What is SWIR LED you ask? It is basically the latest technological development in Short-wavelength infrared lighting and imagery. It can easily penetrate many materials and has applications across major industries out there. Its range falls between 1500 to 2500 nm which is best suited for invisible imaging and also in some cases, visible imagery as well.
Its range ensures that it has a good variety of applications across various industries. It can penetrate through different materials like plastics and steel. It can also differentiate between the different viscosity of liquids and solids as well.
The applications of short wavelength infrared are limitless. Let’s dive into the different industrial applications for SWIR technology that explains the answer to the question of What is SWIR LED.
Food products and Packaging
SWIR has a unique ability to detect moisture, this makes it a good fit for the food packaging industry. Food packaging needs to have some amount of moisture to ensure the freshness of the items inside. SWIR can eaily detect these levels of moisture and make sure it is at the optimum levels.
Packaging industry:
Detecting fill levels in plastic packaging is a tough job for visible light technology. This is where SWIR LED technology steps in with its power to penetrate plastic. SWIR can help determine the fill levels of opaque plastic containers to help manufacturers maintain a balance in packaging of projects such as detergents and bleach etc.
Agricultural Industry:
Different crops require different levels of moisture to thrive. For example, cannabis needs a specific amount of moisture to grow healthy. SWIR deterctors can detect the levels of moisture and help farmers and agricultural experts maintain healthy levels for a good crop.
Automotive Industry:
SWIR has the ability to distinguish between water and oil on steel due the difference in the two liquids’ viscosity. The car manufacturing and repairing industry uses this unique ability of what SWIR is to detect leaks in engine parts, oil spills in parts and damage due to residue oil on parts in engines and machinery.
Semiconductor Manufacturing
The semiconductor industry uses the sensitive precision of the SWIR LED to detect erosion and damage in the silicone wafers. SWIR can easily penetrate the wafers to show cracks and manufacturing faults.
Chemical Analysis & Impurity Detection
What is SWIR LED and how can it help in detecting impurities and analyze the chemical structure of certain solids? The answer is in the example of salt and sugar. On the surface, salt and sugar may seem the same but their molecular mark up is different. SWIR LEDs have the ability to make out this difference and also help detect the impurities in the product if any.
The SWIR has applications in all the major industries out there and is proving to be an asset in terms of its detecting technology. It’s a bit difficult technology to understand for beginners but not hard as well. Hopefully this information will help you regarding SWIR technology. We hope that this article has helped you determine what is SWIR LED and its major applications across different disciplines.