BiSon64-ET-B

Oh what a week. One would wonder, how can something be more exiting than contract negotiations for the European Space Agency - ESA LISA mission? Surprise surprise, it can be. On Friday, PhotonFirst (Michael Sieval) delivered a batch of prototype µIBIS sensors to SystematIC Design B.V. Testing has started, and hopefully Frank Stelwagen will notify us about good results of the first tests soon. Communication is working and some registers are responding to light, so at least something is working, but one can imagine that it takes some time to fully test the functionality of this small but complicated chip. The first issue of the ship was hampered by some small flaws that have hopefully been corrected with a metal fix. Therefore the new proto's have the metal fix and could potentially become the first radiation hardened true digital (albedo insensitive) Sunsensors in the world. I guess it is not just us having restless nights over this development as (when working) this development would not only put us at the top for analogue Sunsensor providers (as proven by the LISA contract) but would allow us to compete with every supplier in every field of Sun sensing. #highreliability #radhard #digital #Sunsensor

Both Suman Kasani and Johan Leijtens will be at the Amsterdam Space Symposium next week, with a brand new booth design driven by the European Space Agency - ESA #proba-3 and #LISA missions. If you are in the neighbourhood, please come and visit the Lens R&D B.V. booth

The holiday season has started! Because of our hard work, we were surprised today with a warm bathrobe and nice socks to make sure we have all the essentials to relax during the winter break. Thank you Sinterklaas!

We welcome back our CEO and wife from India, where they attended the wedding of our colleague Suman Kasani. Going from a nice, warm country to the cold winter in the Netherlands is a big step, and we're sure the delicous curries will be missed.

We are proud to sponsor the Amsterdam Space Symposium! Don’t miss reduced registration rates: register before December 1 to enjoy Super Early Bird discount. See you March 3-4 in Amsterdam: https://www.amsterdamspacesymposium.com/event/Tickets?reg_type_id=879751

Most of the time gold nuggets that fill a man's hart with joy are a lot larger, but Johan Leijtens is very happy to see only very small gold nuggets in this case. The reason for this is simple. Although not easily recognisable the photo shows the extra wide bondpads implemented on the IPS+ chip which is supposed to lead to the first radiation hardened single chip true digital Sunsensor IBIS. Although the European Space Agency - ESA ARTES AT contract has formally finished, nothing is stopping SystematIC Design B.V. and Lens R&D B.V. from taking the next steps in proving the functionality of the preliminary design. After the metalfix at XFab, the gilding has now been performed PacTech - Packaging Technologies and the chips will go for dicing and packaging shortly after which PhotonFirst will create new prototypes to be tested. Exiting times ahead and steps taken that at least at Lens R&D B.V. make people happy. hashtag#highreliability hashtag#Sunsensors