News: Optoelectronics
6 April 2022
II-VI’s 940nm VCSEL flood illuminator modules compliant with AEC-Q102 for automotive in-cabin applications
Engineered materials and optoelectronic component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA, which provides depth sensing technology, says that its 940nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) flood illuminator modules have been qualified to the Automotive Electronics Council’s AEC-Q102 quality standard for automotive in-cabin applications.
US and European transportation safety regulators are increasingly recommending or requiring driver and occupancy monitoring systems in vehicles, fueling the demand for next-generation 2D and 3D infrared cameras designed with higher-performance infrared illuminators. II-VI says that its new VCSEL flood illuminator modules emit higher optical power with a narrower spectral width than infrared LEDs currently used in existing driver monitoring systems, enabling substantial improvements in 2D imaging performance. The infrared light emitted from II-VI’s flood illuminator modules can be modulated to frequencies greater than 100MHz, making them suitable for high-resolution 3D time-of-flight (ToF) cameras for driver and occupancy monitoring systems.
“Our new VCSEL flood illumination modules meet the stringent quality requirements of automotive applications and offer great value to our customers through our vertical integration of VCSEL chips, photodiodes and diffuser optics,” says Dr Julie Sheridan Eng, senior VP, Optoelectronic Devices & Modules business unit. “We are also leveraging our in-house, 6-inch, gallium arsenide semiconductor laser technology platform to achieve economies of scale.”
II-VI says that its VCSELs and flood modules achieve a very high power-conversion efficiency and are available in surface-mount packages integrated with diffuser optics with either a narrow (60°x45°) or wide (140°x110°) field of view. The modules operate over the wide temperature range of -40°C to 105°C.
II-VI’s portfolio of products for sensing includes infrared VCSEL chips with one or up to hundreds of elements. The firm also offers thin-film filters and diffractive optical elements (DOEs), including lenses, microlens arrays, diffusers and splitters, that are produced at wafer scale for high-volume applications.
II-VI launches double-junction 940nm VCSEL arrays for 3D sensing
