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The one on the left looks like an actuator of some sort, the one on the right is a surface mount "flip-chip" power semiconductor probabally an IR DirectFet Mosfet.
Robert G8RPI.
The item on the left was made by Sony, and is a 2500 count *magnetic* encoder. The flex cable goes to something that looks a whole lot like a read/write head, and the output is a standard quadrature pattern. Confused the heck out of me when I first popped it open.
As for the mosfet on the right, Robert, G8RPI got it exactly. A big chunk of passivated silicon on a conductive strap. There are a couple of BGA based mosfets, but I don't think company other than IR has this sort of configuration.
I think thats the limit of oddball parts on my desk - who's next?
while digging around for capacitor material links, a think I saw something like that - integrated spark gap and capacitor. This was the closest thing I could find available today: **broken link removed**
Correct!
This one is actually just a spark gap but it is marked Gap Kap. Basically it's a ceramic capacitor blank (ot capacitor chip for the combined type) wit the leads formed as a single hairpin loop. After encapsulation they slit the loop with a saw, forming a spark gap. A wider saw gives a higher breakdown voltage.
Common applications are in CRT monitors and PC Network cards.
Is it an Americium element sensor for a fire/smoke alarm or a similar detector?
If so, Americium is a man-made radioactive element created in nuclear reactors from plutonium. It's most important isotope is Americium-241 and is popularly used in the ionization chamber of most smoke detectors. It does emit both alpha particles and low level gamma radiation. Americium is abundant on site, after nuclear weapons detonations. Americium-241 is a long-lived radionuclide and has a half-life of 432 years!!!
Now the bigger question is whether you have handled that device to photograph it for this thread? It's not an element to be fiddling around with, even though it looks harmless. If you did handle it outside the ionization chamber without using protective measures, the dosage of gamma rays you received is low and likely to be harmless depending upon your body's physical make-up. A professional radiation meter would yield a reading as to it's potential for health risks. Here's a snippet I found on Am-241: Exposure to Americium:
Smoke detectors containing Am-241 also provide some radiation exposure. However, the radiation exposure people receive from a smoke detector is very low. The health risk reduction from the fire protection vastly outweighs the health risk from the radiation. That said, you should still handle smoke detectors containing americium with care. To avoid exposure:
- never dismantle a smoke detector
- never burn a smoke detector in your fireplace
- check with your local fire department for safe disposal procedures
What does americium-241 do once it gets into the body?
Once in the body, americium-241 tends to concentrate in the bone, liver, and muscle. It can stay in the body for decades and continue to expose the surrounding tissues to radiation, and increase your risk of developing cancer.
When inhaled, some Am-241 remains in the lungs, depending upon the particle size and the chemical form of the americium compound. The chemical forms that dissolve easily may pass into the bloodstream from the lungs. The chemical forms that dissolve less easily tend to remain in the lungs, or are coughed up through the lung's natural defense system, and swallowed. From the stomach swallowed americium may dissolve and pass into the bloodstream. However, undissolved material passes from the body through the feces.
Actually it's a low life.
Plutonium, that is man made too, has a half-life of 24360 years.
Uranium - 238, natural, has a half-life of 5000000000 years.
No according to some references, heavy metals with a half-life of closer to 200 yrs. is considered to be "low". 432 years half-life is definitely high, but when compared to the more popular Uran. and Pluto. elements it is indeed a low number.
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