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OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY // MEMS GRATING SPECTROMETER

Hamamatsu C12666MA & C12880MA MEMS Micro-Spectrometer Breakout

The Hamamatsu C12666MA and C12880MA are fingertip-sized, hermetically sealed MEMS grating spectrometers for portable color monitoring, chemical analysis, and optical wavelength measurement. Pure Engineering developed an Arduino-compatible breakout board and open-source firmware to clock the CMOS linear image sensor and digitize 256-channel or 288-channel spectral waveforms.

Architecture & Technical Specifications

Hardware Architecture & Features

  • Compact hermetic package (20.1 x 12.5 x 10.1 mm, 5 g mass) resistant to ambient humidity.
  • C12666MA: 340 to 780 nm spectral range, 15 nm maximum resolution, 256 channels, 1.28 ms minimum integration time.
  • C12880MA: 340 to 850 nm spectral range, 15 nm maximum resolution, 288 channels, 11 us minimum integration time with electronic shutter.
  • Breakout PCB exposes 5V, GND, EOS, START, CLK, GAIN, and VIDEO pins aligned for direct insertion into an Arduino header.

Firmware, Software & Integration

  • Open-source Arduino capture sketch and processing examples (PureEngineering/c12666ma on GitHub).
  • Compatible with the Arducorder Mini spectrometer firmware examples.
  • Supports custom wavelength polynomial calibration using the factory test sheet coefficients.

Hardware Photos & Figures (9)

C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 1
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 1
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 2
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 2
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 3
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 3
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 4
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 4
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 5
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 5
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 6
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 6
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 7
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 7
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 8
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 8
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 9
C12666MA / C12880MA hardware figure 9

Datasheets, Source Code & Reference Links