Sofradir’s detectors cover a full range of applications and have
been integrated in equipment and systems that have been proven on the
battlefield and in military surveillance and scientific space observation
missions.
Military Applications
Military applications have been the basis of Sofradir’s activity
since its founding 20 years ago. The company has been and continues to
head most of the important development and production IR detector projects
for major European programs, and other military projects around the world,
including Storm Shadow Scalp Eg Cruise Missile, and SADA II.
Space Applications
Due to the high reliability and superior performance of Sofradir’s IR detectors that range from the visible to far-infrared wavelengths, as well as our company’s capability to offer small pixel size and large arrays, we can satisfy a wide range of space application requirements.
Our IR detector space qualified process has enabled Sofradir to deploy its products in the following space missions: the European Space Agency’s (ESA) spacecraft, Venus Express, which has captured atmospheric data using Sofradir’s 320 x 256 MW MCT IR detector that is deployed in the SOIR (Solar Occultation InfraRed); SPIRALE (Système Préparatoire Infra-Rouge pour l’Alerte), a French early warning satellite program for military application; Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) a European program for the development of the new system of satellites dedicated to the follow-up of the Meteosat Second Generation system used for weather forecasting; and the Second Generation Global Imager (SGLI), an observation instrument for the Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) being carried out by Japan.
Commercial Applications
As a result of improvements in high volume production, Sofradir is also
proposing commercial products such as Thermo-Electric (TE) cooled MWIR
and SWIR staring arrays. Through its subsidiary Ulis (www.ulis-ir.com),
mass-produced uncooled microbolometer detectors are now available.
