In an effort to stay out of highly competitive commercial markets some microbolometer suppliers are staying out of the mid-format (320 x 240) small pixel (10-12 µm) market.
L3 Technologies is making changes to its uncooled amorphous silicon (a-SI) microbolometer business. The company’s L3 Sensor Technologies (formerly L3 Infrared Products in Garland, Texas) is moving its front-end production of FPAs to TSI Semiconductors (Roseville, California), while vacuum Wafer-Level-Packaging (WLP) is being moved to Mason, Ohio. By the end of the year, the Garland facility is expected to be shut down, with only design engineering remaining in the Dallas, Texas area.