LONDON, UK, 26 March 2019 – RS Components (https://uk.rs-online.com/web/) (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), a global multi-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions, has introduced its first product from the Bidos product family manufactured by Osram Opto Semiconductors. The Bidos PLPVQ940A provides design engineers with a compact, cost effective and homogeneous “flood illumination” source for facial recognition on mobile devices.

Biometric identification offers a safe, convenient alternative to managing increasingly complex password portfolios. It uses a camera to capture unique characteristics of an individual — facial features, the pattern of the iris, or the network of veins in the palm — and compare them with images stored in the system. A match will unlock the device.

The Osram Bidos PLPVQ940A (https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/displays-optoelectronics/laser-modules-components/laser-diodes/?applied-dimensions=4294965423,4291483915) is designed as a light source for facial recognition, illuminating the face evenly and so enabling the system to capture high-quality images for reliable identification. Because infrared light is used, the captured image is not subject to distortion due to ambient lighting.

A VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser) is a light source with a monolithic laser resonator that radiates light vertically to the surface of the semiconductor device, providing coherent light with directed emission. VCSELs combine the high power density, homogeneous illumination and simple packaging of a conventional IRED (infrared emitting diode) with the narrow spectral width and speed of a laser. Beam divergence is narrower, assembly into target devices easier and more cost efficient, and wavelength sensitivity to temperature changes much less than for an EEL (edge emitting laser) diode. Coupling efficiency to optical fibres is high.

The device has a wavelength of 940 nm, efficiency as high as 27%, and an output power of 300 mW (typical peak outpower of 600mW). It is packaged as a 1.9 x 2.20 x 0.85 mm SMD and provides illumination over a 65° x 78° angle spread.

The Osram Bidos PLPVQ940A is available now from RS in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions.

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About RS Components
RS Components, Allied Electronics & Automation, IESA and Monition are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, a global multi-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions. We offer more than 500,000 industrial and electronics products, sourced from over 2,500 leading suppliers, and provide a wide range of value-added services to over one million customers. With operations in 32 countries, we ship more than 50,000 parcels a day.

Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2018 had revenues of £1.71bn.

For more information, please visit the website at https://uk.rs-online.com/web/.