Industry news--Karmin Electronic (HK) Limited

Ames Osram introduced a new high-sensitivity three channel CMOS sensor, effectively reducing the cost of UV-A/B/C radiation monitoring
2022-12-29

● Ames Osram's AS7331 creates a new design combination of CMOS sensors, providing independent sensor channels for UV-A, UV-B and UV-C;

● AS7331 is packaged with anti radiation meter sticker, which is small in size, and the manufacturer can realize ultraviolet monitoring in cost sensitive household products;

● AS7331 allows manufacturers to precisely limit the radiation of UV-C light sources to the required dose, thereby improving performance, saving power consumption and creating greater value for end users.

On November 16, 2022, Ames Osram (stock code of Swiss Stock Exchange: AMS), the world's leading optical solution provider, announced the launch of the three channel UV-A/B/C sensor AS7331, which enables home cost sensitive equipment to achieve more affordable UV dose and radiation monitoring solutions. This is the first CMOS sensor launched by Ames Osram that can measure UV-A/B/C wavelength radiation.

The AS7331 is oriented to the consumer and industrial markets, with very high sensitivity and dynamic range. Customers can also benefit from the cost-effectiveness of CMOS device manufacturing.

The AS7331 has a high sensitivity of up to 421 counts/(µ W/cm2) in the UV-A range, and can detect biological fluorescence (for water quality monitoring) or partial discharge in the motor. At present, the low-cost UV sensor chips on the market are not sensitive enough to detect such weak UV signals. The Ames Osram AS7331 has a high dynamic range of 3.43E+10, and product designers can flexibly monitor the ultraviolet light regardless of the intensity of the radiation source. The shortest measurement time is 125 µ s, which is four times faster than the last excellent UV sensor in the current consumer market.

Markus Busz, Senior Product Manager of Ames Osram Spectral Sensing, said: "The introduction of AS7331 means that the price of highly sensitive UV dose monitoring is already close enough to people, and it can be built into household equipment, such as floor sweeping robots, coffee makers, household appliances, water and air purifiers. Low cost UV sensors have very low sensitivity, while high-performance, laboratory level UV sensors are too expensive for household equipment. AS7331 fills the gap in the market."

The sensor is also suitable for UV curing and phototherapy applications. Markus Busz added: "At present, due to the high cost of existing UV-C sensors, consumer disinfection and purification products usually do not have the UV-C monitoring function. Without accurate dose information, these products have set very high radiation and long treatment time to ensure that the minimum necessary dose is exceeded. This not only wastes power, but also accelerates the aging of ultraviolet light sources and irradiated materials. Our AS7331 is small in size and affordable, allowing manufacturing Quotient can limit the radiation of UV-C light source to the minimum necessary, so as to improve the performance and create greater value for the end user. "

By integrating UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C monitoring into a single device, the AS7331 also enables manufacturers to save space and reduce material costs in multifunctional applications. For example, in a water purification system, AS7331 can analyze water quality by measuring the absorption of UV-A light. Then it can measure UV-C radiation to check whether sufficient dose is given to fully purify the water.

With precision optical performance

The AS7331 is a three channel sensor that uses interference filters to generate precisely characterized responses to UV-A (315nm-410nm), UV-B (280nm-315nm) and UV-C (240nm-280nm) radiation. The filter can also suppress the interference of ambient visible light and near-infrared light sources.

The AS7331 has a built-in temperature sensor, which supports temperature compensation for measurement results. The maximum resolution of digital measurement of radiation intensity is 24 bits, and the measurement results are output through 16 bit I2C interface.

The AS7331 features low power consumption and is suitable for mobile or battery powered products such as sweeping robots. When 3.3V power supply voltage is used, the typical value of working current in active measurement mode is 1.5mA, while in standby mode, the maximum current consumed by the device is only 970 µ A.

AS7331 is packaged with 16 pin OLGA, and the size is 3.65mm × 2.60mm, 1.09mm thick. The AS7331 UV sensor can be used with various UV LEDs of Ames Osram, such as the new OSLON ® UV 6060, this high-power UV-C LED has the market leading electro-optic conversion efficiency, and the sterilization effect is extremely excellent.

Samples of AS7331 UV sensors are now available. Mass production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023.

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