thermal imagers and detectors 2020 - yole développement

From Technologies to Markets

© 2020

From Technologies to Markets

© 2020

Thermal Imagers and Detectors

2020

Market and Technology

Report 2020

Sample

22

a-Si:Amorphous Silicon

ASP:Average Selling Price

ASIC:Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

BST: Barium Strontium Titanate

EBT: Elevated Body Temperature

EST: Elevated Surface Temperature

CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate

CCD: Charge-Coupled Device

CIS: CMOS Image Sensor

CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

CMP: Chemical Mechanical Planarization

CSD: Chemical Solution Deposition

FIR: Far Infrared

HVAC: HeatVentilation Air Conditioning

IR: Infrared

LI: Light Intensifier

LED: Light-Emitting Devices

LWIR: Long-Wave Infrared

MCT: Mercury Cadmium Tellium

MCU: Micro Controller Unit

MEMS: Micro Electro Mechanical Systems

MWIR: Middle-Wave Infrared

NIR: Near Infrared

NETD: Noise-Equivalent Temperature Difference

PCB: Printed Circuit Board

PIR: Pyro Infrared

PLP: Pixel-Level Packaging

PZT: Lead Zirconate Titanate

QVGA: QuarterVGA

QW: Quantum Well

QWIP: Quantum Well Infrared Photon (imager)

RoW: Rest of the World

ROIC: Read-Out Integrated Circuit

SEM: Secondary Electron Microscopy

SOI: Silicon-On Insulator

SWaP: Size,Weight and Power

SWIR: Short-Wave Infrared

QVGA: QuarterVideo Graphics Array

TAM:Total Accessible Market

TCR:Temperature Coefficient of Resistance

TiOx :Titanium Oxide

TSV:Through-SiliconVia

UFPA: Uncooled Focal Plane Arrays

VGA:Video Graphics Array

VOx:Vanadium Oxide

VWOx :Vanadium Tungsten Oxide

WLC:Wafer-Level Camera

WLP:Wafer-Level Packaging

WLO:Wafer-Level Optics

XVGA: ExtendedVideo Graphics Array

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GLOSSARIES

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• Glossaries 2

• Table of contents 3

• Report scope 7

• Applications covered in this report 9

• Definitions 10

• Methodology 12

• The authors 13

• List of companies 14

• What we got right/What we got wrong 16

• Disclaimer 17

• What changed between May and October 2020 18

• Yole Group related reports 19

• 3-page summary 24

• Executive summary 28

• Introduction 55• IR spectrum

• IR technologies by wavelength

• IR detection functions explanation

• IR detection principle: cooled or uncooled

• Overview of thermal detector and imagertechnologies

• Detector and imager price vs resolution

• Detector and imager technologies vs. applications

• Fever detection thermal cameras: covid-19 inducedgold rush

• FDA communication to control thermal cameramisuse

• Market forecasts 71

➢ Detectors 72• Thermal detector application definitions

• Thermal detector volume forecast by application(Munits)

• Focus on applications excluding motion detection

• Thermal detectors ASP Assumptions

• Thermal detector market forecast by application ($M)

• Thermal detector technology breakdown

• Synthesis


TABLE OF CONTENTS

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➢ Imagers 82• Thermal imagers application definitions

• Thermal imager volume forecast by application(kunits)

• Focus on thermography and EBT/EST

• Comparison of current with previousYole forecasts

• Thermal imager market forecast by application ($M)

• Synthesis

• Market trends 91• The general public became aware of IR technologies

• Air passenger traffic past and future?

• Possible triage procedure for Covid-19 screening atairports

• What if businesses adopt thermal cameras?

• What if schools adopt thermal cameras?

➢ Detectors 97• Temperature measurement: the winner

• Where to measure the human body temperature

• Thermal detector market trends

• Thermopile technology entering wearables?

• Smart building/Home trend

• Smart buildings need many more functionalities

• Challenges for smart building market access

• The special smart building market: focus on HVAC

• From smart buildings to smart cities

• Conclusion

➢ Imagers 108• Thermal night vision for road safety

• Automotive trends

• Elevated Body Temperature measurement by thermalimaging

• EBT/EST use cases and associated thermal cameras

• Attack on titan?

• Two battlefronts for thermal detectors & imagers

• Thermal surveillance camera trends

• Drone industry: lucrative business lies ahead?

• Drone/UAV & Thermal: a prominent combination

• Smartphone thermal imaging and detection?

• CIS and thermal imagers comparison

• Smartphone or wearable opportunity?

• Who could lead development in high-volumesmartphone integration?

• 10 major future soldiers projects worldwide

• Military - Combination of multiple wavelengths

• Thermal Imagers, cores and cameras for soldiers


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• Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS) trends

• Portable SoldierVision Enhancement trends

• Other military applicationsTrends

• Drones are everywhere in the military ecosystem

• Conclusion

• Supply chain 133

➢ Detectors 134• Thermal detector manufacturers map

• Thermal detector geography particularities

• Top players, by detector size

• Thermal detector manufacturer market shareestimations

➢ Imagers 139• Business models and trends

• Thermal imager manufacturers map

• Thermal imager manufacturer shipment market shareestimations

• 2019 player market share estimation by application(shipments)

• Made in China 2025

• The next steps

• Thermal core manufacturers map

• Thermal imaging optics/materials manufacturers map

• Thermal camera manufacturers/ integrators map

• Focus on Chinese thermal camera manufacturers/integrators

• Thermal camera business relationships

• Supply chain has recovered

• Thermal cameras for military market and dual use

• Imagers for the military market: the US and the rest

• Technology trends 155

➢ Detectors 156• Thermal detector technology penetration

• Heimann HTPA32x32d thermopile array

• Melexis MLX90640 thermopile array

• Thermal detector technology trends

• Thermal detectors in wearables: from thermistors tothermopiles

• Digital thermal detectors are growing fast

➢ Imagers 164• Hardware

• Overview of IR technologies

• Johnson criteria

• Key technical steps in the MEMS manufacturing chain


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• Guide IR microbolometer

• IRay microbolometers

• Thermal imager technology and cost comparison

• Thermal imager resolution and pixel pitch by manufacturer

• Thermal imager parameters

• Focus on some main parameters

• CIS & thermal imager evolution?

• Thermal imaging status: from the FPA to the camera

• Technology impact on core

• At what point will the pixel pitch reduction stop?

• Automotive technology trend

• SWOT analysis of EST/EBT thermal cameras

• EST/EBT temperature accuracy and calibration

• Military thermal imaging technology trend

• Software

• Algorithms in the thermal imaging camera chain

• IRay T3S simplified image production pipeline

• IRay T3S IMAGE Processing flowchart

• Augmented intelligence for the IoT

• AI for fever detection: is it the real deal?

• Surveillance thermal Imaging AI

• Military thermal Imaging AI

• Other general thermal AI developments

• What could be the future of thermal imaging AI?

• Outlooks 193• Thermal detector application market overview

• Thermal imager/camera application market overview

• Conclusions

• How to use our data 199

• Annex 200

• Company presentation 201


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Market research scope:o This report addresses long-wave or far infrared (8 to 12µm;

LWIR, FIR) thermal detectors, imagers and cameras forcommercial and military businesses.

o Market data and forecasts address the 2018-2025 period, in shipments(units) and revenue ($M).

o This report covers the following technologies: pyroelectric detectors,thermopile detectors, and microbolometer imagers and cameras.

o This report deals with the impact of Covid-19 on the global thermaldetector and imager market.


SCOPE OF THE REPORT

$1

$10

$100

$1,000

Sensor price

4x4 16x168x8 64x6432x32 80x80 160x120Sensor

resolution

Infrared

Detectors

Report

Single

pixel

VGA/XGA

Hikvision DS-2TM13/16

Pyreos ezPyro

Iraytek S0 or Tiny1

© Yole Développement, October 2020

Melexis MLX90632

Excelitas pyroelectric and

thermopile detectors

Global Sensor

Technology

GST1212M

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• Provide market data on key thermal detectors(thermopiles, pyroelectrics) and imagers(microbolometers), including market metricsand dynamics:

o Thermal detectors and thermal imagers/camerasin units and revenue, split by market segment.

o Market shares for thermal detectors andimagers.

• Offer key technical insights into futuretechnology trends and challenges.

• Deliver an in-depth understanding of thethermal imaging value chain, infrastructure, andplayers:

o Who are the industrial thermal sensor playersand where are they positioned?

o More generally, which are the key players towatch and how will the thermaldetection/imaging market evolve?

• Present an in-depth analysis of thermaldetectors and imagers for defense andcommercial applications, including extra coloron EBT/EST screening.


SCOPE OF THE REPORT

Your needs are

out of scope of

this report?

Contact us for a custom report:

TechnologyTrends

& playersForecasts

Units

$US Dollar

Thermopiles

Pyroelectrics

Microbolometers

Players

Trends

Forecasts

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APPLICATIONS COVERED IN THE REPORT


Commercial

Motion detection

Temperature measurement

Spectroscopy

Gas & fire detection

Smart buildings

Thermography

Surveillance

Automotive

Firefighting

Marine

Personal Vision Systems

Ruggedized smartphones

Plug-in for smartphones

Other Commercial

Military

TWS

Soldier vision

Others

Commercial

Thermal imagers

EBT/EST

hype of 2020

Thermal detectors

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In Yole’s previous IR reports, various names have been used: IR detectors, IR imagers, IR cameras, uncooled IR detectors/imagers, passive infrared

(PIR), far infrared (FIR), microbolometers, thermopiles, pyroelectrics, etc.

In this report we will use two main terms to avoid confusion:

• thermal detectors (arrays with less than 10k pixels) used mostly for sensing functions (sensing the passive thermal radiation)

• thermal imagers, which are used in thermal cameras. The difference between a thermal imager and a camera is that an imager unit is simply

the packaged pixel array (FPA) with its ROIC, while a camera unit includes the core, the optics, the final packaging, assembly and testing.

Thermal detector characteristics:

• Technology: bulk, thin-film or CMOS pyroelectric, or thermopile

• Pixel number: from a single pixel up to 80x80 arrays

• Spectral range: 8-14µm

• Main function: thermal radiation detection/sensing

• No external cooling

Thermal imager characteristics:• Technology: microbolometer

• Pixel number: 80x80 up to XGA and full HD resolution - 1024x768 and 1920x1080

• Spectral range: 8-14µm

• Main function: thermal radiation imaging

• No external cooling

Note that wherever we mention ‘fever detection’ in this report, we mean detection of elevated body or surface temperature (EBT or EST) which

could indicate a fever, a symptom that can be caused by infectious as well as non-infectious diseases/illnesses, among other things. We in no way

assert that thermal imagers, cameras and detectors can diagnose a specific illnesses, whether Covid-19-related or not.


ATTENTION: CHANGE OF INFRARED NOMENCLATURE IN THIS REPORT

From Imaging to Sensing, the

principle is the same as 3D imaging.

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Thermal Imager, also called an Uncooled Fixed Pixel Array (UFPA): a thermal system that converts infrared (IR)radiation into a visible image.The main components of a thermal camera are:


THERMAL IMAGER AND DETECTOR DEFINITIONS

Camera Camera core with electronics and

sometimes IR lenses

Imager - sensorUncooled focal plane array - UFPA

Pixel Each sensor is an array of

thousands of pixels.

Thermal Detector: a photodetector that detects thermal radiation and converts it into a signal. By usingseveral single detection elements called pixels, it forms an array. Detectors provide only a detection signal, notan image.The main parts of an IR detector system are:

System

e.g. IR motion detector Detector, packagedModule

e.g. IR motion detector

Detection chip with pixels

from 1 to 80x80 arrays.

The pixel limit for detectors and imagers is around 80x80. The reason is that above this

resolution it is possible to do some scene (face, etc) recognition.

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1212Thermal Imagers and Detectors 2020 | Sample | www.yole.fr | ©2020

METHODOLOGIES AND DEFINITIONS

Market

Volume in Munits

ASP in $

Revenue in $M

Yole’s market forecast model is based on the integration of several sources:

Information

Aggregation

Preexisting

information

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Dr. Dimitrios DAMIANOS, Analyst

Dimitrios Damianos joined Yole as a technology and market analyst, working within the Photonics, Sensing and Display division. Dimitrios collaborates daily with

his team to deliver valuable technology and market reports covering imaging, photonics, and sensors. Upon completing his research activities on theoretical and

experimental quantum optics and laser light generation, Dimitrios attended Grenoble University, France and pursued a Ph.D. in Optical and Electrical

Characterization of Dielectric Materials on silicon as well as SOI, with applications in photovoltaics, image sensors and microelectronics. Additionally, Dimitrios

holds an MSc in Photonics from the University of Patras in Greece and has authored/co-authored several scientific papers published in international peer-reviewed

journals.

Contact: [email protected]

Dr. Eric MOUNIER, Fellow Analyst

With more than 25+ years’ experience within the semiconductor industry, Eric Mounier PhD. is Director of Market Research at Yole Développement (Yole). Eric

provides daily in-depth insights into current and future semiconductor trends, markets and innovative technologies (such as Quantum computing, Si photonics, new

sensing technologies, new type of sensors ...). Based on relevant methodological expertise and a strong technological background, he works closely with all the

teams at Yole to point out disruptive technologies and analyze and present business opportunities through technology & market reports and custom consulting

projects. With numerous internal workshops on technologies, methodologies, best practices and more, Yole’s Fellow Analyst ensures the training of Yole’s

Technology & Market Analysts.

In this position, Eric Mounier has spoken in numerous international conferences, presenting his vision of the semiconductor industry and latest technical

innovations. He has also authored or co-authored more than 100 papers as well as more than 120 Yole’s technology & market reports.

Previously, Eric held R&D and Marketing positions at CEA Leti (France).

Eric Mounier has a PhD. in Semiconductor Engineering and a degree in Optoelectronics from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble (France).

Contact: [email protected]


ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Biographies and Contacts

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3M Scott, Adasky, Aeronvironment, Amphenol, Armasight, Aselsan, Athena, Avio, Avigilon, Axis Communications,

BAE, Bosch, Bullard, Caterpillar, Convergint, Cosinuss, Cypress, Dahua, Denso, Device-ALab, DeWalt, Dexter, Dias

Infrared, DJI, Dräger, Elbit Systems, Empatica, Excelitas (QiOptiq), FaceSense, Fisba, FLIR, Fluke, Flyability, Flybotix,

Foresight, Fujitsu, Global Sensor Technology (GST), GreenWaves, GuideIR, Guide Sensmart, GWIC, Hamamatsu,

Hanhwa Techwin, Heimann Sensors, Hensoldt, Hikvision, i3systems, Impossible, InfiRay, Infrared Cameras Inc,

Infratec, InVid, IR&D, iRay Technologies, Irisys, Irlynx, Jenoptik, Kodenshi, Kyocera, L3 Harris, Leica, Leonardo DRS,

LG Innotek, Lockheed Martin, Lucint, Lynred, Magnity, Melexis, Micasense, Mikrosens, Mitsubishi Electric, MKS

Ophir, Mobotix, MSA, Murata, NEC, Nextvision, Nicera, Northrop Grumman, NXP, Omron, ON Semi, Opgal,

OptoTherm, Orisystech, Parrot, Panasonic, Pyreos, Rafael ADS, Raytheon, Raytron, Safran, SATIR, SCD, Schneider

Electric, Schott, Seek Thermal, Semitec, Senba Sensing Tec, Sierra Olympic, Sunell, Sunshine Technologies, Tamron,

TE Connectivity, Teledyne Dalsa, Testo, Tetracam, Thales, Thermoteknix, TowerJazz, Umicore, Veoneer, Vital, Wahl,

Wintec, Workswell, Xperi, Zeiss, Zhejiang Dali and many more…


COMPANIES CITED IN THIS REPORT

Non-exhaustive list

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Baoding Jingze Optical&electrical Technology Co. Ltd, Baoding Sanjing Electronics Material Co. Ltd., Beijing Acme

Optoelectronic Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing DongyuhongdaTechnology Co. Ltd., Beijing FJR Optoeletronic Technology

Co. Ltd., Beijing Huayuanhao Photoelectric technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Hongyuan Shengda Electro-Optic Technology Co.

Ltd., Beijing WanTengDaSiTechnology Co. Ltd., CETC Electro-Optics Technology Co. Ltd., Chengdu Huishi opto-

electronic technology Co. Ltd., China Optical Infrared Technology (Dalian) Co. Ltd., CNBM Optoelectronic Materials Co.

Ltd., Dongguan XintaiInstrument Co. Ltd., Fujian Forecam Optics Co. Ltd., Guangzhou SAT Infrared Technology Co. Ltd.,

GZLENS Optoelectronics China Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Zillion M&C Technology Co. Ltd., Hebei IRhome Photoelectric

Technology Co. Ltd., Hubei Jiuzhiang Infrared System Co. Ltd., Kunming Kaihang Optics Co. Ltd., Luoyang AVIC Optronics

Research Institute, Shenyang Sumboy Intelligent Imaging Technology Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Everbest Machinery Industry Co.

Ltd., Shenzhen Jove Communication. Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Longot Technology Development Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Tekwin

System Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Tsinghua Video Electronic Technology Co. Ltd., Tianjin Jinhang Technical Physics Research

Institute, Tianjin Zhongjing Semiconductor Materials Co. Ltd., Uni-Trend Technology (China) Co. Ltd., Vital Optics

Technology Co. Ltd., Wavelength Opto-Electronic (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., Wuhan Yoseen Infrared Co. Ltd., Wuhan Huazhong

Numerical Control Co. Ltd., Xi'an Zhongke Lead-ir Technology Co. Ltd., Zhao Sheng (Zhejiang) Technologies Inc.,

Zhejiang Heika Electric Co. Ltd., Zhejiang HongpuTechnology Co. Ltd., Zhejiang Sun Creative Technology Co. Ltd.,

Zhejiang Ulirvision Technology Co. Ltd.


CHINESE COMPANIES MENTIONED IN THIS REPORT

Non-exhaustive list

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o Thermal imaging activities in China areincreasing, with ramp-up of products beingdeveloped and manufactured in-house.

o Strong domestic demand in China, even greaterthan predicted due to the demand for feverdetection components.

o The interest for thermal imaging and detectiontechnologies remains unwavering. Education ofconsumers around thermal imaging technologiesis still missing, which could allow for strongeradoption in the future.

o Smartphone use-case appeared as a niche(human temperature measurement), butwidespread adoption still remains uncertain.

o Smart building market has developed quickerthan we thought for thermal imagers and slowerfor small detectors.

o We over-estimated smart building applicationsby more than $150M in 2025 (long term). Forexample, Amazon cashierless stores rapidexpansion and need for thermal detectors arenot materializing, as we previously thought.

o Unfortunately, nobody anticipated that a worldpandemic such as Covid-19 would affect theglobal economy with all the negative andpositive (for IR market) effects.

WHAT WE GOT RIGHT, WHAT WE GOT WRONG

The Covid-19 outbreak has changed everything.

Thermal Imagers and Detectors | Preliminary Report | www.yole.fr | ©2020Thermal Imagers and Detectors 2020 | Sample | www.yole.fr | ©2020

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Monitoring closely the pandemic situation, Yole decided to release in May 2020 a

preliminary report on the thermal imaging/sensing industry. For this time only, it was

exceptional and ahead of the scheduled Thermal Imagers/Detectors report at the end

of the year .

In the preliminary report; we presented some roll-out scenarios of what to expect this

and the next years. We included in our forecasts the effects (positive or negative)

associated with the different end markets & applications monitored in this report, as

well as potential supply chain disruptions and logistics problems. This report combines

the best ofYole’s knowledge in the thermal imaging/sensing industry.

We have not changed the ASPs and the corresponding price erosion of various

systems. We have mainly kept the same with pre-covid levels, except if we state

otherwise in the report. The possibility of an inflation, though tangible but not certain

could maker the end-systems prices augment, raising as well the price of individual

sensors/components in them. Nevertheless, governments and central banks seem

willing to limit this inflation with the different measures under-way. But in this analysis

we have not speculated and have not accounted for that.

The data that you will find in this report is the best available data according to our

hypotheses and associated analysis. If you want to react to something or to have an

open discussion, please feel free to contact us.


DISCLAIMER

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In the May version, we hypothesized that market demand for thermal imagers and

detectors will spike, with the Chinese manufacturers gaining a clear advantage. At that

point in time, we made 2 scenarios: an optimistic and a nominal one. Now, after

consolidation of the market numbers, we realise that we were not very far from reality:

• Thermal detectors surged as temperature guns and contactless thermometers

integrators ordered some-times hundreds of thousands or even millions of detectors.

Of course most detector manufacturers, had to increase their capacity and maximize

their production. Our view now (October 2020) is the same as in May 2020.

• Thermal imagers also surged, as thermal camera systems became indispensable for

access control or for fast fever screening in various big infrastructure (airports,

businesses, schools, stations, etc).

• What we didn’t expect however, was the decline in demand later in 2020. We thought,

that the hype will continue in 2021 and 2022, though with less units sold than this year,

but with always a large appetite for the absorption of such systems. As of Q3 2020,

demand for thermal cameras has gone back down, with only thermal detector

manufacturers still expecting continous demand up to at least mid of next year.

However, this could change if a second or subsequent waves and no vaccine spark the

interest of more end-users.Then, 2021 demand for thermal cameras could resurge.


WHAT CHANGED BETWEEN MAY AND OCTOBER 2020?

Changes betweenYole’s preliminary report and the current version

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Imager Units*

October 2020

May 2020

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Detector Units*

May 2020 / October 2020

2019 baseline

2019

baseline

*Related to human body temperature

measurement, not all applications

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MICROBOLOMETER TECHNOLOGY AND COST COMPARISON

Package, ROIC, microbolometer die

and cost comparisons are included

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Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

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Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information


YOLE GROUP OF COMPANIES RELATED REPORTS

Piseo – Design and Characterization of Innovative Optical Systems

Construction and performance

analysis of sensors and cameras

• Imagers, modules and cameras:

- NETD

- Responsivity

- Scene dynamic

- Dead pixels

- NUC

- RFPN

- MTF

- Optical design

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Piseo – Design and Characterization of Innovative Optical Systems

More thermal imagers/modules are coming

• Thanks to multiple drivers, the market of infra-red thermal imaging cameras and modules isexpanding at fast pace with a multiplication of product offers. Therefore, there is a need forusers, integrators and sensors manufacturers to be able to discriminate marketed productsbased on accurate and independent assessment of their performances and features.

• The T3S camera characterization report is the very first of a kind that will help thermalimaging cameras and modules market actors to better understand the characteristics of suchproducts, eventually to make strategic decisions.

• More reports will come soon which will allow fair product features and performancescomparisons.

• The following cameras and modules are already analyzed or planned:

o Flir Boson 640 Pro camera (USA): available in Q4 2020

o GuideVGA 12µm (China): available Q1 2021

o Seek Thermal module QVGA 12µm (USA): available Q1 2021

o Hikvision camera QQVGA 17µm (China): planned

o Teledyne Dalsa GXF (Canada): planned


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IR DETECTOR TYPES & TECHNOLOGIES BY WAVELENGTH

0.72µm 1.4µm 5.6µm 10µm 1000µm

NIR MWIR LWIR Far IR

3µm 8µm 14µm

SWIR

0.9µm

Coole

dU

nco

ole

d

NIR CMOS, CCD

QWIP InSb

MCT MCT

T2SL T2SL

Cooled: for more

sensitive applications

(photon level), active

cryo-cooling is needed

Material analysis

Thermography

Passive vision enhancement (emissive)Active Vision enhancement

(reflective)

ThermographyHigh T°C thermography

Other commercial/military applications

Tech

nolo

gy

Applic

atio

ns

Pyroelectric (PIR)

Thermopiles

Thermopiles (Semiconductor metal)

SiGe QW

Uncooled photo emission

Microbolometer (a-Si, VOx)

Pyroelectric (PIR) – LiTaO3, BST

PbSeInGaAs

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THERMAL DETECTOR AND IMAGER PRICES VS. RESOLUTION, BY APPLICATION

$1

$10

$100

$1000

Sensor price

4x4 16x168x8 64x6432x32 80x80 160x120

Sensor

resolution

Single pixel QVGA2x2

Smartphones

Motion

Detection

VGA/XGA

$2000The Covid-19 outbreak drives

increasing demand for body

temperature screening thermal

technology:

• For thermal detectors: temperature

measurement using thermopiles.

• For thermal imagers: thermography

using microbolometers

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THERMAL DETECTOR APPLICATION MARKET OVERVIEW

2019 2020

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM $XM

$XM

Motion detection

Low-end temperature measurement

Gas and fire detection

Smart buildings

Spectroscopy

High-end temperature measurement

Applic

atio

ns

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM$XM

Covid-19’s effect*

$XM

$XM

+X% YoY

+X% CAGR© Yole Développement, November 2020

$XM$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

2025Smart building effect?

$XM

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THERMAL CAMERA APPLICATION MARKET OVERVIEW

2019 2020 2025

$XM$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XB

$XB

Military

Thermography

Surveillance

PVS

Firefighting

Ruggedized smartphones

Maritime

Automotive

Other commercial

Applic

atio

ns*

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XB

$XB

$XM

Covid-19’s effect* Growth continues at

precovid levels

$XB

$XB

+X% YoY

+X% CAGR

*Smart buildings and Plug-in

for smartphones not shown

(small $ value)

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XM

$XB$XB$XM

$XB

$303M$XB

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MEMS foundries that manufacture thermopiles has seen anexplosing demand, which has been drastically increasing sinceFebruary due to covid-19. Particularly for single, dual, quad pixelsused in handheld thermometers/temperature guns. EU/Taiwanthermopile MEMS foundries have customers particularly in Chinawho have products that are price sensitive.

• In the short term, there was a surge in demand for thermopile-based thermometers and temperature guns due to covid-19.

• At the low-end, there is high demand for personal ear/foreheadthermometers from people who want to monitor their temperature and check for fever at home.

• At the high-end, medical grade thermometers will boom in 2020 due to the huge need in hospitals, workplaces and other infrastructure for temperature monitoring of patients or to provide an extra check for triage after an initial screening via a thermal camera.

• In the long-term, smart buildings will drive the revenues for thermopiles

The current situation could lead to consumerization of thermalimaging/sensing (integration in smartphones). Huawei is releasing asmartphone (Honor 4 Pro) which integrates a thermal detector fortemperature measurement. We think it’s the newest MelexisMLX90632 thermopile with medical grade specifications. However, willthis smartphone be a success?

THERMAL DETECTION MARKET TRENDS

Melexis MLX90632


http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

2727

Examples of potential products

ImagerDetector


SMARTPHONE THERMAL IMAGING & DETECTION?

Excelitas TPiD

1S (SMD)

TI TMP006

(WLCSP)

Melexis

MLX90632 FLIR Lepton Iraytek S0 or Tiny1

Accuracy

better than

0.5°C?

Small form

factor?

8’’/12’’ CMOS

compatible for

mass

production?

Rapid

characterization

and test?

Technology?

Thermopile,

microbolometer,

other?

ASIC, chip etc

for reducing

false negative

readings?

Development choices for mass production and

smartphone integration (10Mu order of magnitude)

Low cost,

around a few $?

Technology Product

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/


DRONE/UAV & THERMAL: A PROMINENT COMBINATION

Includes a FLIR thermal camera

2020: Flybotix Raises CHF 1.5 Million to

Bring its Inspection Drones to MarketIncludes a thermal camera

FLIR has won an additional $20.6million

contract from the U.S. Army to deliver its

FLIR Black Hornet®3 Personal

Reconnaissance Systems (PRS). The advanced

nano-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Zenmuse H20T (with FLIR VGA thermal

radiometric camera – Boson?)Impossible US-1 drone for first responders

using FLIR DUO PRO R (thermal VGA, 25° FoV)

Parrot Anafi Thermal

(FLIR 160x120, 57°HFoV)

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/


EBT/EST USE CASES AND ASSOCIATED THERMAL CAMERAS

Short-term ‘flexible’

Anywhere, anytime

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, nec an dictas

equidem appellantur, ut has commune

accommodare. Mea illum, ludus solet idpro.

Short-term ‘fixed’

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, nec an dictas

equidem appellantur, ut has commune

accommodare. Mea illum, ludus solet idpro.

Long term, big areasCentralized access control in big spaces

with temperature registration.

temperatures

Use casesWhere could thermal cameras be

used?

For use at building entrances, elevators,

airport security check, etc. Pick and place.

For quick and easy deployment anywhere.

For use at building entrances, elevators,

airport security check, etc.

• Number of people: 30-50

• Resolution: QVGA, VGA, 10-15mm lens

• Accuracy: ±0.5°C, ±0.3°C with optional

blackbody

• Software: yes, for reduction of false

detection

• Measurement guidelines: no

• Waiting time: none

• Wireless: yes - no operator

*Thermal camera images are courtesy of Hikvision and are for indicative purposes only

• Number of people: up to ten

• Resolution: QQVGA, QVGA, 3-6mm lens

• Accuracy: ±0.5°C, ±0.3°C with optional

blackbody

• Software: yes, for reduction of false

detection

• Measurement guidelines: yes

• Waiting time: few seconds


• Number of people: 1

• Resolution: QQVGA

• Accuracy: ±0.5°C

• Software: no




• Number of people: 1

• Resolution: QQVGA

• Accuracy: ±0.5°C

• Software: no



• Wireless: no - operator needed

Specifications of

each use case

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/


THERMAL DETECTOR MANUFACTURERS MAP

Thermal detector technologies:

pyroelectrics, thermopile, both technologies

Thin-film

Thermal detector players are mostly vertically integrated, internally producing the pixel, optics

and packaging.

Front-End manufacturing is located in Europe, USA ,and Japan. More than 90% of the IR

detector back-end production is located in Asia (Philippines, China, Indonesia, Malaysia). This is

mainly due to low cost requirements for motion detection. Also, IR integrating systems are

generally manufactured in Asia (motion detectors, thermometers, fire detector…).

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/


THERMAL IMAGER MANUFACTURERS MAP

Microbolometer technologies:

a-Si, VOx, Other technologies

The thermal camera supply chain is more complicated and is

scattered worldwide: imagers (FPA/ROIC), retinae, lenses, packaging,

system assembly may all be produced in different locations.

Here only imager manufacturers are shown, some of which might be

more vertically integrated (FLIR, Seek, Hikvision, GuideIR)

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

32

THERMAL DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

A new miniature SMD thermopile-based thermometer from Melexis

Thin membrane heats up through incoming infrared radiation (FIR). A thermocouple is measuring ∆T between the membrane and the chip.

• New Melexis thermopiles MLX90632 in QFN package of3x3x1mm3

• Compatible with medical grade applications of ±0,2°C

• Eliminating the non-isothermal impact of the bulky TO-canpackage

• The MEMS part of the thermopile is manufactured at X-Fabmixed signal foundry in Germany

→ Could it open the way to smartphone-based consumer bodytemperature monitoring in the (after-)covid-19 era? Seems a likelycandidate.


MLX90632 thermopile (SMD)

Courtesy of Melexis

http://www.yole.fr/


GUIDE IR MICROBOLOMETER

GST117W 17µm Microbolometer Module

SEM view - pixel Cross-section

The microbolometer uses VOx

technology and a 17µm pixel pitch. The

integration in 680mm3 is allowed by the

WLP technology developed by

GST/GuideIR. With a definition of 120x90

pixels, the microbolometer is designed

for consumer markets, including

smartphone, pocket thermal imager,

intelligent building, etc.

XX$

Component

price is in the

range of

XX$

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

3434

Now Future


WHAT COULD BE THE FUTURE OF THERMAL IMAGING AI?

AI

Good thermal camera*

Powerfulprocessing

chip

Optimizedsoftware

Military

Surveillance

Transport?

Domains that have what is needed

for thermal AI developmentFuture uses?

Specially adapted NN

for thermal cameras

High resolution e.g. VGA,

XGA and a huge dataset

• Deep neural networks (DNNs) for visible light images

may be applicable to other image types, such as

thermal images.

• Resolution degradation of thermal images reduces

their classification accuracy when using a DNN

trained for visible light images.

• Classification accuracy can in some cases be improved

via the use of a super-resolution (SR) model.

Source: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/artificial-

intelligence/posts/exploring-deep-learning-face-recognition-

with-thermal-images.html

Intel has published a study

examining whether AI can

recognise people’s faces using

thermal imaging (Jan 2020)

Technical limitations:

• Low-resolution

images

• Small databases

Medical diagnosis

Other applications?

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

35

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

35

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

CMOS Camera Module Industry for Consumer & Automotive 2020

Status of the MEMS Industry 2020


Yole Développement

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/status-of-the-mems-industry-2020/?pk_campaign=r_Thermal_Imager_Nov2020&pk_medium=relatedreports_Sample

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/cmos-camera-module-industry-for-consumer-automotive-2020/?pk_campaign=r_Thermal_Imager_Nov2020&pk_medium=relatedreports_Sample

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/status-of-the-mems-industry-2020/?pk_campaign=r_Thermal_Imager_Nov2020&pk_medium=relatedreports_Sample

https://www.i-micronews.com/products/cmos-camera-module-industry-for-consumer-automotive-2020/?pk_campaign=r_Thermal_Imager_Nov2020&pk_medium=relatedreports_Sample

36

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

36

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Sales Team

for more

information

IRay Technology 12µm and 17µm Thermal Sensors

Guide Infrared’s 17µm Microbolometer Module

Heimann Sensor 32 x 32-array thermopile LWIR image sensor

with silicon lens



System Plus Consulting

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/guide-infrareds-17%c2%b5m-microbolometer-module/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/iray-12%c2%b5m-and-17%c2%b5m-thermal-sensors/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/heimann-sensor-32-x-32-array-thermopile-lwir-image-sensor-with-silicon-lens/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/guide-infrareds-17%c2%b5m-microbolometer-module/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/heimann-sensor-32-x-32-array-thermopile-lwir-image-sensor-with-silicon-lens/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/iray-12%c2%b5m-and-17%c2%b5m-thermal-sensors/

37

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

37

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

FLIR Boson – a small, innovative, low power, smart thermal camera

core

Melexis Far Infrared Thermal Sensor MLX90640

FLIR One 2nd Generation & FLIR LEPTON 3 LWIR Core



System Plus Consulting

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/melexis-far-infrared-thermal-sensor-mlx90640/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/flir-boson-a-small-innovative-low-power-smart-thermal-camera-core/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/flir-one-2nd-generation-flir-lepton-3-lwir-core/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/melexis-far-infrared-thermal-sensor-mlx90640/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/flir-one-2nd-generation-flir-lepton-3-lwir-core/

https://www.systemplus.fr/reverse-costing-reports/flir-boson-a-small-innovative-low-power-smart-thermal-camera-core/

38

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

38

Contact our

Sales Team

for more

information

iRAY T3S Thermal Camera Performance Analysis


Piséo

http://www.yole.fr/

http://www.yole.fr/

https://piseo.fr/presse-actualites/analyse-des-performances-de-la-camera-thermique-iray-t3s/

https://piseo.fr/presse-actualites/analyse-des-performances-de-la-camera-thermique-iray-t3s/

3939

The Yole Group of Companies, including Yole Développement,

System Plus Consulting, Knowmade and PISEO, are pleased to

provide you a glimpse of our accumulated knowledge.

Feel free to share our data with your own network, within your

presentations, press releases, dedicated articles and more. But

before that, contact our Public Relations department to

make sure you get up-to-date, licensed materials.

We will be more than happy to give you our latest results and

appropriate formats of our approved content.

Your contact: Sandrine Leroy, Dir. Public Relations

Email: [email protected]


HOW TO USE OUR DATA?

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