Infrared Golden Dragon: optical output power increased by 20 percent

Particularly efficient at currents of up to 2 amps (A)

With a typical optical output of 650 milliwatts (mW) the Golden Dragon SFH 4232A from Osram Opto Semiconductors is currently the most powerful infrared LED (IRED) in this housing. At a current of one amp the efficiency of this high-power component is more than 39 percent. The IRED therefore provides the basis for reliable monitoring and security systems and helps to reduce system costs. This benefits general applications in process and production control in industry and camera-based security applications.

Road intersections, bus stations, parking lots and other public areas need high-performance security systems. Cost-effective systems can be provided on the basis of the infrared Golden Dragon SFH 4232A in tried and tested SMT package design (SMT = surface mount technology). This package contains a high-power thinfilm chip of the latest generation which emits infrared light with a wavelength of 850 nanometers (nm). The IRED has a beam angle of +/- 60 degrees and achieves a typical optical output of 650 mW from an operating current of 1 A. This equates to an increase of more than 20 percent compared with the predecessor model (530 mW). The radiant intensity, in other words the light output within a solid angle, is 210 mW/sr. This higher optical output has been achieved thanks to improved light extraction from the chip.

The 1 mm² chip is optimized for currents up to 2 A so the infrared Golden Dragon is ideal for infrared illumination, such as that required in security applications. Thanks to improved output efficiency, more light can be generated from the same chip surface and fewer components are needed to achieve a certain brightness. System costs are reduced as a result. If the same number of components are used as before, the infrared lighting unit will be considerably brighter.

Dr. Jörg Heerlein, Head of Product Marketing for industrial infrared components at Osram Opto Semiconductors, summarized the advantages of the new IRED as follows: “Our customers are provided with a tried and tested product of the same size but with higher output and they also benefit from lower system costs in their particular applications.”