Product brief

XENSIV™ PAS CO2 Sensor

Measure what matters
Infineon has leveraged its state-of-the-art capabilities in sensors and MEMS to develop a Key features...
disruptive carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor. Measuring CO2, a key indicator of indoor air quali-
ty, allows us to optimize what really matters: health, comfort, and energy efficiency. › Small form factor (14 x 13.8 x 7.5 mm )
3

› High accuracy (±30 ppm ±3% of

By leveraging photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS), XENSIV™ PAS CO2 overcomes the size, reading) and robust performance
performance and assembly challenges of existing CO2 sensor solutions. The sensor comes › SMD package delivered in tape and reel
in an exceptionally miniaturized module (14 x 13.8 x 7.5 mm3) that is four times smaller › Advanced compensation and
and three times lighter than its NDIR counterparts. This enables more than 75 percent self-calibration algorithms
space-saving in customer systems. In addition to its compact design, XENSIV™ PAS CO2 › Three interface options: UART, I2C, PWM
delivers high data quality thanks to its superior accuracy (±30 ppm ±3% of reading). This › Various configuration options
makes XENSIV™ PAS CO2 the smallest real CO2 sensor in the world that achieves this level
of accuracy.

... result in key benefits

All major components of XENSIV™ PAS CO2 are developed in-house according to
Infineon’s high-quality standards. This includes a dedicated microcontroller, which runs › Space savings in customers’ end
advanced compensation algorithms to deliver direct and reliable ppm readouts of real products
CO2 levels. The available configuration options make the sensor one of the most versatile › High data quality
plug-and-play CO2 sensors on the market. These options include: dedicated ABOC › Smooth high-volume assembly
(Automatic Baseline Offset Calibration), pressure compensation, signal alarm, sample › Plug-and-play solution
rate and early measurement notification, which are mainly useful for power consumption › Customer flexibility thanks to variety
management. The SMD package, delivered in tape and reel, facilitates ease of assembly, of interface & configuration options
even in high-speed, high-volume manufacturing.

This ease of integration makes XENSIV™ PAS CO2 the right fit for a variety of applications
Key applications
in building automation, smart home and air quality monitoring. In HVAC (heating, venti-
lation and air conditioning) systems, the sensor ensures that optimal levels of indoor air › HVAC (heating, ventilation and air
quality are achieved. Furthermore, by facilitating DCV (demand-controlled ventilation), conditioning) systems
CO2 sensing leads to an increase in the energy efficiency of these systems as well as sig- › Smart home & building appliances
nificant savings on energy bills. With its small footprint, XENSIV™ PAS CO2 is also ideal for like air purifiers and IoT devices
smart home appliances and IoT devices such as air purifiers, thermostats, smart lighting › Air quality monitors
systems, air quality monitors, and smart speakers.

A complete suite of boards (Sensor2Go Kit, Mini Evaluation Board, Arduino-based

Shield2Go, Adafruit-based Wing Board), libraries and application notes will be available to
support customers in accelerating their design-to-market.

www.infineon.com/CO2
Product brief

Photoacoustic principle: How does it work?

Pulses of light from an infrared source pass through an optical
filter tuned specifically to the CO2 absorption wavelength (λ = 4.2
µm). The CO2 molecules inside the measurement chamber absorb
the filtered light, causing the molecules to shake and generate a
pressure wave with each pulse. This is called the photoacoustic ef-
fect. The sound is then detected by an acoustic detector optimized
for low frequency operation, and the microcontroller converts
the output into a CO2 concentration reading. In order to provide
accurate CO2 sensing information, the absorption chamber is
acoustically isolated from external noise.

Block diagram
XENSIV™ PAS CO2 measurement cell
The XENSIV™ PAS CO2 sensor module PCB integrates a PAS
MEMS IR
Microphone Gas inlet
transducer, a microcontroller, and a MOSFET. The PAS transducer emitter

includes a proprietary infrared emitter with blackbody radiation

which is periodically chopped by the MOSFET, a narrow-band VDD3.3 VDD12

optical filter tuned to the CO2 wavelength and Infineon’s MEMS Rx PWM
SCL PSEL
microphone, which acts as a pressure sensor and is optimized for
Tx/SDA INT
low frequency operation. PWM_DIS Light source GND
Microcontroller Power
and memory driver
measurement
circuit

Pin configuration
Pin Symbol Type Description
10 1
1 VDD3.3 Power supply (3.3 V) 3.3 V digital power supply VDD12 VDD3.3
2 Rx Input/Output UART receiver pin
9 2
3 SCL Input/Output I2C clock pin (3.3 V domain) PWM Rx
4 Tx/SDA Output UART transmitter pin (3.3 V domain)/
I2C data pin (3.3 V domain) 8 3
PSEL SCL
5 PWM_DIS Input PWM disable input pin (3.3 V domain)
6 GND Ground Ground 7 4
INT Tx/SDA
7 INT Output Interrupt output pin (3.3 V domain)
8 PSEL Input Communication interface 6 5
GND PWM_DIS
select input pin (3.3 V domain)
9 PWM Output PWM output pin (3.3 V domain)
10 VDD12 Power supply (12 V) 12 V power supply for the IR emitter

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