Taking 3D and infrared sensing to the next level trinamiX GmbH, based in Ludwigshafen, is a spin-off and wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF SE. Since it was founded in 2015 it has developed 3D sensor systems for object recognition and distance measurement XperYenZ™. With Hertzstück™ it is now committed to provide standard and custom-engineered products in the field of infrared (IR) detection.
“WE
cannot fulfill your product requirements.” This was the response of all suppliers when trinamiX wanted to order certain sensors in the form of a small chip and in high numbers. A disappointing message. To manufacture an optical sensor system for distance measurement, the team working with Dr. Sebastian Valouch and Dr. Wilfried Hermes were searching for something not yet existing in this form: a wafer-thin infrared sensor made of lead salt. The models previously available on the market were very sensitive to water and oxygen, which is why they are protected by a sort of tin can: five millimeters thick – a true waste of space in the miniaturised world of microchips. 8 Industry Europe
At this point the story could have already ended. However, the will and pragmatism of the BASF subsidiary persisted. Working in a team, they pooled electronics knowledge and chemical expertise and, in April 2015, they started developing their own sensor with ultrathin encapsulation. From the start, chemical and process development closely coordinated their activities, and only those ideas were implemented that would also work in series production. At the beginning, there was considerable discussion in the team – about 20 process steps had to be coordinated with one another. But, ultimately, the production could be moved almost directly from the lab to mass production.
Equipped with product samples and data sheets, the team talked to potential customers and presented the 0.5-millimeter-thick chip with thin-film encapsulation to experts – and sold the first Hertzstück™ already one month later. “We developed the sensor in only 18 months and established our own production. And the properties of our sensors were so good that we wanted to offer them to external customers as well”, says Dr Valouch.
Hertzstück? The name says it all The sensor is the heart of every measurement device. The less light needed to obtain good results, the higher the performance, the so-called “detectivity”. In their formula,
