x288
7.7-9.1 um
MCT
Mars SW
320x256
0.8-2.5 um
MCT
Mars MW
320x256
3.7-4.8 um
MCT
Mars LW
320x256
7.7-9.5 um
MCT
Mars VLW
320x256
7.7-11.5 um
MCT
Pluton
288x4
7.7-9.5 um
MCTD
Sofradir is also advancing the development of third-generation IR detectors made from MCT layers using the Molecular Beam Epitaxy techniques. The MBE technique enables the development of a new class of IR detectors including dual-band and avalanche photodiode detector.
