Cambridge CMOS Sensors Launches µBright® – Highly Efficient, Robust Infrared Sources

CAMBRIDGE, England

Cambridge CMOS Sensors (CCS), a semiconductor company with industry leading gas sensor solutions to monitor the local environment, today announced the launch of its range of µBright® infrared sources, the latest of its gas sensor components for low-power, long life optical gas sensing solutions. Designed to operate across the wideband IR range (2 to 14µm) the µBright® sensors can be used to continually sense gases, such as carbon dioxide, and ethanol vapours in NDIR (nondispersive infrared) systems at low power.

The CCS11x family of IR sources incorporate a new patented plasmonic structure, which has a layer of metallic dots with a defined geometry which creates a resonant effect, increasing the optical emissions of the CCS11x sources. The devices use CCS’s patented micro-hotplate design to deliver high optical emissions across a broad range (2µm to 15µm) of IR wavelengths with a very stable, low drift output. The plasmonic structure and the micro-hotplate are fabricated using a standard CMOS process.

The CCS11x family of components have an inherently low thermal mass which allows for rapid heating to high temperatures (up to 600^oC), allowing pulse mode operation at high frequencies and low power consumption.Features and benefits of CCS11x µBright IR Sources include:

• Stable output with low drift – low resistance drift over lifetime removes need for compensation
• Fast switching – Up to 38Hz at 50% modulation depth
• High IR radiation output – Up to 600^oC operation with emissivity at 0.8 at 4.26µm
• Superior efficiency – Pulse mode operation
• Proven technology platform – Designed for high volume and reliability (>5year lifetime)

Jess Brown, Sales and Marketing Director at CCS said: “We are pleased to launch the CCS11x, the new µBright range of Infrared sources – our latest generation of IR components for optical gas sensor solutions. These devices will enable our customers to have lower power, smaller optical gas sensing products which can be used to monitor specific gases such as carbon dioxide and also to detect greenhouse gases and refrigerants such as Freon for demand control ventilation, building monitoring, automotive cabin control, and industrial safety and security applications.”

Availability

The CCS112A, CCS113A and CCS114A are available for sampling now in TO packages (TO46 and TO39).

CCS will be exhibiting in Hall 1, stand number 1-550 at the Sensor + Test show to be held in Nuremberg, in Germany on the 10 – 12^th May 2016. If you wish to speak to a CCS representative at this event please email us at sales@ccmoss.com.

About CCS11x

The micro-hotplate is formed from a dielectric membrane, supported on a silicon substrate, with a central Tungsten heater, produced by a Deep Reactive Ion Etch (DRIE) MEMS process. The inherently low thermal mass allows for rapid heating to high temperatures (up to 600°C), allowing pulse mode operation at high frequencies, high emission and significantly reduced power consumption.

Product Overview

The CCS11x family are low-power Lambertian infrared sources where the heater temperature can be controlled by appropriately adjusting the current or the supply voltage. It can be powered with low DC drive voltages and using pulse-width modulation (PWM).

The CCS11x is available in TO46 and TO39 packages as standard. Other package options may be available on request.

The CCS11x IR sources can be operated using pulse-width modulation (PWM) to simplify the driving circuitry and minimise overall power consumption. To ensure temperature and emission stability, the minimum PWM switching frequency should be 10 kHz.

The following table indicates the key product parameters for the CCS11x µBright™ family of infrared sources:

About Cambridge CMOS Sensors

Founded in 2008, Cambridge CMOS Sensors (CCS) is an industry leader in gas sensor solutions for consumer applications. CCS products are uniquely based on a CMOS silicon platform with added intelligence for easy integration into a range of end products for air quality monitoring and breath analysis.

Key features of CCS products include ultra-low power consumption, fast response time, embedded intelligence and ultra-small form factor. These features have enabled the CCS products to be integrated into smartphones, wearables and smart home devices. Additionally, the gas sensor solutions are scalable and cost efficient through the use of standard high volume semiconductor manufacturing processes.

With headquarters in Cambridge UK, CCS has direct local engineering and commercial support in China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and USA.

For further information, please visit http://ccmoss.com/.

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Enquiries
Cambridge CMOS Sensors
Jess Brown, +44 (0) 1223 395551
Sales and Marketing Director
jess.brown@ccmoss.com
or
Luther Pendragon
Harry Chathli, Matthew Hempstead
+44 (0)207 618 9100
CCS@luther.co.uk