New silicon-based micro-electro-mechanical systems for photo-acoustic trace-gas detection

Year: 2024

Authors: Pelini J., Dello Russo S., Garcia IL., Canino MC., Roncaglia A., Pastor PC., Galli I., Ren W., De Natale P., Wang Z., Borri S., Cumins MSD.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Federico II, Corso Umberto I 40, I-80138 Naples, Italy; CNR INO Ist Nazl Ottica, Via N Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; LENS, Via N Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; ASI Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Ctr Geodesia Spazial, I-75100 Matera, Italy; Consiglio Nazl Ric CNR, Ist Microelettron & Microsistemi IMM, Via P Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy; Chinese Univ Hong Kong, Dept Mech & Automat Engn, Hong Kong, Peoples R China.

Abstract: The achievable sensitivity level of photo -acoustic trace -gas sensors essentially depends on the performances of the acoustic transducer. In this work, the mechanical response of different silicon -based micro -electromechanical systems (MEMS) is characterized, aiming at investigating both their mechanical properties, namely the resonance frequency and the quality factor, and the minimum detection limit (MDL) achievable when they are exploited as an acoustic -to -voltage transducer in a trace -gas photoacoustic setup. For this purpose, a 4 . 56 mu m Continuous -Wave (CW) quantum cascade laser (QCL) is used to excite a strong N 2 O roto-vibrational transition with a line strength of 2.14 x 10 -19 cm/molecule, and the detection of MEMS oscillations is performed via an interferometric readout. As a general trend, the minimum detection limit decreases when the resonance frequency investigated increases, achieving a value of 15 parts per billion with a 3 dB cut-off lock -in bandwidth equal to 100 mHz, around 10 kHz.

Journal/Review: PHOTOACOUSTICS

Volume: 38      Pages from: 100619-1  to: 100619-11

More Information: This work was partially supported by EDA under the Cat-B Project Q-LAMPS Quantum LAser-based Multi-parametric Portable Sens or (EDA contract n.B-PRJ-RT-989) , by EU NextGenerationEU Programme with the I-PHOQS Infrastructure Integrated infrastructure initiative in Photonic and Quantum Sciences [IR0000016, ID D2B8D520] , the Laserlab-Europe Project [G.A. n.871124] , the MUQUABIS Project [G.A. n.101070546] Multiscale quantum bio-imaging and spectroscopy, by the European Union’s EDF Projects ADEQUADE Advanced, Disruptive and Emerging QUAntum technologies for DEfense (ID 101103417) and CASSATA Covert and Advanced multi-modal Sensor Systems for tArget acquisition and reconnAissance (ID 101121447) , by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (8326015, 52122003) and by the Direct Grant for research from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
KeyWords: Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS); Photo-acoustic spectroscopy; Trace-gas sensing; Quality factor; Resonant frequency; Acoustic-to-voltage transducer; Minimum detection limit; Parts-per-billion sensitivity
DOI: 10.1016/j.pacs.2024.100619

Citations: 1
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