Industry’s smallest photointerrupter to be introduced by Sharp

Sharp Corporation has developed and will introduce the industry’s smallest photointerrupter, the GP1S396HCPSF, measuring just 2.26 × 1.4 × 1.6 H mm.

Subminiature photointerrupters are used to control the optical zoom of digital cameras, and to track the position of the lens for controlling the optical pick-up unit in Blu-ray Disc recorders, and manufacturers are demanding smaller sizes and improved detection performance in these devices.

The GP1S396HCPSF features the industry’s smallest package size thanks to thin-wall molding technology developed over long years of experience in the electronic device field, and will contribute to making electronic equipment slimmer and more compact based on space-saving designs.

In addition, the detection area has been reduced by achieving a slit width of 0.12 mm, the industry’s narrowest (approximately 40% smaller than the predecessor model), thereby improving detection accuracy.

Also, enlarging the gap between the emitter and receiver, which represents a trade-off with making the device more compact, to 1.2 mm (predecessor model: 1.0 mm) provides greater flexibility in terms of the target objects that can pass between the emitter and receiver.