Sofradir to Expand with Move to New HQ

The need to enlarge its facilities and increase production has spurred infrared detector maker Sofradir to begin moving its headquarters to a high-tech valley near Paris, the company said today. As a result, the manufacturing and research facilities of three of its infrared technologies will be under a single roof by the spring of 2014.

At the new 4000-sq-m site in Palaiseau, on the Plateau de Saclay, Sofradir will create its second technological center focused on advanced infrared imaging technologies, the company said.

"We aim to replicate the environment in Grenoble, with the close relationships between industry, universities and research centers that have been key to the successful innovations we've accomplished using the single high-performance IR detector technology we have owned for the last 25 years," said Chairman and CEO Philippe Bensussan.

In December 2012, Sofradir announced consolidated ownership of all major infrared technologies used to make IR detectors by acquiring three key infrared technologies from its parent companies, Sagem and Thales, and a lab called GIE III-V: indium antimonide (InSb), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) and quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP).

"With the addition of these new technologies and our second facilities in Palaiseau, Sofradir is aiming to be the global leader in infrared detectors," Bensussan said. "The powerful combination of IR technologies puts us in a far stronger position than ever. We'll be able to offer customers the widest choice of IR product for any application across the whole spectrum from visible to very far infrared."

Sofradir exports 80 percent of its IR products for use in military equipment such as thermal imagers, missile seekers, surveillance systems, machine vision, targeting systems or observation satellites.

For more information, visit: www.sofradir.com