Sensors Unlimited Unveils MicroCamera

Sensors Unlimited Inc. (SUI), specialists in shortwave infrared imaging using indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) technology, introduced at Photonics West today what it says is the world's smallest dual-wavelength visible-InGaAs Snapshot MicroCamera. The camers weighs 2.5-ounces (less than 70 grams), dramatically smaller than previous 11-ounce dual-wavelength imagers, and measures less than 26 cm³. It simultaneously takes images in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths, to produce a single, combined image.
SUI developed an InGaAs focal plane array (FPA) substrate removal technique that permits visible response from InGaAs FPAs with tighter pitches, enabling increased resolution. The new camera's 320 x 256 pixel resolution array also features an unprecedented 25-µm pitch, versus the previous 40-µm pitch. The InGaAs FPA's quantum efficiency exceeds 70 percent in the 1000-nm to 1600-nm portion of the spectrum, with over 50 percent at 800 nm and 10 percent at 400 nm.
The imager's increased high responsivity in both the visible and the shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelengths and its low power consumption (less than 1.6 W) make the MicroCamera ideal for covert surveillance and other defense and military operations, SUI said. The miniature, solid-state camera has no moving parts, requires no field nonuniformity corrections and operates at room temperature to yield a combined visible and SWIR image that previously required two cameras or much larger dual-wavelength detectors. Applications include hyperspectral imaging and laser beam profiling of scientific, datacom, military and telecom lasers, machine vision, astronomy, semiconductor wafer inspection and imaging of most laser pointers, designators and range finders.