Heritage

IDEAS (https://ideas.no/) was founded in 1992 by a group of scientists and engineers from The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the University of Oslo. With a strong background in applied physics, radiation detector instrumentation, and electrical engineering, the team has since been designing and manufacturing custom-made integrated circuits and sub-systems for a wide range of radiation detectors and imaging systems, used in medical imaging, industrial scanning, nuclear science, and astrophysics.

Our integrated circuits feature low-noise, low-power amplifiers for the readout of various detectors, such as cadmium zinc telluride (CZT), cadmium telluride (CdTe), thallium bromide (TlBr), silicon, photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), multi-channel plates (MCPs) and avalanche photo diodes (APDs), silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), and multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs). For space applications, these circuits are specifically designed for radiation hardening against latch-up and single-event upset. Recent ASIC designs support spectroscopic photon counting, dose monitoring, continuous waveform sampling, cryogenic operations, and readout of infrared focal-plane arrays.

Thanks to our customers, we have accumulated a wealth of design heritage in integrated circuits and subsystems for use in space, as well as in challenging applications on Earth. This design heritage provides us with the confidence and assurance of a successful implementation in new development projects, reducing the risks and time needed.

Our circuit design have delivered tangible results in the following space missions and instruments:

  • SWIFT, 2004, burst alert telescope (BAT) gamma-ray telescope and spectrometer
  • CREAM, 2004-2010, High energy particle spectrometer on several balloon flights
  • AMS/AMS2, 1997/2011, Charged particle tracker and ring image Cherenkov detector (RICH)
  • PAMELA, 2006, Charged particle tracker
  • STEREO, 2006, Particle and ion spectrometer (PLASTIC)
  • SuperAGILE, 2007, Gamma ray spectrometer
  • Chandrayaan-1, 2008, HEX High Energy gamma and X-ray spectrometer
  • FOXSI, 2014, X-ray telescope and spectrometer
  • CALET, 2015, CALorimetric Electron Telescope
  • DAMPE, 2015, DArk Matter Particle Explorer. High energy calorimeter and tracker
  • ASTRO-H, 2016, Soft gamma ray imager (SGD), hard x-ray imager (HXI)
  • Tiangong 2, 2016, POLAR gamma-ray spectrometer/polarimeter
  • ARASE/ERG, 2016, Electron spectrometer
  • ISS-CREAM, 2017, High energy particle spectrometer attached to the International Space Station
  • BepiColombo, 2018 , MPPE, BERM radiation monitor, ELENA instrument
  • ASIM, 2018 , Miniature x-ray and gamma ray sensor and spectrometer (MXGS)
  • EDRS-C, 2019, NGRM, Next Generation Radiation Monitor, electron and proton spectrometer. NGRM is also planned to be used on Meteosat, EPS and Sentinel-6A/B
  • SRG, 2019, ART-XC – Astronomical Roentgen Telescope – X-ray Concentrator.
  • ASO-S, 2022, Hard X-ray Imager HXI on Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory
  • JUICE, 2023, RADEM RADiation hard Electron monitor. Electron and proton spectrometer.
  • ASBM, 2023, NORM Norwegian Radiation Monitor

At IDEAS, we strive to deliver quality products that meet the needs of our customers. We are dedicated to providing innovative solutions that will help to push the boundaries of detection and imaging technology.

2022-10-22 IDEAS Space timeline

IDEAS single page