STMicroelectronics VL53L8 direct time-of-flight (dToF) sensor

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STMicroelectronics has announced its latest FlightSense time-of-flight (ToF) ranging sensor for smartphone camera management and augmented/virtual reality. With enhancements to key components, the ToF module offers up to double the ranging performance — up to 4 m in all zones indoors — while reducing the power consumption by half compared to the previous-generation device, when operating in common conditions.

The VL53L8 ranging sensor features innovative metasurface lens technology, developed in partnership with Metalenz, which is said to enable optical systems to collect more light, provide multiple functions in a single layer, and deliver new forms of sensing in smartphones and other devices, all in its compact package. The sensor is suitable for smartphones and tablets in both user-facing and world-facing applications, but also for accessories in the personal electronics segment like smart speakers and AR/VR/MR. The sensor can also support indoor/outdoor detection and smart-focus bracketing, as well as consumer LiDAR, where depth mapping is required.

The 2nd-generation ranging sensor incorporates an efficient optically diffractive metasurface lens technology. In combining a VCSEL driver three times more capable than the previous generation with an efficient VCSEL, the sensor can, in comparable conditions, deliver twice the ranging performance of the VL53L5 or reduce power consumption by 50%. It delivers this performance while maintaining the same field of view and discrete output-ranging zones (4x4 at 60 fps or 8x8 at 15 fps). For easy system integration, the sensor is housed in a single reflowable component that offers 1.2 and 1.8 V I/O compatibility and reduces the host processor loading over the demands of the first-generation sensor.

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