Avago Technologies announced a lower height and shorter version of its innovative analog-output ambient light photo sensor for mobile, consumer, commercial and industrial products. The Avago APDS-9003 sensor is supplied in a miniature six pin ChipLED lead-free surface-mount package with dimensions of 1.6 mm x 1.5 mm x 0.55 mm.

Avago Technologies’ ambient light sensors conserve battery power in mobile phones, PDAs, notebook PCs, portable DVD players, MP3 players, camcorders and digital cameras by detecting the amount of ambient light, then signaling the portable device when to turn on/off its display’s backlight and keypad light. In large panel displays, the APDS-9003 can lower LCD brightness to reduce eye glare and extend the life of the display. The Avago ambient light sensor can also be used for turning on/off indoor and outdoor lighting, street lighting and electronic signs and signals.

“Our ChipLED photo sensors offer significant power savings in a wide range of applications, including price- and size-sensitive mobile phones,” said Chee-Kien Lim, infrared and sensor business manager for Avago Technologies’ Optical Communication Solutions Division. “The new, lower height of the APDS 9003 is ideal for today’s slimmer mobile phones and other portable appliances -- a form factor that many manufacturers prefer.”

The APDS-9003’s performance features include operation over the extended 2.4 V to 5.5 V supply voltage range, compared to 2.7 V minimum for competing products. It also provides a typical 135 mA photo current at 100 lux to assure additional drive to control circuitry, and operation over the -40 C to +85 C temperature range. The Avago ambient light sensor consists of a spectrally suited photo sensor, which provides excellent responsivity that closely emulates the response of the human eye, and provides a highly linear proportional output that adjusts the backlighting of a display screen or keypad. In sufficient ambient light, designer-provided logic can turn off backlighting to significantly reduce battery drain.

Avago’s ambient light sensors outperform silicon photodiode light-detection solutions because their spectral response peaks close to that of the human eye. More importantly, these sensors provide good suppression of infrared signals, which are the result of interference emitted by natural and artificial light sources. The sensors perform equally well with light sources ranging from natural sunlight to fluorescent, conventional incandescent and halogen lamps. The ChipLED package, developed for surface-mount LEDs, combines low cost, proven reliability and optimization with an extremely small, industry-standard footprint for automated manufacturing processes.