TCRT5000 IR Sensor: Datasheet, Pinout and Circuit

The TCRT5000 is an IR sensor including an infrared emitter and phototransistor in a leaded device that blocks visible light. Two mounting clips are included in the package. The long-lead variant is the TCRT5000L.

The following is the pinout diagram for the TCRT5000 IR sensor. This sensor has an infrared transmitter and an infrared receiver, totaling four pins, which are explained below.

TCRT5000 Pinout

TCRT5000 Symbol

TCRT5000 Footprint

Vishay Semiconductor Opto Division TCRT5000L technical specifications, attributes, parameters and parts with similar specifications to Vishay Semiconductor Opto Division TCRT5000L.

• It is available in a leaded package

• The type of detector used is photo-transistor

• The Peak operating distance is 2.5 mm.

• Collector current ranges from 0.2 mm – 15 mm

• The typical o/p current blow test (IC) is 1 mA.

• Blocking filter for daylight

• The wavelength of the emitter is 950 nm

• Infrared sensor including the o/p of transistor

• The operating voltage is 5V

• The forward current of the diode is 60mA

• Output data is analog/digital

• The Collector current of the transistor is 100mA

• Operating temperature ranges from -25°C to +85°C

• Position sensor for shaft encoder

• Detection of reflective material such as paper, IBM cards, magnetic tapes, etc.

• Limit switch for mechanical motions in VCR

• General-purpose - wherever the space is limited

The TCRT5000 is used to detect color and distance in this IR reflecting sensor. It emits infrared light and then checks to see if it receives an echo. Because this sensor can detect whether a surface is white or black, it is commonly employed in line following robots and automatic data logging on utility meters.

The IR sensor circuit for the TCRT500 is given below. The IR sensor in this circuit consists of a photodiode and a phototransistor, which act as a transmitter and receiver, respectively.

TCRT500 Circuit

A 220R resistor is used to activate the photodiode, while a 10K resistor is used to link the phototransistor to GND. Because the transistor biasing is mostly controlled by the received IR light, the transistor in the circuit does not have a base pin. As a result, the photodiode's infrared light strikes a target and returns to the phototransistor to bias it.

Depending on the application, this IR sensor can be utilized as an analog or digital sensor. The main disadvantages of this sensor are that they are easily affected by environmental variables.

It will not only respond to infrared light utilizing the photodiode, but it will also respond to infrared light from many light sources that are generally available, similar to the phototransistor.

Noise cancellation is usually used within the application to solve this problem. So, using an MCU or MPU's GPIO pin, we can deactivate the photodiode and then verify how much noise the transistor in the sensor is reading before activating the photodiode to calculate the change in values by invalidating the noise present while the photodiode was deactivated.

TCRT5000 Package Dimension

Vishay, an important partner of Digi-Key, serves as a globally recognized manufacturer famous for its discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components. Their discrete semiconductors include diodes, MOSFETs, optoelectronics, etc and their passive components include resistors, inductors, capacitors, etc. These products are widely used for almost all kinds of electronic devices and equipment in the fields of industrial, computing, automotive, telecommunications, military, aerospace, and medical.

Download datasheets and manufacturer documentation for Vishay Semiconductor Opto Division TCRT5000L.