InfraTec has launched a series three-channel sensors in compact TO39 housing, suitable for measuring two gases at the same time (e.g. CO2 and methane with a reference). Usually two dual-channel detectors, or one dual and one single-channel detector are used with an external beam splitter, because so far pyroelectric detectors with more than two spectral channels were only available in a bigger TO8 housing.
The company's LIM-253 thermally compensated three-channel detector in a TO39 housing was first introduced in 2009 - the first component of a new family of very compact multi-channel detectors. Lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) is used as the pyroelectric element, which guarantees a very low temperature coefficient of the detector signal voltage. Three built-in JFET impedance converters are connected for the voltage mode. Standard NBP gas filters for CO2, CH4, CO, HC, and NOx along with the reference filter have been designed in. This multi-channel family will be further extended with a miniaturised dual-channel detector LIM-102 in a TO18 housing by the end of this year – first prototypes are already produced and are being evaluated.