Safran Sensing Technologies Norway AS (formerly Sensonor AS) is a Norwegian producer and developer of high precision and light-weight

MEMS Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

gyros Gyros—in some regions, chiefly North America, anglicized as a gyro (; el, γύρος, yíros/gyros, turn, )—is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with ingredients such ...

and

IMUs Imus, officially the City of Imus ( fil, Lungsod ng Imus), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and ''de jure'' Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Cavite, Philippines ...

, and also offers foundry services in its wafer fab. The company has 63 employees and is localised in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

, Norway, with offices and fabs in

Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand ...

( front end) and at

Skoppum Skoppum is a village in the municipality of Horten, Norway. Its population (2005) is 1,633. Skoppum Station on the Vestfold Line The Vestfold Line ( no, Vestfoldbanen) is a railway line which runs between Drammen and Eidanger in Norway. The li ...

( back end and calibration). There is also a US subsidiary, Sensonor North America LLC, with offices in

Orlando, FL Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

. The CEO is Valérie Redron. As of 1 October 2021, Sensonor is a fully owned subsidiary of

Safran Electronics & Defense Safran Electronics & Defense, formerly known as Sagem Défense Sécurité, is a French company specializing in optronics, avionics and electronic systems, as well as software for civil and military applications in the naval, aeronautical and space ...

. On 21 April 2022, the company changed its name to Safran Sensing Technologies Norway AS.

Business

The main product of Sensonor has long been MEMS manufactured pressure sensors, gyros and inertialŔ measurement systems. The company has focused on MEMS gyros since 2009, and the main product line consists of gyros (STIM2xx product line), and IMU (STIM3xx product line), which both include hermetic versions for space applications. Since 2019, Sensonor has also offered foundry services in its wafer fab.

History

The company was first established in Horten in 1985, founded on knowledge and research from

Akers Electronics Akers may refer to: People * Akers (surname) Places In the United States: * Akers, Missouri, in Shannon County * Akers Pond in New Hampshire *Akers, Louisiana Other uses *Akers' clasp An Akers' clasp is the classic direct retainer for removable ...

.forskning.no, 10. oktober 2002
Mikroelektronikkens Grand old man
/ref> In the 1990s Sensonor had international success with SA20, a sensor for

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a Traffic collision, collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and a ...

systems. It was based on a

piezoresistive The piezoresistive effect is a change in the electrical resistivity of a semiconductor or metal when mechanical strain is applied. In contrast to the piezoelectric effect, the piezoresistive effect causes a change only in electrical resistance ...

beam of

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ...

. Around 35 million sensors were sold worldwide, and the company had an estimated 60–70% of the European market for airbag sensors. However, SA30, their next generation of the crash sensor, was delayed, and failed commercially. This led to a decrease in the

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive rev ...

s from 170m

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which th ...

in 1997 to 50m NOK in 1999. Thus, the early 2000s were economically difficult years for the business and stock market speculation increased the instabilities. Eventually, Sensonor was purchased in full by the large German

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

company

Infineon Technologies Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the former parent company Siemens AG were spun off. Infineon has about 50,280 employees and is one of the ten largest semico ...

. Sensonor was owned by them from June 2003 until February 2009,tu.no, 20. februar 2009
SensoNor igjen på norske hender
/ref> under the name ''Infineon Technologies SensoNor''. In this period, the company was world leading in the TPMS market. In parallel with the development of the SA30 sensor, Sensonor had also been working on a

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country a ...

sensor, named SP12. It was designed for usage in TPMS applications, i.e. monitoring of the air pressure in car

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

s. As with earlier products, SP12 was also based on piezoresistive elements implanted in a silicon

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macr ...

, but additionally, the silicon

wafer A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

was encapsulated between two

Pyrex Pyrex (trademarked as ''PYREX'' and ''pyrex'') is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915 for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded to include kitchenw ...

glass wafers. It was this technology which made the Norwegian company an interesting investment for Infineon. Later, Sensonor developed improved versions, SP30 and SP35. These were sold to producers of TPMS-systems by Infineon. In February 2009, Infineon announced that Sensonor were to be sold to Norwegian private investors, in a move that would "benefit both SensoNor and Infineon". In February 2012, the company filed for bankruptcy, but already in April 2012, new owners purchased the estate and reestablished the company. The company filed positive results and growing sales every year from 2015 to 2020, except 2017. On 1 October 2021, the company was purchased in full by

Products

Sensonor sells three-axis gyros and IMUS (devices with gyro, accelerator and/or inclinometer sensors) in a small package. The gyros belong to the STIM2xx-series, while the IMUS are in the STIM3xx-series. The original product was the STIM202/STIM210 and the STIM300. The STIM318 has improved accelerometer performance, while the STIM277H/377H products are hermetic and optimized for use in Low Earth Orbit.

References

External links

* http://www.sensonor.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sensonor Science and technology in Norway Manufacturing companies of Norway Electronics companies of Norway