IMAGING Infrared

After the world’s first consumer thermal camera (FLIR One) in 2014, FLIR just released the second generation of the FLIR One featuring a completely new design and an upgraded Lepton core. The major achievement for FLIR has been to propose, in the same module size, a 4x improved resolution without consuming more power and at a lower cost!

Based on a complete teardown analysis of the new FLIR One for Android and iOS, the report provides the bill-of-material (BOM) and the manufacturing cost of the infrared camera as well as a complete physical analysis and manufacturing cost estimation of the Lepton infrared module.

The new Lepton 3 LWIR core shares almost the same dimensions than the previous Lepton core but offers a four times improved resolution of 160×120 pixels (versus 80×60 pixel for the Lepton 2). Despite this improvement, it consumes slightly the same power with 160mW versus 150mW. This achievement has been made possible by the reduction of the pixel size, from 17µm to 12µm in the Lepton 3. This new pixel size has been accompanied by new processes for the ROIC, the microbolometer and the wafer-level window (new technology node, new pixel integration with the ROIC and a simplified window which no longer needs an SOI wafer…).

On the optical module side, strong efforts have been made to improve lenses resulting in a wider field of view (FOV). The lenses are still wafer-level silicon optics but area has been enhanced thanks to hexagonal shapes compared to square shapes previously.

To finish, a comparison between FLIR One 1st and 2nd Generation, Seek Thermal and Therm-App Cameras highlights the differences in technical choices made by each company.

FLIR One System -75 pages

Overview/Introduction 

Physical Analysis

• Package Opening
• Views and Dimensions of the Camera
• FLIR One Disassembly
• Shutter Disassembly
• Housing Disassembly
• Electronic Boards
  • Global View
  • Top & Bottom Sides HR Photos
  • Components Identification

Cost Analysis 

• Cost of the PCBs
• Cost of Sonix Controller
• Electronic Boards BOM Cost
• Housing BOM Cost
• Packaging BOM Cost
• Material Cost Breakdown
• Electronic Boards Assembly Cost
• Housing Assembly Cost
• Assembly Cost Breakdown
• Manufacturing Cost Breakdown

Estimated Price Analysis

• Estimation of the Manufacturing Price

FLIR Lepton LWIR Module -185 pages

Overview/Introduction

Physical Analysis

• Lepton Module
  • View, Dimensions & Pin-Out
  • Module Opening, Housing, Lenses
  • IR Sensor Assembly

• Lepton Module Cross-Section
  • Substrate, Heat Spreader, Lenses

• IR Sensor Die
  • View, Dimensions & Marking
  • Window Removed and Details
  • Pixel Area & Pixel Details
  • ROIC Delayering & Process

• IR Sensor Cross-Section
  • Overview, Sealing, Window
  • ROIC, Microbolometer

• ASIC Dies
  • View, Dimensions & Marking
  • Delayering & Process, Cross-Section

Manufacturing Process Flow

• ASICs, ROIC, µbolometer & Window
• Wafer Fab Units

Cost Analysis

• ASICs Wafer & Dies Cost
• ROIC, µbolometer & Window Front-End Cost
• IR Sensor Wafer & Die Cost
• Lenses & Module Assembly Cost
• Lepton Module Cost

Estimated Price Analysis

• FLIR Boson – a small, innovative, low power, smart thermal camera core
• FLIR Systems FLIR ONE Consumer Thermal Imager with LEPTON Microbolometer
• pmd/Infineon’s 3D Indirect Time-of-Flight in LG G8 ThinQ
• Melexis Far Infrared Thermal Sensor MLX90640
• Panasonic’s 3D Time-of-Flight Depth Sensing Camera Module
• ams’ Direct Time-of-Flight Detection SPAD-Based Proximity Sensor
• VCSELs – Technology, Industry and Market Trends 2018
• Sony’s 3D Time-of-Flight Depth Sensing Camera Module
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro’s 3D Depth-Sensing System
• Mantis Vision’s 3D Depth Sensing System in the Xiaomi Mi8 Explorer Edition