A low-cost optical sensing device based on paired emitter–detector light emitting diodes

A low-power, high sensitivity, very low-cost light emitting diode (LED)-based device for intensity-based light measurements is described. In this approach, a reverse-biased LED functioning as a photodiode is coupled with a second LED configured in conventional emission mode. A simple timer circuit measures how long (in microsecond) it takes for the photocurrent generated on the detector LED to discharge its capacitance from logic 1 (+5 V) to logic 0 (+1.7 V). The entire instrument provides an inherently digital output of light intensity measurements for a few cents. This light intensity dependent discharge process has been applied to measuring concentrations of coloured solutions and a mathematical model developed based on the Beer–Lambert Law.