Digital Sun Protection With Ultra-small Ambient Light Sensor With UVA Detection

Ams Osram has Lanuched an ambient light sensor with a proprietary UV-A light detection function. Monitoring vital signs such as pulse or oxygen saturation in the blood via smartphones and smartwatches has been available for several years. The corresponding UV channel of the TSL2585 of ams OSRAM can detect the amount of UV-A radiation in natural sunlight. This enables users to be warned of excessive UV-A radiation. Thanks to its extremely compact size, the sensor is very suitable for space-constrained wearable devices and other mobile applications.

Among similar products, the compact TSL2585 ambient light sensor (ALS) is the first product to support UV-A radiation detection. Thanks to the UV-A detection of the new ALS, users can receive early warnings of excessive UV-A exposure. High-sensitivity photopic and infrared channels can achieve accurate ambient light sensing behind low-transmittance materials and OLED displays.

Although the UV-C part of sunlight is blocked by the earth's atmosphere, UV-A and UV-B radiation can still reach the earth's surface. UV-B radiation only penetrates the upper layer of the skin and causes sunburn. UV-A radiation accounts for about 90% of the ultraviolet components that reach the surface of the earth, can penetrate deeper into the lower layers of the skin, and in some cases can have a significant impact on health-from weakening of the connective tissue to faster skin aging, The possibility of skin cancer is also higher. With ams OSRAM’s new ambient light sensor, smartwatch users can now be warned when the UV-A dose in the environment is too high.

TSL2585 integrates optical flicker detection on-chip, and is equipped with three modulators with a fast sampling rate of up to 14 kHz. By providing the illuminance information and ambient light flicker information to the mobile phone camera, it supports the fast automatic exposure of the smart phone camera and removes the banding effect caused by the ambient light flicker.

The compact size of an extremely flat package of only 2.0 mm x 1.0 mm x 0.35 mm allows space-saving system design, helping manufacturers of extremely compact devices. The sensor can work at 1.8V and consume only 0.7µA when inactive.