Dalsa has expanded its capabilities, including back side illumination (BSI), in custom image sensors for aerospace applications in earth observation and remote sensing.
New technologies in multispectral filters allow Dalsa to capture images from not only the traditional RGB visible colour bands but also a number of near-infrared bands in a single highly compact and cost effective package. The company's custom back side thinning (BST) capability enables high quantum efficiency. As most multispectral sensors are deployed aboard satellites or airplanes, Dalsa has developed sophisticated techniques to allow these sensors to withstand hostile conditions, including extreme vacuum and temperatures, over the multi-year life of the products. Dalsa can deliver multispectral line scan imagers with more than 12,000 horizontal pixels in each band.
In addition to multispectral sensors, Dalsa offers hyperspectral sensors, typically 2D area arrays sampling a high number of narrow bands. The company's BST process enables the sensor to collect as much light as possible so that each wavelength can be assessed to measure trace quantities of compounds in the environment. Dalsa is able to offer both CMOS and CCD technologies to the needs of hyperspectral customers.
For high resolution panchromatic remote sensing applications, Dalsa uses its CCD fabrication process to deliver high speed area (2D) sensors with over 100 Megapixels and active pixels covering areas 10 x 10cm. Higher resolutions are possible, limited only by the size of the silicon wafer. When mounted in moving aircraft using a 'push-broom' imaging approach, the line scan image sensors provide almost unlimited forward resolution with horizontal resolution up to 16,000 pixels. In aerial imaging applications that require even higher frame rates, Dalsa offers CMOS technology with noise performance equivalent to CCDs.
