Response of a thermocatalytic sensor with a single-crystal silicon heater

The sensor response of a thermocatalytic gas sensor with a heater made of single-crystal p-type silicon to gases H₂, CO, CH₄, and C₃H₈ is studied. The sensor response to propane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen has positive and negative components. The positive sensor responses to carbon monoxide and propane exhibit well pronounced maxima at silicon heater currents of 21 and 23 mA, respectively. For hydrogen, the maximum sensor response depends on the gas concentration. This specific feature of the sensor response to hydrogen is explained by the sequential action of the following two processes: absorption of H₂ molecules on the silicon heater surface and the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen on a Pt-Pd catalyst. The sensor response to methane only has a negative component.     

Improving the sensitivity of a humidity sensor based on fiber bend coated with a hygroscopic coating

A highly sensitive all-fiber humidity sensor is demonstrated. The sensor behaves as a humidity dependent optical switch between 85% and 90% RH. This sensor also offers the advantages of simple structure and low cost and its response is fast and reversible in nature. The typical humidity response of the sensor is suitable for using it as a human breath rate monitor.     

Determination of the thickness of a transparent plate using a reflective fiber optic displacement sensor

A fiber optic sensor for determining the thickness of a transparent plate (1–2.5 mm) is described based on a fiber optic displacement sensor. The sensor characteristics are found to vary with the change in the thickness of a plate. A theoretical model is proposed and validated with experimental results. The behavior of the sensor is evaluated and analyzed in terms of the numerical aperture and diameter of the fiber.     

A study of a liquid-filled lens module with a flexible sensor for aberration correction

This study introduces the concept of a liquid-filled lens module; the module is composed of a flexible lens membrane, a flexible sensor membrane that is constructed by attaching sensor chips onto a flexible substrate and transparent liquid that fills the space between the flexible lens membrane and the sensor membrane. The image quality of the liquid-filled lens module is comparable to that of a solid lens module with a flat-type image sensor. However, the liquid-filled lens module has the advantages of requiring fewer parts, having better optical aberration compensation, a wider image range. This study identifies the optimized conditions for the sensor membrane to fulfill the Petzval surface of the optical module and the compensation mechanism of the flexible lens and the sensor membranes. The simulation results show that the distortion aberration, the field of curvature and the Modulation Transfer Function are good.     

Schemes of a fiber-optic multiplexing sensor array based on a 3 X 3 star coupler

A Michelson-based fiber-optic low-coherence interferometric quasi-distributed sensing system permitting absolute length measurement in a sensor array is proposed. The main part of the sensing system is a fiberoptic 3 x 3 star coupler. The architecture of fiber-optic sensors can be easily realized as a linear sensor array, twin sensor arrays, or a loop sensor array. The proposed sensing scheme will be useful for the measurement of strain distribution. An important application could be deformation sensing in smart structures. A six-sensor array is demonstrated experimentally.     

Multi-functional metamaterial sensor based on a broad-side coupled SRR topology with a multi-layer substrate

This paper intends to demonstrate the feasibility of a miniaturized multi-purpose metamaterial sensor that can be effectively used for chemical, biological and pressure sensing in microwave and terahertz applications. This novel sensor design makes use of the double-sided split ring resonator (DSRR) topology that is modified to have an additional sensing medium sandwiched between two identical broadside coupled SRR unit cells. The resonance frequency of the resulting DSRR sensor shifts as the dielectric permittivity or thickness of this interlayer medium changes in response to variations in an environmental parameter such as temperature, humidity, density, concentration or pressure. As a proof of concept study, both numerical and experimental results are presented with very good agreement for a multi-functional miniaturized metamaterial sensor prototype operating in X-band. Simulations for three different real-life scenarios are also presented for this sensor topology to demonstrate a moisture sensor, a density sensor and a temperature sensor with very good sensitivities where the interlayer medium is occupied by sawdust, silica aerogel and seawater, respectively.     

Error analysis of a practical energy density sensor

The investigation of an active control system based on acoustic energy density has led to the analysis and development of an inexpensive three-axes energy density sensor. The energy density sensor comprises six electret microphones mounted on the surface of a 0.025-m (1 in.) radius sphere. The bias errors for the potential, kinetic, and total energy density as well as the magnitude of intensity of a spherical sensor are compared to a sensor comprising six microphones suspended in space. Analytical, computer-modeled, and experimental data are presented for both sensor configurations in the case of traveling and standing wave fields, for an arbitrary incidence angle. It is shown that the energy density measurement is the most nearly accurate measurement of the four for the conditions presented. Experimentally, it is found that the spherical energy density sensor is within +/- 1.75 dB compared to reference measurements in the 110-400 Hz frequency range in a reverberant enclosure. The diffraction effects from the hard sphere enable the sensor to be made more compact by a factor of 3 compared to the sensor with suspended microphones.     

Absorption Measurement Using a Leaky Waveguide Mode

We propose an optical waveguide sensor using a leaky mode for absorption measurement of liquid samples. This sensor uses a single coupling prism. A cladding layer and a waveguide layer are directly deposited on the reflecting surface of the prism. The intensity of the internally reflected beam at an appropriate incident angle is very sensitive to the imaginary part of the sample attached to the surface of the waveguide layer. The sensitivity of this sensor is controlled by the thicknesses of both cladding and waveguide layers. We studied the performance of the sensor by numerical calculation.     

A modified phase diversity diffraction wavefront sensor with a grating

The phase diversity wavefront sensor is one of the tools used to estimate wavefront aberration, and it is often used as a wavefront sensor in adaptive optics systems. However, the performance of the traditional phase diversity wavefront sensor is limited by the accuracy and dynamic ranges of the intensity distribution at the focus and defocus positions of the CCD camera. In this paper, a modified phase diversity wavefront sensor based on a diffraction grating is proposed to improve the ability to measure the wavefront aberration with larger amplitude and higher spatial frequency. The basic principle and the optics construction of the proposed method are also described in detail. The noise propagation property of the proposed method is also analysed by using the numerical simulation method, and comparison between the diffraction grating phase diversity wavefront sensor and the traditional phase diversity wavefront sensor is also made. The simulation results show that the diffraction grating phase diversity wavefront sensor can obviously improve the ability to measure the wavefront aberration, especially the wavefront aberration with larger amplitude and higher spatial frequency.     

一种高精度光学位移传感器的设计分析

利用晶体双折射和由散射偏振引起的光学干涉技术,设计出一种高精度光学位移传感器.该传感器采用同轴光学系统,测量精度约为4 μm,测量范围不小于28 mm,且测量时不需要使用相干光源,故结构紧凑、性能稳定.     

A modified phase diversity wavefront sensor with a diffraction grating

Phase diversity wavefront sensor is one of the useful tools to estimate the wavefront aberration, and it is often used as a wavefront sensor in adaptive optics system. However, the performance of the traditional phase diversity wavefront sensor is limited by the accuracy and dynamic ranges of the intensity distribution at focus and defocus positions of the CCD camera. In this paper, a modified phase diversity wavefront sensor based on a diffraction grating is proposed to improve the ability to measure the wavefront aberration with larger amplitude and higher spatial frequency. The basic principle and the optics construction of the proposed method are also described in detail. The noise propagation property of the proposed method is also analysed by using the numerical simulation method, and comparison between the diffraction grating phase diversity wavefront sensor and the traditional phase diversity wavefront sensor is also made. The simulation results show that the diffraction grating phase diversity wavefront sensor can obviously improve the ability to measure the wavefront aberration, especially the wavefront aberration with larger amplitude and higher spatial frequency.     

Design and Analysis of a Gas Sensor Based on a Ring Multi-Wavelength Fiber Laser in Near Infrared

Numerical model of a gas sensor based on the ring multi-wavelength fiber laser is discussed to detect gas such as methane (CH₄), which has multi-line absorption in near infrared. The schematic of the gas sensor is given, and its detecting principle of multiple windows is demonstrated in detail. The detecting methods based on the differential method and the second harmonic wave method in the sensor are analyzed, and the optimal information syncretions are used to process the information of the detected gas. The analyzing results show the sensor has advantages over the traditional sensor, and can be expanded to detect other gas such as acetylene (C₂H₄).     

Measurement of the frequency response of a diaphragm-based pressure sensor by use of a pulsed excimer laser

We present a novel method for measuring the frequency response of a diaphragm-based optical fiber Fabry-Perot interferometric pressure sensor. The impulse response of the sensor to the radiation pressure generated by an excimer laser pulse is measured. The Fourier transform of the impulse response yields the frequency response of the pressure sensor. Experimental results show that it is a convenient and efficient method for measurement of the frequency response of diaphragm-based pressure sensors.     

小孔阵列式太阳敏感器的光学系统设计

微型数字式太阳敏感器光学系统由APS CMOS图像传感器和基于MEMS工艺的小孔阵列式光线引入器组成。图像传感器的分辨率为1024×1024pixel,像素尺寸为10μm×10μm;光线引入器具有微小孔阵列结构,小孔为方形孔,30×30阵列,尺寸为60μm×60μm,间距为250μm。光线引入器采用了MEMS工艺的掩模板制备工艺。针对所设计的光学系统计算了曝光时间,并在此基础上进行了地面成像实验。实验结果表明,光学系统设计合理,保证了敏感器所具有的高精度和大视场。     

Temperature characteristics of a core-mode interferometer based on a dual-core photonic crystal fiber

A core-mode Fabry–Perot (FP) interferometer is constructed by using a dual-core photonic crystal fiber (DCPCF). The FP cavity is formed by a single piece of DCPCF, which can also serve as a direct sensing probe without any additional components. We theoretically and experimentally studied its temperature responses in the range of 40–480 °C. The temperature sensitivity is 13 pm/°C which matches the theoretical results. Since the temperature sensitivity of the proposed sensor is independent on cavity length, precise control of the length of FP cavity or photonic crystal fiber is not required. The sensor size can be as short as 100–200 μm, and its fabrication only involves splicing and cleaving, which make the sensor production very cost-effective. The proposed FP interferometric sensor based on a DCPCF can find applications in high-temperature measurement especially those that need accurate point measurement with high sensitivity.     

Properties of a gold-deposited surface plasmon resonance-based glass rod sensor with various light-emitting diodes and its application to a refractometer

The performance of a simple sensor system prepared using gold (Au)-deposited glass rods of 1 to 4 mm in diameter with a deposition length of 100 mm based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is presented. The sensor properties of the Au-deposited glass rods of 2 mm in diameter with deposition lengths of 10 to 100 mm are also presented. The sensor system consists of a light-emitting diode (LED) as the light source and a photodiode (PD) as the detector. The response curves and sensor properties of the Au-deposited glass rod with a Au film thickness of 45 nm obtained by using three LEDs with yellowish green (563 nm), red (660 nm), and infrared (940 nm) emissions were investigated. The results were compared with those of a corresponding Au-deposited optical fiber sensor with a core diameter of 0.2 mm. Though the sensitivity, response, and detection limit of the Au-deposited glass rod sensor are lower than those of the optical fiber sensor, the fabrication and handling of the Au-deposited glass rod sensor are easier because of the robustness. Since the dielectric constant of Au changes with the light wavelength, the sensor properties of both the Au-deposited glass rod sensor and the optical fiber sensor depend strongly on the wavelength of the incident light and can be controlled by changing the LED emission wavelength. This sensor system is a new SPR-based refractometer with easy construction and operation. Ethanol concentrations in various spirits were measured with this SPR-based refractometer and the results agreed well with those measured with an Abbe refractometer.     

Active noise control in a free field with virtual sensors

The zone of local control around a "virtual energy density sensor" is compared with that offered by an actual energy density sensor, a single microphone, and a virtual microphone. Intended as an introduction to the concept of forward difference prediction and a precursor to evaluating the virtual sensor control algorithms in damped enclosures, this paper investigates an idealized scenario of a single primary sound source in a free-field environment. An analytical model is used to predict the performance of the virtual error sensors and compare their control performance with their physical counterparts. The model is then experimentally validated. The model shows that in general the virtual energy density sensor outperforms the actual energy density sensor, the actual microphone, and the virtual microphone in terms of centering a practically sized zone of local control around an observer who is remotely located from any physical sensors. However, in practice, the virtual sensor algorithms are shown to be sensitive (by varying degrees) to short wavelength spatial pressure variations of the primary and secondary sound fields.     

表面等离子共振金/钯复合膜氢敏传感器

提出了一种新颖的钯(Pd)/金(Au)复合膜表面等离子共振氢敏结构,与单一Pd膜氢敏传感器相比,具有可靠性好、灵敏度高和响应度大等特点。利用表面等离子共振理论建立了Au/Pd复合膜氢敏传感器的数学模型,并对Au/Pd复合膜氢敏传感器的灵敏度进行了数值模拟。数值模拟结果表明:基于Au(2nm)/Pd(20nm)复合膜氢敏传感器所获得的最佳灵敏度比单一Pd(20nm)膜氢敏传感器提高了49 4%。     

A fiber bragg grating acceleration sensor interrogated by a DFB laser diode

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) acceleration sensor interrogated by a DFB laser diode is demonstrated; the sensor is fabricated by packaging a FBG on to a cantilever; the interrogation scheme takes advantage of the intensity modulation of the narrow spectral bandwidth light of a distributed feedback laser diode, when the reflection spectrum curve of a FBG moves due to the strain which is applied on the sensor. The sensor’s response to the frequency and acceleration is measured by the experiment, and the factors which have an impact on the sensor’s sensitivity are also discussed.     

Modeling of a Silicon Nanowire pH Sensor with Nanoscale Side Gate Voltage

A silicon nanowire （Si-NW） sensor for pH detection is presented. The conductance of the device is analytically obtained, demonstrating that the conductance increases with decreasing oxide thickness. To calculate the electrical conductance of the sensor, the diffusion-drift model and nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation are applied. To improve the conductance and sensitivity, a Si-NW sensor with nanoscaie side gate voltage is offered and its characteristics are theoretically achieved. It is revealed that the conductance and sensor sensitivity can be enhanced by adding appropriate side gate voltages. This effect is compared to a similar fabricated structure in the literature, which has a wire with a rectangular cross section. Finally, the effect of NW length on sensor performance is investigated and an inverse relation between sensor sensitivity and NW length is achieved.