Digital multispectral sensor applies wafer-level filter technology
In a 4.5 x 4.4 mm land grid array package, the ultra-low power AS7262 visible range sensor and AS7263 NIR sensor each provide six calibrated spectral channels. At $4 each (1000), the sensors are aimed at material and product authentication, product quality and integrity as well as material content analysis in the near-infrared (NIR) and visible spectra.
The multispectral sensors employ a fabrication technique which enables nano-optical interference filters to be deposited directly on the CMOS silicon die with extreme precision. This interference filter technology used for the sensors offers extremely precise and reproducible filter characteristics which are stable over both time and temperature and are much smaller and are said to be more cost-effective than the components typically used in today’s spectral analysis instruments.
The AS7262 six-channel visible light sensor with integrated intelligence provides a calibrated digital output over an I²C or UART interface. It measures light intensity at six wavelengths in the visible light spectrum: 450 nm, 500 nm, 550 nm, 570 nm, 600 nm and 650 nm. The AS7263 operates in the NIR spectrum detecting 610 nm, 680 nm, 730 nm, 760 nm, 810 nm and 860nm infrared signatures. Both devices include an electronic shutter with LED drive circuitry, which means that device designers can accurately control the light source and the spectral sensing functions with a single chip.
The small size of the new multispectral sensors combined with their low power consumption enable measurement equipment OEMs to develop new product categories. Bulky laboratory-grade analysis equipment can now be replaced by handheld form factors. In factories, samples which today have to be removed from the production line and taken to a laboratory for chemical analysis or quality testing will be tested in-line by new small, robust spectral analyzers based on the multispectral sensors.
ams adds, “The dramatic reduction in the size and cost of spectral analysis enabled by our new spectral sensing solutions brings the lab to the sample for an incredible variety of applications from food safety and product authentication, to routine testing that can better protect both our health and our environment.”
ams; www.ams.com/spectral-sensing/AS7262 and www.ams.com/spectral-sensing/AS7263
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