via Stradivari 4, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Dr. Roberto Biasi, Tel. +39 0471 051212, Fax +39 0471 501524
e-mail: rbiasi@micro-photon-devices.com Full range of business activities: MPD is a dynamic spin-off company of P4 POLIMI and Microgate, a company that had collaborated with POLIMI for developing a wavefront sensor used by the major astrophysical observatories worldwide. MPD has electronic and mechanics workshops for prototyping, ISO-7 clean room for system integration, dedicated equipment for characterization and testing, Cadence SW tools for device design. Role in the project: MPD will contribute mainly for the engineering of an 8x1 SPAD array module suitable for simultaneous spectral and time resolved fluorescence measurements. MPD will also co-ordinate the various project components. Qualification for these roles: MPD relies on its own know-how and facilities and takes advantage of the expertise of POLIMI. The employees are two postdoc researchers, with in- depth know-how of SPADs and associated electronics, and one skilled technician responsible for the design, engineering, assembling and testing of the detector modules. MPD is a fab-less manufacturer: the SPAD detectors are produced at the research- and prototype-oriented silicon foundry of CNR IMM, Bologna (Italy). After a favourable response of the market to pre-production samples in 2005, the company was already profitable in 2006 with about 250 modules produced.