Renesas offers new thermopile-based detectors for CO2 sensors

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, is expanding its environmental sensor portfolio with its first family of thermopile-based detectors with integrated optical filters for optical (NDIR) CO2 sensors.

The four new single and dual-channel analog detectors for CO2 gases deliver the industry’s top performance, quality, and longevity in a TO-5 package — making them ideal for use in a variety of industrial, medical and IoT applications that require high reliability, accuracy, and operation in high temperatures.

CO2 levels are a major component of indoor air quality (IAQ) measurement, and thermopile-based detectors are a key building block of sensing solutions required by applications such as HVAC control, air quality monitoring, surgical equipment, and capnography equipment for ventilator systems.

Renesas’ new detectors deliver fast response times with a time constant ranging from 18 to 25 ms and a high signal-to-noise ratio ranging from 1,981 to 4,953 to ensure the accuracy required for mission-critical applications where reliability is a must. The devices are certified for high-temperature environments, supporting applications operating with extended temperature ranges up to 125° C.

The new thermopile-based detectors complement Renesas’ current environmental sensor lineup for air-quality detection. Customers can combine CO2 sensors based on the new detectors with a variety of Renesas sensors such as its popular ZMOD4410 IAQ platform featuring embedded AI and an IP67-rating package option, and/or its HS3001 high-performance and highly accurate relative humidity and temperature sensor.

Together with Renesas microcontrollers (MCUs), this combination enables customers to create a complete environmental sensing solution for medical or industrial applications.

“With more people spending longer hours indoors during current events, many home, healthcare, educational, and work environments are adopting HVAC systems and equipment with increasingly sensitive detection features to ensure healthy CO2 levels,” said Uwe Guenther, senior director, Sensing Solutions, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas.

He continued: “Renesas’ new family of thermopile-based detectors support the development of the highest performance CO2 sensors, enabling manufacturers of HVAC systems and other medical and industrial applications to meet the changing requirements for CO2 detection at an affordable price point, delivering real-time feedback for these mission-critical applications while maintaining high accuracy and reliability.”

Renesas has also combined the new thermopile-based detectors with its complementary analog and power devices and Dialog’s Bluetooth Low Energy system on chip to create the new Thermopile CO2 Detector Winning Combination, which can be used to detect ambient CO2 concentrations.