High Sensitivity Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor Based on Periodic Multilayer Thin Films

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors consisting of alternate layers of silver (Ag) and TiO2 thin film have been proposed as a high sensitivity biosensor. The structure not only prevents the Ag film from oxidation, but also enhances the field inside the structure, thereby improving the performance of the sensor. Genetic algorithm (GA) was used to optimize the proposed structure and its maximum angular sensitivity was 384°/RIU (refractive index unit) at the refractive index environment of 1.3425, which is about 3.12 times that of the conventional Ag-based biosensor. A detailed discussion, based on the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, revealed that an enhanced evanescent field at the top layer–analyte region results in the ultra-sensitivity characteristic. We expect that the proposed structure can be a suitable biosensor for chemical detection, clinical diagnostics, and biological examination.

Research on the Force-Sensitive Characteristic of InAs QD Embedded in HEMT

A force-sensitive structure of an InAs Quantum Dot (QD) embedded in a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is presented in this paper. The size of an InAs QD is about 30 nm prepared by the S-K growth mode, and the force-sensitive structure is fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The force-sensitivity characteristic of the QD HEMT is studied by the electrical and mechanical properties. The electrical characteristics show that the InAs QD-HEMT has linear, cut-off, and saturation operating states, and produces different output currents under different gate voltages, which shows that the structure is reasonable. Furthermore, the results of the output characteristics under different pressure show that the output voltage of the QD-HEMT decreases with the increase in pressure, which indicates that the InAs QD-HEMT has a vital mechanical–electrical coupling characteristic. The output voltage of the InAs QD-HEMT in the range of 0–100 kPa shows that the sensitivity was 1.09 mV/kPa.

Dispersion and Pressure Sensitivity of Carbon Nanofiber-Reinforced Polyurethane Cement

The sensitivity of carbon nanofiber polyurethane cement (CNFPUC) was evaluated to determine whether the cement can act as an intelligent reinforcement material. The percolation thresholds at different polymer-to-cement ratios were determined through experimentation. Taking a specific carbon nanofiber (CNF) content of the percolation zone, several CNFPUC mixtures with different poly-ash ratios and silica fume contents were made. They were then sampled from the mixture and poured into a hexahedron CNFPUC test block; the coefficient of variation of resistance and the piezoresistive characteristics under axial load were examined and the blocks were examined by scanning electron microscope. The sensitivity of the CNFPUC mixture was evaluated via the resistance variation coefficient of a sample hexahedron. For different CNF dosages, the critical value of the variation coefficient was used to assess the sensitivity characteristic by fitting the conic curve. These findings may provide a novel and simple method for determining the sensitivity of CNFPUC mixtures.

Measuring transducers for optical diagnostic system with multifunctional unitary photovoltaic converters

Modern measuring transducers for optical diagnostic system should perform automatic parameter estimation of optical signal and automatic switching between different energetic and optical sensitivity ranges. Traditional solution of this problem lies in the field of multi-sensory systems, complex optical schemes and complex signal processing algorithms. The paper aims at the development of new measuring transducers for optical diagnostic system on a basis of multifunctional unitary photovoltaic converters built on semiconductors with low-concentration deep dopants that form multiple energy levels for different charge states in the band gap. Relative complexity of physical processes accompanying the recharge of several energy levels of multiply-charged deep dopant makes it possible to realize the multifunctionality of a photoelectric converter albeit simple sensor design.The proposed unitary photovoltaic converters proved to have extended functional characteristics and increased ranges of energetic characteristic (by dozens dB) and spectral sensitivity characteristic with possible shifts of red margin by 2 to 4 μm in the spectral sensitivity range of 1–10 μm. Energetic and spectral sensitivity characteristic ranges could be switched either by measurement signal itself or by additional control inputs. Possible materials for resistive or barrier photovoltaic converter structure are Germanium, Silicon, А3В5 systems and other semiconductors including that compatible with «non-silicon» technologies and structures on sapphire substrate.