Detect Total Light

[heery]

Hello there,
This is a real novice question as my field is software.

What electronic component(s) can be used to measure the
total visible/infra-red light shining?

Perhaps something that makes a current or the current
changes. Or is there some other way of doing this?

Sorry for my simple explanation.

 

[lumenharold]

There are several people here that can help you (IRstuff, you reading this?) but you will need to supply a lot more information.

How much energy, from what kind of source, to what accuracy, etc.

Harold
SW2009 SP1.0 OPW2009 SP0 Win XP Pro 2002 SP3
Dell 690, Xeon 5160 @3.00GHz, 3.25GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX4600

http://www.lumenflow.com

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I'm reading... as Harold said, we need more info. Also, note that you can't measure the total amount (unless you surround the item of interest with an integration sphere), only the energy which is impinging upon the sensor. What specifically are you measuring (flux, wavelength, etc.)? Define the project specifics...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[IRstuff]

And which "infrared" are you referring to? Layman's infrared is only from about 700nm to 2000nm. Thermal sensors' infrared ranges from 3000nm to 14000nm.

In general, you need a photometer or radiometer to measure "light" that comes in the form of photons.

The actual detectors generally sense photons, so they're typically photodiode-like devices.

There are other detectors that change their outputs as a function of temperature, like pyroelectric detectors.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[jedward]

typical silicon detectors "solar cells" have a response range from about 400 to 1100 nM which covers the blue to near infrared region and are often available thru electronics supply houses. OSI/UDT division also sell this type of detector,
they are also call photovoltaic cells, have peak sensitivity is in the very near infrared (about 800 to 900 nM
use an amplifier configuration "transimpedance amplifier" which will convert the photogenerated current to a voltage and the current will be proportional to the light intensity over at least 6 orders of magnitude.

saturation can occur at somewhat over 4X the illumination from the sun on a clear day.

search under solar cell spectral response