Polarimeter
About the Polarimeter PCB
Polarimeter is an open source PCB design by HearnChristian, published on GitHub. It is a 4-layer board measuring 99.7 × 74.5 mm, with 65 components from 40 distinct parts.
Other key parts include the ADS8355IRTET, OPA2320AID, OPA381AIDRBT, REF3425IDBVR and OPA320AIDBVR. By type, the board carries 33 capacitors, 16 resistors, 10 ICs, 2 connectors, 2 diodes and 1 switch.
It belongs with the power & battery designs in this gallery.
From the project
4-layer KiCad photodiode polarimeter: low-noise transimpedance front-end (OPA381/OPA320), precision REF3425 reference, LT8609/LP5912 power. Schematic, PCB, gerbers + BOM.
A 4-layer mixed-signal PCB that reads optical polarization by measuring the photocurrent from a pair of photodiodes through a low-noise transimpedance signal chain. Designed in KiCad; this repository contains the full schematic, layout, fabrication outputs, and bill of materials.
📄 Full schematic (PDF) · 🖼️ board bottom
Light passing through a polarizing optical stage lands on two photodiodes (D1, D2). Each diode's photocurrent is converted to a voltage by a transimpedance amplifier (TIA), filtered, and buffered for acquisition. By comparing the two channels, the relative polarization /…
Main components on the Polarimeter
Polarimeter bill of materials (BOM)
65 components, 40 distinct parts.
| Qty | Part | Footprint | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ADS8355IRTET | QFN50P300X300X80-17N-D | IC1 |
| 1 | OPA2320AID | D8 | U1 |
| 2 | OPA381AIDRBT | DRB8_2P4X1P65 | U2, U3 |
| 1 | REF3425IDBVR | DBV0006A_N | U4 |
| 2 | OPA320AIDBVR | SOT-23-5 | U5, U6 |
| 1 | LT8609EMSE-TRPBF | 05-08-1664_ADI | U7 |
| 1 | LP5912-3.3DRV | WSON-6-1EP_2x2mm_P0.65mm_EP1x1.6mm_ThermalVias | U8 |
| 1 | ADR130AUJZ-REEL7 | UJ_6_ADI | U9 |
| 1 | Conn_02x24_Counter_Clockwise | DIP-48_W15.24mm_Socket_LongPads | J1 |
| 1 | PJ-037AH | CONN_37AH | J2 |
| 1 | TS01CQE | TS01CQE_CNK | SW1 |
| 2 | D_Photo | TO-5-3 | D1, D2 |
| 1 | 2.2u | L_Coilcraft_XxL4020 | L1 |
| 5 | 0.1u | C_0603_1608Metric | C1, C16, C17, C26, C27 |
| 2 | 0.1uF | C_0805_2012Metric | C2, C5 |
| 2 | 24.7pF | C_0603_1608Metric | C3, C6 |
| 5 | 0.1uF | C_0603_1608Metric | C4, C28, C29, C99, C100 |
| 1 | 0.1 uF | C_0603_1608Metric | C7 |
| 1 | 10uF | C_0805_2012Metric | C8 |
| 4 | 1 uF | C_0805_2012Metric | C9, C10, C30, C31 |
Show 20 more
| Qty | Part | Footprint | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 uF | C_0805_2012Metric | C11 |
| 2 | 3.3nF | C_0603_1608Metric | C12, C13 |
| 1 | 47u | C_2220_5750Metric | C14 |
| 1 | 10u | C_0805_2012Metric | C15 |
| 2 | 10n | C_0603_1608Metric | C18, C21 |
| 1 | 4.7u | C_0805_2012Metric | C19 |
| 1 | 1u | C_0603_1608Metric | C20 |
| 1 | 22u | C_0805_2012Metric | C22 |
| 1 | 10p | C_0603_1608Metric | C23 |
| 1 | 1u | C_0805_2012Metric | C24 |
| 1 | v | C_0805_2012Metric | C25 |
| 4 | 1k | R_0603_1608Metric | R1, R4, R7, R8 |
| 3 | 100k | R_0603_1608Metric | R2, R5, R13 |
| 2 | 787 | R_0603_1608Metric | R3, R6 |
| 1 | 0.1 | R_0603_1608Metric | R9 |
| 2 | 49 | R_0603_1608Metric | R10, R49 |
| 1 | 18.2 kOhms | R_0603_1608Metric | R12 |
| 1 | 1M | R_0603_1608Metric | R14 |
| 1 | 187k | R_0603_1608Metric | R15 |
| 1 | 10k | R_0603_1608Metric | R16 |
Polarimeter design files
The KiCad project lives in the HearnChristian/polarimeter repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.
- LayoutPolarimeter.kicad_pcb
- SchematicPolarimeter.kicad_sch
Polarimeter: common questions
How big is the Polarimeter PCB?
The Polarimeter measures 99.7 × 74.5 mm, has 4 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.
How many components are on the Polarimeter?
65 components, from 40 distinct parts. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.
Where can I download the Polarimeter design files?
From the HearnChristian/polarimeter repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout and the schematic; the links under Design files point to each one.
Can I use the Polarimeter design in my own project?
The repository has no license, so all rights stay with HearnChristian. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.
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