The infrared (IR) night vision imaging and thermography market is estimated at $4.8 billion annually, of which $3.3B is derived from pure military applications and $1.5B from commercial and dual-use applications. This market has historically been driven by the many defense and security-related applications for which the technology is best known, while proliferation into commercial mass markets applications has been prohibited by price. In recent years, with the introduction of lower-price uncooled infrared focal plan array (FPA) products, commercial markets, recognizing the IR imaging advantages, have been significantly expanding, and now include Driver’s Vision Enhancement (DVE), CCTV for perimeter control, search and rescue, predictive maintenance and manufacturing process control, environmental monitoring, non-destructive testing, and many others. Although uncooled FPA based products offer sufficiently good performance for most commercial and dual-use applications, their cost still precludes mass penetration into commercial markets.

The IR detector is the single biggest cost component of an IR imaging camera. Once the IR detector cost issue is resolved and the technology becomes more economical, a true infrared revolution can be expected with the expansion of existing applications and emergence of new mass market applications. The commercial demand for tens of millions of IR cameras is clear – awaiting the high performance detector with the right price tag.

Sirica is in a position to lead this revolution! Sirica’s high performance, low price detector, offers a new paradigm of IR imaging, potentially fueling a new industry.