Teledyne DALSA (formerly DALSA Corporation) is a Canadian company specializing in the design and manufacture of specialized electronic imaging components (image sensors, cameras, frame grabbers, imaging software) as well as specialized semiconductor fabrication (

MEMS MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) is the technology of microscopic devices incorporating both electronic and moving parts. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometres in size (i.e., 0.001 to 0.1 mm), and MEMS devices ...

, high voltage ASICs). Teledyne DALSA is part of the Teledyne Imaging group, the leading-edge imaging companies aligned under the Teledyne umbrella.

History

The company was founded in

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...

, Canada in 1980 by imaging pioneer Savvas Chamberlain, a former

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

. It originally concentrated in developing and generating

charge-coupled device A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

(CCD) image sensor technology. The company was capitalised in November 1984 and was publicly listed on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...

in May 1996. It has grown into an industry leader in

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

technology, employing as of 2011 approximately 1000 individuals worldwide and earning revenues of more than $200 million. Headquarters remain in

, Canada, but the company has expanded operations into Billerica,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

; Santa Clara,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

; Bromont and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

;

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

and

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in addition to sales offices in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. DALSA was acquired by Teledyne in February 2011.

Technology and applications

The company designs and manufactures digital imaging products for industrial, scientific, and medical applications, including semiconductor wafer inspection, printed circuit inspection, general

machine vision Machine vision is the technology and methods used to provide image, imaging-based automation, automatic inspection and analysis for such applications as automatic inspection, process control, and robot guidance, usually in industry. Machine vision ...

, digital

radiography Radiography is an imaging technology, imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical ("diagnostic" radiog ...

, medium format photography, aerial

photogrammetry Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant ima ...

, and astronomy. Notably, many of the image sensors employed in NASA’s ''Spirit'' (2004), ''Opportunity'' (2004), and ''Curiosity'' (2011) Mars Rovers were manufactured by DALSA. DALSA is one of few industrial digital camera producers that has a vertically integrated supply chain. In 2002, Dalsa bought the Bromont semiconductor wafer foundry from Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. DALSA owns the wafer forge where many of its imaging sensors are manufactured and is one of the few manufacturers offering both CCD and

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...

sensors. In 2005 DALSA acquired Canadian frame grabber and camera manufacturer Coreco (based in Montreal). In doing so, Teledyne DALSA added software, acquisition and further gigabit Ethernet technology to its portfolio. In 2003 DALSA introduced a

digital cinema Digital cinema is the digital technology used within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to mo ...

camera (the Origin camera system), but despite remarkable imaging performance the system was not a commercial success and the project was wound down in 2009. In 2007, it was redesigned to provide a better image output and was renamed the Dasla Origin II, later that same year the Evolution camera was also released. In 2023, Teledyne DALSA announced the production of a new camera, the Linea2 4k Multispectral 5GigE.

Recognition

In 2007, DALSA was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

magazine, one of a few manufacturing companies to receive this honour. In 2010, Yole Développement named DALSA’s wafer foundry as "the leading independent pure‐play MEMS foundry worldwide".

References

External links

Teledyne DALSA Website
{{Authority control 1980 establishments in Ontario 2011 mergers and acquisitions Canadian companies established in 1980 Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Waterloo, Ontario Electronics companies of Canada Electronics companies established in 1980 Film and video technology Manufacturing companies of Canada Semiconductor companies of Canada Teledyne Technologies MEMS factories