Cambridge CMOS Sensors has announced a new sensor to detect alcohol, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds.
Cambridge CMOS Sensors, spun out of Cambridge University, has launched its range of low-power and small sensors.
The range offers three distinct devices: the first one, CCS801, monitors a range of gases to analyse air quality. CCS802 detects carbon monoxide, while CCS803 is a sensor that identifies ethanol (pure alcohol). Any one of the sensors come packaged in a surface mount device the size of 2 by 3 by 1 millimetres and developed by glass specialist Ase Europe. The spin-out’s technology could fit in a smartphone, tablet or wearable device, although no such device is currently on the market.
Cambridge CMOS Sensors was spun out of Cambridge University in 2009, with its patented technology having been developed at the university’s Department of Engineering. The company also licenses technology from Warwick University.
The company has attracted investments from the Cambridge University Enterprise Fund, Parkwalk Advisors, Martlet and Providence Investments. The size of its funding remains undisclosed, however.
Fuyu Shih, vice-president of ASE Europe, said: “Global emergence of sophisticated electronics geared towards improving lifestyle and efficiency is fuelling the sensor market, making it one of the fastest growing areas of innovation within the semiconductor industry. Cambridge CMOS Sensors is an industry leader in sensor technology for monitoring air quality, toxic gas detection and breath analysis through its unique micro-hotplate technology.”
