What photo sensor is this?

[gregmcc]

I dug up a photo sensor of some kind that when you shine a light in it, it generates a voltage. Around 300mV with a strong light.

What is this component called? Its not a LDR. Photo diode, photo sensor?

I want to connect it up to a op amp to amplify the voltage so I can detect small changes in light.

 

[MikeMl]

It could just be an LED. Standard Red Leds produce ~1.2V in bright sunlight.

 

[gregmcc]

THanks. Very interesting. May'be I'll apply a current limited voltage to it and see what happens.

 

[kidneutrino]

what was the verdict? Did it light? I guess it could be IR so you would need to use your digital camera to 'see' the light...

 

[gregmcc]

It didnt light, but I did see the light on a camera. So I guess it was a IR LED.