Infrared imaging gets 20m Euro investment

Infrared (IR) imaging sensor maker ULIS (Veurey-Voroize, France) is making a 20m Euro investment in a new facility to meet increasing demands for IR sensors.

At the facility, ULIS will manufacture a series of IR sensors that will use Pixel Level and Wafer Level Packaging technologies (PLP and WLP). Equally important, the new facility will allow ULIS to move production from 150mm silicon CMOS wafers to 200mm silicon CMOS wafers.

The announcement comes as the company celebrates its tenth year in business. Founded in 2002 with 35 employers and one product, it now employs 140 staff with two product lines covering a range of applications, and is ranked the number two worldwide player in uncooled IR sensors. ULIS has experienced double digit compound growth each consecutive year, with the exception of 2009. Revenues reached 45m Euros in 2011.

The company works in close collaboration with the CEA-Leti, a European micro- and nanotechnologies R&D center, in the development of its products and technology.

According to the Yole Developpement latest report 'Uncooled Infrared Imaging: Commercial & Military Applications', sales of uncooled IR cameras will grow from 320,000 units in 2011 to 1.1 million units in 2017. Figures also show that the market share for uncooled IR imagers for commercial applications will represent more than 80 per cent of the total uncooled IR imaging market, with the slice for military applications shrinking from around 30 to 15 per cent.

-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design