Custom packaging and hybridization of photodiode products offer further differentiation. Hybrid photodetectors have additional devices within the same package, such as amplifiers, thermoelectric coolers, and other electronics. A design with an amplifier within the detector package reduces noise in the system compared to a system with the amplifier on the circuit board because the amplifier magnifies the noise generated in the conductor from the detector to the amplifier. Photodiodes with integral thermoelectric coolers (TECs) create less noise and have higher signal-to-noise (S/N) characteristics.
Optrans provides the designer with insights concerning custom variations that optimize electrical, optical, and thermal characteristics without requiring significant volume commitments. In addition to our headquarters in New York, where we have both our design engineering staff and complete testing department for all optical and electrical parameters, we also have two manufacturing facilities in California and Japan. Optrans is a vertically integrated company that allows us to produce detector components quickly, thus decreasing your time to market. We can even make your entire package in the United States.
Optrans broad line of silicon photodetectors are provided in a variety of package types, ranging from through-hole plastic, ceramic, metal-can, surface mount, and complete custom. These devices are available with standard silicon die with a spectral sensitivity of approximately 400 – 1100nm or special UV-enhanced silicon chips with sensitivity in the lower UV-A range. Custom active areas and multi-element chips can also be manufactured to suit your application. Many of our wafers/chips are manufactured in the USA and optimized to ensure uniform and consistent performance with high reliability. These devices are well suited for visible and near IR applications requiring high speed, high sensitivity, and low noise, such as optical switches and optical communications.
Optrans silicon detectors can be obtained with integrated filters for reduced visible light interference or optimized for your required spectral range. In addition to our various package styles available off-the-shelf, Optrans can integrate multiple detectors and emitter detector combinations in a single package type.
Medical, Optical Communications, Industrial, Scientific, and Analytical.
Remote Controls, Optical Encoders, Position Sensors, Fiber optics, Bar code readers and chemical analysis
Avalanche photodiodes are ideal for high-speed and low-light-level detection in the near-infrared range. These detectors have become the semiconductor equivalent of photomultipliers in many applications, including data communication, LIDAR, instrumentation, and photon counting. In addition, cost-effective customization of these APDs is offered to meet exacting design specifications. Operation voltage selection and breakdown voltage (Vbr) binning, wavelength-specific band-pass filtering, and hybridization options are among many application-specific solutions available at Optrans.
Optrans APDs have an internal gain mechanism, fast time response, low dark current, and high sensitivity in the near-infrared region. These APDs are recommended for applications that require high bandwidth or where internal gain is needed to overcome high pre-amp noise. In addition, Optrans APDs provide higher sensitivity than a standard photodiode and are ideal for extreme low-level light detection and short pulse detection. APDs are essentially photodetectors that provide an amplification gain stage through avalanche multiplication. They are similar to photomultipliers but are solid-state semiconductor devices.
Silicon Avalanche photodiodes (Si APDs) are the preferred optical detectors for applications where the wavelength lies between 400nm and 1100nm (with 800 and 905nm optimized sensitivities) and exhibit high speed and low noise for visible to near IR applications. Standard versions are available in three active area diameter sizes, 200, 500 & 800um, and are offered in hermetic TO Cans and can also be supplied in cost-effective LCC packages.
TUV Detectors (250nm – 450nm)
UV LEDs/emitters are becoming more prevalent in the industry, replacing old technology such as mercury lamps. As a result, the need for UV detection is also increasing. Optrans offers new UV-enhanced Silicon-based UV detectors in various metal-can thru-hole type packages ranging from TO-18 – TO-39 with special UV glass to ensure optimum lifetime and the least amount of material degradation. In addition, we will be introducing a new hermetically sealed surface mount package with a glass cover for those applications requiring low profile and high reliability. These new “seam welded” devices will be available in production in the first quarter of 2021. Optrans offers standard and custom package solutions in a bare chip, component, or assembly form to meet your application requirements.
Optrans UV detectors offer superior stability over time and high device sensitivity with low dark current.
Medical, Industrial, Scientific and Analytical, Environmental/Ecological and Commercial.
Biomedical/chemical analysis, UV emitter output monitoring, UV sensors, spectrometers, and wearables.
Optrans’s lineup of advanced InGaAs photodiode detectors consists of two detector families or series based on their spectral sensitivity ranges:
These two high-sensitivity and high-reliability product series are ideally suited for applications in analytical instruments, medical diagnostics, and communication devices in the SWIR (short wavelength infra-red) wavelength range.
Photodiode chip active area sizes from 0.1mm to 3.0mm are available to provide the optimum balance between low dark current, high speed, and light sensitivity. This allows for increased flexibility and options in a variety of applications, from fiber optics and high-speed optical communications to medical and chemical analysis.
None of our PIN photodiodes utilizes integrated TE (Thermal Electric) Cooling, thereby reducing costs and improving overall efficiency.
In addition to PIN Photodiodes, Optrans offers foundry services for epitaxial growth of SWIR wafers in the 1.0 um to 2.6um range, using InP material as the base substrate. Optrans is currently producing these high-reliability wafers in 2″, 3″ and 4″ diameters. Among the applications for these wafers are photodetectors, linear arrays, and image sensors. Photodetectors processed using our epitaxial wafers provide significant advantages, including lower dark current, better shunt resistance, and improved performance at lower operating temperatures.
Optrans-manufactured InP PIN Photodiodes using InGaAs/InP technology have a spectral sensitivity in the 800 to 1750nm range for applications requiring low dark current, high speed, and sensitivity, such as fiber optics and optical communications. Optrans’s detector die can be placed in various packages, from metal can TO-5, TO-18, and TO-46 to surface mount and standard 3mm and 5mm plastic packages. We can also incorporate the detector die in custom-designed assemblies.
Marktech Optoelectronics is one of only a handful of manufacturers that supply emitters and detectors in the extended wavelength or SWIR range. Marktech’s can package UV, visible, NIR, and SWIR LEDs together with InGaAs, silicon, and silicon carbide photodiodes to provide detection amd emission source in a single package.
Marktech’s standard product offering includes through-hole and surface mount packages with wavelengths from up to 2600nm and operating currents ranging from 20mA to 350mA for high-power applications. Higher wavelength ranges up to 3000nm are available in specific package types (see MWIR below).
The SWIR wavelength range requires specialized optical detectors since standard silicon detectors have a maximum sensitivity limit of up to only approximately 1100nm. Marktech produces a line of InGaAs detectors optimized for sensing light in this SWIR wavelength range. These detectors can be obtained as individual, discrete components or combined with a silicon sensor to cover the complete spectrum of light from the visible to the SWIR range. Marktech also offers the option to custom-produce multi-element devices with emitter and detector chips in the same package.
Optrans also provide InGaAs APDs for visible, NIR, and SWIR applications requiring infrared detectors with higher sensitivity than InGaAs PIN photodiodes. We can also provide InGaAs APD photodiode arrays on a custom basis.
The Optrans extended wavelength standard SWIR package offerings include:
Extended wavelength detectors: If you require above 3000nm, which is more in the MWIR [mid-wavelength infrared] range, Marktech has a team of experienced engineers to work with you to develop a custom wafer or die that meets your specific application needs.
Marktech’s optoelectronic manufacturing and assembly capabilities include:
Arrays of SWIR detectors have been utilized in SWIR night vision systems, which rely on the intense night glow to illuminate the scenery even when the visible spectrum is completely dark.
Arrays of SWIR detectors have been utilized in SWIR night vision systems, which rely on the intense night glow to illuminate the scenery even when the visible spectrum is completely dark.
Inspection of High-Temperature Manufacturing Processes
Web inspection of continuous processes such as high-temperature manufacturing processes and quality controls.
SWIR can be used in the recycled plastics industry due to the C-H, O-H, and N-H found in plastics, and the wavelength used is around 1.0-2.2μm.
SWIR detectors, such as 1240nm, 1640nm, and 2130nm, combined with visible detectors can be applied in some remote sensors for soil moisture and agricultural drought monitoring.
SWIR imaging can better provide more information about Rock and Soil features than visible images due to the reflection characteristics of rock and soil in the 1.8 – 2.5um region.
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating that target with a laser light. LIDAR uses laser light pulses, while radar uses radio waves. Avalanche Photodiodes enable the LIDAR application as a remote sensing technology that optically measures properties of scattered light to find the range and other information of a distant target.