A high-resolution electric field sensor based on piezoelectric bimorph composite

Abstract The rapid development of the internet of things (IOT) technology has led to great demand for intelligent electric field sensor (EFS). Several working principles have been proposed, however major challenges remain existed for the requirements of EFS with low-cost, large-range, and high-resolution. In this paper, an EFS based on piezoelectric bending effect using d31 mode is developed, where a bending strain is induced on the sandwiched bimorph structure of PZT/PDMS/PZT under an applied electric field, and the capacitance value of the PDMS layer reveals detectable variation. We demonstrate an electric field sensor operating at the stress-mediated coupling between piezoelectric ceramic and elastic dielectric polymer, which reveals advantages such as simple fabrication process, low-cost and low power consumption. Due to the sandwiched bimorph structure, the strain caused by the electric field can be effectively transferred to improve the resolution of the device. The constitutive equations for the sandwiched bimorph structure are built, and the working principle of the proposed EFS is demonstrated. The EFS exhibits high sensitivity under both AC and DC electric fields, with a resolution of 0.1V/cm in the range of -3 to 3kV/cm. The proposed sensor provides an alternative solution for power equipment fault diagnosis, power frequency electric field detection, etc.

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A low-cost transparent electric field sensor for 3d interaction on mobile devices

Proceedings of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '14 ◽

10.1145/2556288.2557331 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Mathieu Le Goc ◽

Stuart Taylor ◽

Shahram Izadi ◽

Cem Keskin

Keyword(s):

Electric Field ◽

Mobile Devices ◽

Low Cost ◽

3D Interaction ◽

Electric Field Sensor ◽

Field Sensor

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A High-Resolution Terahertz Electric Field Sensor Using a Corrugated Liquid Crystal Waveguide

Crystals ◽

10.3390/cryst9060302 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 302 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lan-Lan Xu ◽

Yi Gong ◽

Ya-Xian Fan ◽

Zhi-Yong Tao

Keyword(s):

Liquid Crystals ◽

Electric Field ◽

Defect Mode ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Electric Field Sensor ◽

Significant Performance ◽

Dc Electric Field ◽

Field Sensor ◽

Field Sensing ◽

Very High

Liquid crystals (LCs) can always reflect variable optical properties in a broad terahertz (THz) band under external electric or magnetic fields. Based on the measurements of these varying properties, we can realize electric and magnetic field sensing with very high sensitivity. Here, we theoretically and numerically demonstrate a type of electric field sensor in the THz frequency range based on the defect mode arising in a periodically corrugated waveguide with liquid crystals. The Bragg defect structure consisting of periodically corrugated metallic walls and a defect in the middle can provide a narrow transmitted peak with controllable bandwidth, which can be used for external field sensing when it is filled with LCs. The molecular orientation of nematic LCs (E7) is not only very sensitive to the applied DC electric field but also very crucial to the effective refractive index of E7. Changing the effective index can efficiently shift the frequency of the transmitted peak in the THz spectrum. The simulated results show that the sensitivity can reach as high as 9.164 MHz/(V/m) and the smallest resolution is 0.1115 V/m. The proposed sensor and its significant performance could benefit electric field sensing and extend the applications of THz technology.

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Technique for Reducing the Effects of Nonlinear Terms on Electric Field Measurements of Electric Field Sensor Arrays on Aircraft Platforms

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology ◽

10.1175/jtech-d-14-00029.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 993-1003 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

D. M. Mach

Keyword(s):

Electric Field ◽

External Electric Field ◽

Electric Fields ◽

Sensor Arrays ◽

Field Measurements ◽

Nonlinear Effects ◽

Electric Field Sensor ◽

Cloud Properties ◽

Field Sensor ◽

Nonlinear Components

AbstractA generalized technique has been developed that reduces the contributions of nonlinear effects that occur during measurements of natural electric fields around thunderstorms by an array of field mills on an aircraft. The nonlinear effects can be due to nearby charge emitted by the aircraft as it acquires and sheds charge, but the nonlinear effects are not limited to such sources. The generalized technique uses the multiple independent measurements of the external electric field obtained during flight to determine and remove nonlinear contaminations in the external vector electric field. To demonstrate the technique, a simulated case with nonlinear contaminations was created and then corrected for the nonlinear components. In addition, data from two different field programs utilizing two different aircraft and field mill configurations, each containing observable and different nonlinear effects, were also corrected for the significant nonlinear effects found in the field mill outputs. The expanded independent measurements in this new technique allow for the determination and correction of components in the field mill outputs from almost any measurable source. Alternate utilization of the technique can include removing effects in the aircraft charging such as aircraft altitude, cloud properties, engine power settings, or aircraft flap deployment. This technique provides a way to make more precise measurements of the true external electric field for scientific studies of cloud electrification.

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