New PointLED and Firefly E 1608: bright LEDs in true green and hyper red offer greater design flexibility 

The new versions of the PointLED and Firefly LEDs are Osram Opto Semiconductors’ latest additions to its portfolio for use in mobile applications such as fitness tracking and health monitoring. Osram can therefore offer its customers a greater selection of products – to supplement its integrated sensors. Thanks to their greater brightness, the PointLEDs in true green offer better performance and provide better signals than comparable solutions on the market. The Firefly E 1608 in hyper red has a special narrow-band wavelength range around 660 nm so it also offers optimized signal recognition. It is suitable for measuring oxygen levels in blood, while the true green version is ideal for use in pulse monitors. Both color versions of the Firefly have the advantage of compact dimensions, giving customers greater flexibility in designing their products.

Osram's latest IR and green LEDs are designed for fitness trackers that can be worn to track sports performance. Pictured here men playing football. (All photos courtesy of Osram)

Osram Opto Semiconductors is launching two LEDs in true green and one version in hyper red as additions to the well-known PointLED and Firefly families. In true green the PointLED offers greater brightness of 1800 to 2800 mcd at 20 mA. In fitness trackers it therefore provides an improved signal with a higher output compared with earlier versions. This means that it needs less energy to produce the same signal as its predecessors, which in turn enables the battery to last about 50% longer. 

“Thanks to the compact dimensions much less space is needed on the board in the tracker. This gives our customers greater flexibility in designing their mobile devices”, said Russell Willner, Product Manager LED at Osram Opto Semiconductors. In addition, the hyper red version at 660 nm has a special narrow-band wavelength range that is ideal for these applications. The true green version has a typical brightness of 1400 mcd and a wavelength of 525 nm. Both versions of the Firefly E 1608 have a small package of only 0.8 mm x 1.6 mm x 0.6 mm. 

With package dimensions of 0.8 mm x 1.6 mm x 0.6 mm the new green Firefly E 1608 enables wearables to be more compact.

With the introduction of the new PointLED and Firefly E 1608 Osram Opto Semiconductors is offering yet more options for developing mobile devices such as fitness tracking armbands. Customers can either produce their own designs or benefit from preconfigured integrated sensors such as the SFH 7050 from Osram’s Biofy family. “Choice is a huge benefit for our customers because the wearables market is a fast growing one and differentiated solutions are in demand”, added Willner.

The Pointled is already fully available. The Firefly E1608 is available for first customer projects. Volume start-up is planned for the early 2017.