onsemi announced the availability of the CEM102, a compact analog front-end (AFE) that enables electrochemical sensing with exceptional accuracy at very low currents. With its small form factor and industry-leading low power consumption, the CEM102 allows engineers to create versatile and compact solutions for industrial, environmental, and healthcare applications such as air and gas detection, food processing, and agricultural monitoring, as well as medical wearables like continuous glucose monitors.

The ability to measure chemicals can provide greater insights, elevating safety, efficiency, and awareness in a wide range of industries, from life and environmental sciences to industrial material and food processing. Electrochemical sensors, such as potentiostats or corrosion sensors, serve as important tools for providing feedback within production systems and managing hazardous substances, ensuring the proper functioning of the process and the safety of employees and operations.

By creating very small and extremely low power solutions, the CEM102 is ideal for applications that rely on battery-operated electrochemical sensors. Industrial safety equipment, such as portable gas detection, will alert workers of potential hazards when they are in remote settings or where mobility is needed.

The CEM102 is designed to be used together with the RSL15 Bluetooth 5.2 enabled microcontroller, which provides the industry’s lowest power Bluetooth Low Energy technology. As a complete electronics solution, it allows biosensors and environmental sensors to accurately measure chemical current while operating with very low system power consumption and wide supply voltage range. The seamless integration of the two components, along with their compact size and industry-leading power efficiency, play a crucial role in making devices smaller and ensuring their long-lasting functionality – a vital factor for battery-powered solutions.

The combined offering is part of onsemi’s analog and mixed-signal portfolio and is designed to streamline development and promote greater integration and innovation for the next generation of amperometric sensor technologies. It provides designers with optimal flexibility for creating high-performance, energy-efficient, and interconnected applications. Aside from that, the solution offers greater accuracy, noise reduction, and low power consumption compared to other offerings. It also allows for a simplified bill of materials (BoM), easy calibration, and reduces manufacturing complexity.

With a broad 1.3 to 3.6 V supply voltage range, the system can operate from a 1.5 V silver oxide battery or a 3 V coin cell. Its operation consumes just 50 nA in disabled mode, 2 uA in sensor biased mode, and 3.5 uA in active measurement mode with the 18-bit ADC continuously converting. This translates to a market-leading 14 days of operation with only a 3 mAh battery or several years with larger size batteries.