IOP Business Start-Up Award: Phlux Technology
For the development of patented semiconductor technology for infrared light sensors with 12X higher sensitivity than existing state-of-the-art devices, delivering unprecedented levels of speed and sensitivity for 3D imaging.
Phlux has developed patented semiconductor technology for infrared light sensors with 12X higher sensitivity than existing state-of-the-art devices. This has a profound, positive impact on applications including light detection and ranging (LIDAR), laser range finders, optical fibre test instruments, optical communications networks, greenhouse gas detection and monitoring, and quantum communications.
In these and other applications, Phlux sensors increase the operating range of instruments and systems by up to 50%, enable systems to operate in a wider range of environments, and reduce systems costs and size by 40% and 30% respectively by enabling lower power, simpler infrared transmitters to be used. In LIDAR applications, which create visual maps of the environment, the sensors enable up to 12 times greater image resolution for a given transmitter power. In automotive LIDAR, Phlux sensors make vehicles much safer by enabling higher-resolution images to be created over longer distances, enabling safety systems to be more effective.
Phlux received £670,000 in pre-seed funding in February 2020 and a seed round of £4 million in November 2022. In early 2024, the company started shipping its sensors in production quantities and has received substantial export business from North America. One of the great benefits of Phlux sensors is that they have been designed as drop-in replacements for existing devices, so customers can achieve instant performance improvements for their products simply by changing one component.
