Preliminary investigation on performance of a low-cost OPT101 sensitive element for digital pyramidal solar sensor

Abstract

Optical Photodiode Transistor (OPT101) is a monolithic photodiode and single-supply operational amplifier integrated into a single package, designed for accurate light-to-voltage conversion. In this work, several tests were conducted to ensure the reliability and performance of the sensitive element and its associated electronic components before integration into a digital pyramidal solar sensor for space application. These tests include measurements in total darkness, controlled light source, and drift evaluation to assess stability over time. To make the sensor work in different incidence angle conditions, an optical F-100 lens is adopted. Additionally, a digital filtering algorithm is proposed to process the signals measured by the OPT101 sensor. Compared to other digital filtering algorithms, the verification results demonstrate that the suggested rounded average method improves the quality and the stability of the sensor’s output signal. Four Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) were manufactured, which can be utilized in the future for the calibration of the digital pyramidal solar sensor.