Evolution of a MEMS Photoacoustic Chemical Sensor

Abstract

Photoacoustic spectroscopy is a useful monitoring technique that is well suited for trace gas detection. The technique also possesses favorable detection characteristics when the system dimensions are scaled to a micro-system design. The objective of present work is to incorporate two strengths of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and chemical and biological sensing into a monolithic MEMS photoacoustic trace gas sensor. A miniaturized macro-cell design was studied as a means to examine performance and design issues as the photoacoustics is scaled to a dimension approaching the MEMS level. Initial MEMS work is centered on fabrication of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) microphone subsystem to be incorporated in the full photoacoustic device. Preliminary results were very positive for the macro-photoacoustic cell, PZT membrane microphones design / fabrication and elementary monolithic MEMS photoacoustic cavity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA483776

Entities

People

  • Paul M. Pellegrino
  • Ronald G. Polcawich

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Acoustics
  • Amplifiers
  • Chemical Detectors
  • Detectors
  • Fabrication
  • Films
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Response
  • Lasers
  • Light Sources
  • Measurement
  • Membranes
  • Resonance
  • Spectroscopy
  • Thin Films
  • Trace Gases

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems