Broadcom Inc. is a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies a broad range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. Broadcom’s category-leading product portfolio serves critical markets including data center, networking, software, broadband, wireless, storage and industrial. Our solutions include data center networking and storage, enterprise and mainframe software focused on automation, monitoring and security, smartphone components, telecoms and factory automation.
Broadcom offers a broad array of fiber optic solutions for a wide range of markets and applications, spanning datacom and telecom to industrial and automotive. With a rich heritage of fiber optic technology and operations tracing back to Avago Technologies and Hewlett-Packard, Broadcom continues to deliver innovative and differentiated products with large-scale manufacturing capabilities.
In October 2021 Broadcom purchased the Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) assets of KETEK GmbH., adding to their established range of SiPMs within the Industrial Fiber Optic Division (IFPD).
Broadcom's IFPD provides an extensive range of fiber optic modules and components for industrial and automotive applications, including indirect Time-of-Flight (iToF) sensors, POF transceivers, high galvanic isolation links, optical 3D sensors, SiPMs, optical power components and optical wireless transceivers. A unique set of optical device integration and manufacturing capabilities enable both hybrid integration using different elements in a single package, and monolithic integration on a single chip.
AP Technologies is pleased to support our UK and ROI customer base offering Broadcom's silicon photomultipliers and iToF sensors.
Broadcom's AFBR-S4N NUV-MT series SiPMs surpass the current standard detectors (PMT, APD & PIN photodiodes) in many low light applications. At the core of every SiPM is a low light sensing silicon photodiode operating in the Geiger-mode (Single Photon Avalanche Diode or SPAD) combined with a passive quenching resistor. The combination of SPAD and quenching resistor is commonly referred to as a "microcell" and the SiPM is composed of hundreds to thousands of these single-photon-sensitive elements which convert single photons into a measurable output signal. SiPMs are replacing conventional APDs and vacuum tube PMTs in a number of key applications areas:-
- Biophotonics
- Medical Imaging
- Hazard & Threat Detection
- LiDAR & 3D Ranging
- High Energy Physics
- Sorting & Recycling
AP Technologies also supports Broadcom's range of indirect Time-of-Flight (iToF) sensors. The AFBR-S50 series sensors combine a Class 1 eye-safe red or NIR VCSEL source with a 32-pixel avalanche photodiode, transmit and receive lenses, optical filtering and a custom ASIC developed for Correlation ToF - also known as Continuous Wave ToF (CW-ToF) or Indirect ToF (i-ToF).
The ToF sensors are offered in 6 configurations based on a common architecture - each suited to a particular range and field of view (FOV). Broadcom ToF modules are optimised for applications requiring high performance with attractive pricing, providing accurate, unambiguous, ranging from 1.5cm to 100m with ambient light suppression of 100kLux. Typical applications include:-
- Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
- HMI proximity sensing
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) / Drone
- Pedestrian and traffic control
- Dry material and liquid fill level monitoring
- Stereo camera validation
- Factory Automation and Logistics
For further information on Broadcom's products please visit the Silicon Photomultiplier and indirect Time-of-Flight sections of our website.
