Maximizing service life of VL53L4CD and VL53L4ED

[red_moped]

Hello,

For a project I would like to use the VL53L4CD or VL53L4ED to measure distances in the range of ~1 cm to 80 cm. The expected ambient temperatures can vary (maximum between -10°C and +80°C, although the temperature will usually be in the range of 0°C to 50°C). Initial tests showed promising measurement results under real conditions.
The project requires a minimum service life of 10 years for the components used. I know from other projects that such a long operating life is often a problem e.g. for laser diodes.
Are there any recommended strategies for maximizing the sensor's service life?
Should I e.g. provide a cut-off option for the sensor's supply voltage to protect it when it does not need to be active? Or would the HW standby state have the same effect?
Thank you in advance for your help.

[John_Kvam]

During testing ST simulates accelerates the aging process by over temperature and over voltage.

So one could conclude that adhering to the low end of the temperature and voltage would avoid the most serious of the aging issues.

One extends the life of normal LEDs by running at less than full on. But the VL53 VCSELS are only running at about 10% duty cycle - even when ranging continuously.   

Would you consider running intermittently?

One could do 5 ranges per second at 30ms and the sensor would only be active for 150ms out of each second.

With the sensor only active 15% of the time, and the VCSEL active for 10% of that amount, you aren't really driving the VCSEL very hard. 

I have a sensor that's been running continuously sense the start of covid, and it's happily still chugging away. But it's an indoor sensor, and the temperatures are not extreme. 

Any way you can avoid running the sensor if the temps get really high? (It's the high temps that are damaging. VCSELS work even better at low temps.)

The VL53L4ED is rated for higher temps - but a careful reading of the spec sheet shows that one loses a bit of accuracy as the temps go way up. 

good luck,

- john