PIXELTEQ Photodiode at Sensors Expo 2013, booth 629.

PIXELTEQ’s PixelCam™ multispectral cameras capture custom wavelength bands simultaneously for data-rich images across ultraviolet, visible, and short-wave infrared wavelengths. OEM versions can be further customized to yield the best possible visualization for a specific application.

PIXELTEQ also applies pixel-scale dichroic filter arrays on photodiodes, optical sensor arrays, and line-scan and area imagers – helping OEMs shrink multi-wavelength sensors into a single package, enable new optical features in semiconductor sensors, and deliver application-specific sensors and cameras.

Golden, Colo. (May 8, 2013) – PIXELTEQ, formerly Ocean Thin Films, has added two semiconductor optics veterans to its management team, supporting its growing portfolio of OEM spectral filters, sensors and imaging products. Stewart Feld is vice president of operations and Dave Fish is promoted to vice president of technology.

Stewart Feld

Dave Fish

Feld, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, most recently led manufacturability improvements at a leading supplier of laser and photodiode products.  As vice president of operations, he will lead the ongoing production and process improvements for PIXELTEQ’s exclusive micro-patterned coating technology on wafers and active devices. Feld has more than 15 years of experience in optical research labs and semiconductor manufacturing, beginning his professional career making advanced semiconductor lasers at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Feld has designed clean-rooms and managed operations for several semiconductor companies, holds five patents and has authored more than 30 technical publications.

Fish, a veteran senior electro-optic engineer at PIXELTEQ, has helped develop the company’s SpectroCam™ and PixelCam™ spectral cameras, PixelSensor™ multi-band photodiodes and numerous custom micro-patterned filter arrays and devices during the last two years. As vice president of technology, he will continue to innovate and expand on similar products.  Throughout his 30-year engineering career, Fish held key technology roles at companies including Hughes-JVC Technology and IMED Corp.

“Dave and Stewart bring years of expertise to our team, and they’ll collaborate closely with our customers at the design stage to deliver application-specific products,” said Phil Buchsbaum, president of PIXELTEQ. 

PIXELTEQ applies micro-patterned spectral filters on glass and semiconductor wafers, helping OEMs shrink multi-wavelength sensors into a single package or enable new optical features in semiconductor sensors.

Golden, Colo. (April 22, 2013) – PIXELTEQ will demonstrate its latest PixelCam™ multispectral cameras at the SPIE Defense, Security & Sensing 2013 show next week in Baltimore. Demonstrations at PIXELTEQ booth No. 1662 will focus on multi-band (3- and 4-band) short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging that improves contrast and visualization. PIXELTEQ will also show customized OEM modules and a variety of spectral sensors and devices for use across ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) applications.

Product manager Steve Smith, Ph.D., will present “Why Multispectral?” 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 30, in the demonstration area shortly after the exhibition opens. He will highlight examples of how multi-band SWIR and VIS/NIR sensors and cameras enhance a variety of defense and security applications while having the same form factor, frame rate and proportion as panchromatic cameras.

PIXELTEQ, formerly Ocean Thin Films, provides micro-patterned optical filters, sensors and cameras used by OEMs to develop multispectral devices with enhanced contrast in the same footprint as their monochrome counterparts.

Golden, Colorado (April 3, 2013) – Marco Snikkers has joined the PIXELTEQ team as Director of Sales & Marketing in Europe.

Snikkers brings to PIXELTEQ more than 15 years of experience in the photonics sector, including leading the European market since 2006 as commercial director for Ocean Optics. At PIXELTEQ he will direct all sales and marketing activity for the European markets from his base in the Netherlands.

Marco Snikkers

“Snikkers’ knowledge of the spectroscopy and semiconductor market will help us to increase the support towards our customers for our new line of spectral sensing products,” said Randel Mercer, VP business development at PIXELTEQ.

During his time with Ocean Optics, Snikkers successfully led the sales team in expanding to Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East and growing the OEM customer portfolio. He previously worked as sales manager for Europe and Asia in the semiconductor laser field and as product applications manager for a Dutch photonics startup company. Snikkers started his career as a research engineer of high-speed lasers for Philips Research and has a Bachelor of Science degree in applied physics.

PIXELTEQ applies micro-patterned dichroic filters on glass or semiconductor wafers, helping OEMs shrink multi-wavelength sensors into one package or enable new optical features in today’s semiconductor sensors. It also allows for cost-effective multispectral imaging in a variety of industrial vision applications. To learn more about PIXELTEQ, visit www.pixelteq.com, email marco.snikkers@pixelteq.com or call +31 652 557 997.

New PixelSensor photodiodes feature integrated narrow-band detection across ultraviolet (UV), visible, and near infrared (NIR) – creating new opportunities for optical sensors by simplifying and shrinking the optical path for compact multispectral device design. Multispectral camera demos will highlight the benefits of imaging application-specific spectral bands at the show from March 18-21 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. And the PixelCam multispectral camera will showcase how multi-channel short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging reveals features beyond human vision in real-time.

Golden, Colorado (February 13, 2013) – PIXELTEQ’s SpectroCam™ multispectral camera will be used in an upcoming episode of ABC’s new “Zero Hour” television series. “Zero Hour,” an adventure thriller, premieres tomorrow, Feb.14, and the SpectroCam is expected to appear in the second episode, “Face,” the next Thursday, February 21 at 8 p.m. EST.

Multispectral imaging is used more and more frequently to highlight features beyond our human vision – creating live, data-rich images with UV, visible and infrared light for use in biomedical, forensic, food safety, security and other commercial and industrial applications.

To catch a glimpse of the SpectroCam on “Zero Hour,” click on the show’s ABC page here to watch a video preview. The SpectroCam makes its appearance at the 18 second mark.

Golden, Colorado (January 29, 2013) – Ocean Thin Films will demonstrate new PIXELTEQ™ spectral sensors and cameras at next week’s SPIE Photonics West 2013 in San Francisco. Multispectral camera demos at the PIXELTEQ booth #1831 will highlight the benefits of imaging application-specific spectral bands at the show, which runs from Feb. 5 to 7 at the Moscone Center. The new PixelCam camera will showcase how short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging reveals features beyond human vision. For optical sensing, the new family of PixelSensor photodiodes will feature narrow-band detection for sensors across ultraviolet (UV), visible and near-infrared (NIR) applications.

Ocean Thin Films will also display at the BiOS exhibition, which is held February 2-3 in the same venue. PIXELTEQ will tailor demonstrations to innovative biomedical applications in booth #8632, including simultaneous real-time imaging of multiple quantum dots.

PIXELTEQ will be conducting two “Why Multispectral?” presentations in the exhibit hall demo areas, summarizing multi-band sensing and imaging applications and the enabling micro-patterned optical coating technology behind its new spectral sensors and cameras at:

• BiOS – Saturday, February 2 at 3:30 p.m. in the BiOS Demo Area
• Photonics West – Thursday, February 7 at 1:30 p.m. in Demo Area 1 (South Hall ABC)

The PIXELTEQ team will also be receiving final applications for its MSInnovations multispectral imaging research grant program through the end of the Photonics West exhibition. Researchers from accredited academic institutions or relevant private industries may apply for the grant, which is geared toward cutting-edge research programs that break new ground with their multispectral applications and techniques. The grant program gives participants the unique opportunity to add a high-end multispectral instrument to their lab at little or no cost.

Golden, Colorado (January 15, 2013) – Ocean Thin Films announces its new PIXELTEQ™ spectral sensing and imaging solutions focused on creating innovative multispectral devices for aerospace, biomedical, industrial, laboratory and security applications.

The patented technology behind PIXELTEQ is an exclusive micro-patterned optical coating coupled with electro-optical integration expertise to deliver high-performance OEM multispectral cameras, sensors and optical coatings. The PIXELTEQ portfolio includes PixelCam™ and SpectroCam™ cameras, PixelSensor™ narrow-band photodiodes, and patterned optical filters purpose-built for OEM applications. The company has unveiled a new website, www.pixelteq.com, featuring the full portfolio of PIXELTEQ products – from thin film coatings to integrated electro-optical devices.

“PIXELTEQ is a natural extension of our unique patterned-coating capability into the multispectral space,” explains Phil Buchsbaum, president of Ocean Thin Films. “At the heart of each multispectral device is an array of micro-patterned optical filters engineered to meet our clients’ exacting requirements.” The recently launched PixelCam, for example, is an application-specific multispectral camera built around precise spectral bands and ready for integration into instrumentation, handheld, mobile and aerial devices.

“What the digital camera has done for conventional photography, PixelCam can do for mainstream application-specific imaging,” said Randel Mercer, VP of Business Development at Ocean Thin Films. “Our clients are combining spectroscopy and imaging by using targeted spectral bands from the UV through SWIR ranges to create live, data-rich images. From microscopy to aerial imaging, some of the impacts can be life-changing: detecting cancer earlier, improving agricultural yields, keeping food and water safe or solving crimes and providing better security,” Mercer added. “It’s exciting to be a part of the solutions that our customers are creating.”

To learn more about PIXELTEQ, visit www.pixelteq.com, email info@pixelteq.com or call +1 303.273.9700.

Golden, Colorado (December 5, 2012) – Ocean Thin Films has introduced PixelCam™, the first commercially available “snapshot” multispectral cameras for shortwave infrared (SWIR) analysis from 700-1700 nm. The cameras harness SWIR’s powerful imaging by simultaneously acquiring four or more standard and custom spectral bands with a single camera, enabling extraction of spectral information not noticeable with panchromatic SWIR devices. This feature makes the PixelCam especially useful for applications in biomedical imaging, process control and high-contrast security and surveillance environments.

Shortwave infrared “snapshot” imager opens new options for biomedical imaging and security

The breakthrough to provide these compact multispectral camera platforms is combining PixelTec’s precision micro-patterned optical coating technology with robust SWIR area sensor cameras manufactured by Sensors Unlimited of UTC Aerospace Systems. High-transmission dichroic filter arrays are aligned directly over corresponding pixels in the imaging array for optimal spectral and spatial resolution. Standard PixelCam cameras come preconfigured with three and four bands, and custom cameras are available with additional application-specific bands – providing greater versatility and contrast than traditional multi-sensor devices.

“PixelCam makes this sophisticated multispectral SWIR technology – which used to be limited to highly specialized projects – now much more accessible, portable and practical for all kinds of research and production applications,” said Randel Mercer, Vice President of Business Development for Ocean Thin Films. “Its unique pixel-level filters make PixelCam the first commercial ‘snapshot’ camera that can be customized and scaled for your specific multispectral application.”

At the heart of each PixelCam multispectral camera is a custom filter array integrated into a solid-state InGaAs imager with a full resolution of 640×512. Its sturdy platform provides simultaneous 12-bit Camera Link® digital and RS170 analog outputs and an external trigger. The form factor, frame rates, operating temperature and power requirements are unchanged by the passive spectral filters – enabling easy integration into handheld, mobile, and aerial devices.

Golden, Colorado – Ocean Thin Films is calling for grant proposals featuring multispectral imaging applications that would utilize the SpectroCam™ platform. SpectroCam is an imaging system that integrates scientific-grade sensors with eight filters to produce multispectral images. This grant gives participants the unique opportunity to add a high-end instrument to their lab at little or no cost.

The grant program, called MSInnovation, is geared toward cutting-edge research programs that break new ground with their applications and techniques. SpectroCam is available in three models — VIS, UV and SWIR — that can be utilized for biomedical, forensic, art conservation and authentication, archaeology, agricultural, industrial and surveillance applications. Collected images are based on specific spectral bands, including regions beyond what the naked eye or traditional cameras can see in the UV and infrared. Unique information obtained from multispectral data allows powerful analysis and unlocks new methods for experimental design.

Researchers from accredited academic institutions or relevant private industries may apply for the grant. Submissions will be evaluated by Ocean Thin Films employees based on the following: feasibility; innovation in the scientific field; commercial potential; creative application of multispectral imaging and alignment with Ocean Thin Films goals. The company expects to award up to 10 grants, and international applications are encouraged.

To apply, send a one-page submission describing the research program’s aims and intended use of the SpectroCam to MSInnovation@oceanthinfilms.com by January 31, 2013. Grants will be awarded in February. Multiple applications per individual or group can be submitted, but only one award will be issued. If selected, a more detailed report describing the applicant’s proposed use will be required. Ocean Thin Films will work with chosen recipients to configure a SpectroCam for their specific needs.

To learn more about SpectroCam and MSInnovation visit http://www.spectrocam.com or call +1 303.215.4112.