February 12, 2009--Agiltron Inc. (Woburn, MA), a developer and manufacturer of photonic components and systems for communications, sensing, and imaging, has acquired the assets of privately held SensArray Infrared (Burlington, MA). SensArray is known as a supplier of both standard and customized IR detectors and subsystems for spectroscopic and analytical applications. SensArray also offers advanced development products such as piezoelectric crystals for the commercial ultrasonic and OEM markets.

According to Agiltron, SensArray has been a leading manufacturer of standard and customized lead selenide (PbSe) and lead sulfide (PbS) infrared detectors and infrared arrays for over 20 years. Agliltron, which serves a wide range of industries including data communications, telecommunications, aerospace, instrumentation, and R&D, says the acquisition will enable expansion of its product offerings to include infrared detectors in the 1 to 5.5 micron wavelength region.

Agiltron plans to continue to provide all current SensArray products, offering enhanced customer support. "We have a big infrastructure for support," Matthew Zavracky, Director of Systems Engineering for Agiltron, told Laser Focus World. He said SensArray will give up its location and integrate into Agiltron's nearby facility.

Last spring, Agiltron acquired another privately held company, Multispectral Imaging Inc. (MII, Oak Ridge, TN), which continues its development of a capacitive MEMS sensor array offering reduced thermal noises.

Agiltron has been collaborating with the University of California-San Diego to develop planar and vertical Si nanowire photodetectors using an etching process, and last November the partners reported the measurement of significant phototransitive gain for the first time. Silicon (Si) nanowires are attractive as photodetectors for wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to infrared because of their ability to trap carriers at the surface with high sensitivity. But precise nanowire positioning has limited their application as arrays, and measurement of phototransitive gain was not documented.

More information:
Agiltron Inc.
SensArray Infrared

by Barbara G. Goode, barbarag@pennwell.com, for Laser Focus World