Imaging & Detector Industry Report

NanoSciences receives SBIR to develop nanowire-based optical detectorsNanoSciences Corp. (Lancaster, PA), a company engaged in the development of optoelectronic sensors, was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation. The program will involve developing a prototype of a high-surface-area nanowire photocathode for use in high-efficiency optical detectors. The photocathodes will be composed of cylindrical nanocolumns protruding from a porous matrix. Variation in fabrication parameters will control the size (from 4 to 200 nm in diameter) and arrangement (densities of 10⁹ to 10¹¹ cm_-2) of the nanowires so that their absorption of light can be tuned to a particular wavelength. The SBIR will help the company to develop advanced fabrication techniques built around self-assembly procedures that rely on characteristic physical properties of materials.PVS gets state and venture-capital fundingPhoton Vision Systems Inc. (PVS; Cortland, NY) has received $250,000 in funds from New York State to support the company's expansion and a planned facility. The CMOS-camera maker is currently in a transition from a start-up to a period of accelerated growth, attempting to keep up with the booming market for such imagers. The funding will enable PVS to continue working to build and occupy an 11,500-sq. ft. facility, slated to open this spring. Planned acquisitions include clean-room fixtures, automated semiconductor-device test equipment, and device packaging equipment. The state funding follows a recent announcement by PVS of $9 million in venture-capital funding.Polaroid and CMD to collaborate on instant digital imagingPolaroid Corp. (Cambridge, MA) and Colorado MicroDisplay Inc. (CMD; Boulder, CO) are teaming up to develop and market wireless mobile digital-imaging and printing devices based on advanced area-array technology. Microdisplays made by CMD, which create a 14-in. virtual image and draw little electrical power, will become the viewfinders of the devices. Combining the microdisplays with Polaroid's instant printing technology will allow the two companies to produce instant-digital-imaging platforms with long battery life. The platforms will include instant digital cameras with low-power viewfinders viewable in bright sunlight.Indigo Systems and Northrup Grumman come together to make IR detectorsIndigo Systems (Santa Barbara, CA) and Northrup Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector (Baltimore, MD) have formed a strategic alliance to develop fabrication capabilities for advanced optical detectors. Production will be carried out at Indigo's Detector Operations facility, which will manufacture infrared detectors and imaging modules to be incorporated into a variety of commercial and defense products for both companies. The addition of high-volume detector production is intended to enable Indigo to expand its commercial product offerings into high-volume markets, including telecommunications and automotive applications.Three-Five Systems teams with InFocus, announces share buybackThree-Five Systems (Tempe, AZ) has signed an additional development agreement with InFocus Corp. (Wilsonville, OR) to develop a microdisplay used as the platform for a line of front-projection digital projectors made by InFocus. The display will be based on Three-Five's liquid-crystal-on-silicon technology. The partnership will result in projectors with XGA and SXGA resolution. Three-Five and InFocus anticipate full production sometime in the second half of this year. In a separate development, Three-Five announced a program to allow the repurchase, from time to time, of up to $30 million in value of common stock on the open market or in negotiated transactions.Also in the news . . .Covion (Frankfurt, Germany) opened an upgraded organic-light-emitting-diode materials plant that contains robots and can make 40,000 liters of conjugated polymers annually. . . . Royal Philips Electronics (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) bought 32 million preferred shares of stock from its display collaborator LG Electronics (Seoul, Korea). . . . DRS Technologies (Parsippany, New Jersey) was awarded $38.5 million in new orders to manufacture and provide engineering services for the US Navy's advanced display systems.

John Wallace