News: Optoelectronics
5 March 2021
Lynred invests €2.8m to develop next-gen small-pixel-pitch near-IR detectors
Lynred of Palaiseau (near Paris) and Veurey-Voroize (near Grenoble), France, which designs and manufactures infrared (IR) detectors for aerospace, defense and commercial applications, is investing €2.8m ($3.37m) in developing next-generation infrared (IR) detectors. Lynred will receive €900,000 ($1.08m) in R&D funding from the French government as part of a program to revamp the microelectronics ecosystem in France.
In developing the next generation of small-pixel-pitch near-infrared (NIR) detectors, Lynred aims to establish a new market sector in France. The national ecosystem aims to address demand for infrared imaging in industrial process control - such as sorting plastics - and for the spectral imaging market.
As well as creating about 20 new jobs, Lynred’s R&D program also responds to the imperatives of France’s industrial renewal strategy by bringing selected development and production steps back to the nation, reinforcing the internal supply chain.
“Our core mission is to supply state-of-the-art infrared detectors at the international level, while supporting an independent and sovereign infrared industry in France,” says CEO Jean-François Delepau. “The investment we will be making here will drive us forward in near-infrared technology and support the French government’s target of strengthening the nation’s strategic infrared detector industry.”
The small-pixel-pitch NIR detectors that Lynred will develop will be highly sensitive, fast-frame-rate devices that deliver the accuracy and throughput required for industrial process control scenarios.
Lynred says that the R&D program showcases its innovation at a time when the government is revamping its strategy roadmap for the electronics industry. This includes a recent amendment (enacted by France’s deputy economy minister Agnès Pannier-Runnacher on 4 March) to a previous government initiative involving the Nano 2022 program. Each underscores how strategic the electronics industry is to the French economy and its industrial sovereignty. Lynred says it has played an active role in developing the nation’s electronics industry roadmap and bringing artificial intelligence into the industry’s key technologies.
France’s economic stimulus package ‘Plan France Relance’ is administered by the nation’s Ministry of the Economy and Finance. It includes financing instruments to support specific industries deemed strategic to the nation’s economic recovery and industrial sovereignty. Microelectronics is one of these industries. This stimulus package aims to make France’s industrial economy more competitive by modernizing production facilities and securing the supply chain.
