Fairchild licenses, acquires some of Agilent’s CMOS imaging technology

Milpitas, CA—Fairchild Imaging and Agilent Technologies recently agreed to have Fairchild exclusively license Agilent’s ultra low-noise CMOS image sensor technology, which was developed by Pixel Devices International (PDI) and acquired by Agilent in February 2003.

Milpitas, CA— Fairchild Imaging and Agilent Technologies recently agreed to have Fairchild exclusively license Agilent’s ultra low-noise CMOS image sensor technology for industrial, biomedical, research and government systems. Agilent’s ‘active reset’ technology, which can reduce noise by one or two orders of magnitude compared to traditional CMOS pixel technologies, enables low light imaging in high speed industrial or research applications.

The agreement licenses to Fairchild the technology, designs, manufacturing rights, test equipment and residual inventory of devices and cameras that were developed by Pixel Devices International (PDI), which was acquired by Agilent in February 2003. Fairchild Imaging also agreed to support PDI s former customers and to continue PDI product lines.

‘The technology and products license that we acquired from Agilent will be complementary to Fairchild Imaging’s existing line of large area, high performance charge coupled device (CCD) sensors and cameras,’ says Charles Arduini, Fairchild Imaging’s president. ‘We will now offer our customers a yet broader array of technology choices for their specific market requirements and applications. The many performance advantages that the active reset technology brings to CMOS sensors fits well with the industrial, biomedical, research and government customers that we serve.’

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news desk
[email protected]