Scale-reduction rule without drop in the sensitivity of a silicon-based guided-wave optical pressure sensor using a micromachined diaphragm

Masashi Ohkawa; Takashi Sato

doi:10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014401

7 February 2012 Scale-reduction rule without drop in the sensitivity of a silicon-based guided-wave optical pressure sensor using a micromachined diaphragm

Masashi Ohkawa, Takashi Sato

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 51, Issue 1, 014401 (February 2012). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014401

Abstract

In this study, an original scale-reduction rule without a drop in the sensitivity of a guided-wave optical pressure sensor was obtained using a micromachined diaphragm. The sensor has a rectangular diaphragm as a pressure-sensitive structure and a sensing waveguide across the diaphragm. Its sensitivity is theoretically known to be strongly dependent on the dimensions of the diaphragm. According to the theoretical results, the sensitivity can be kept constant even if the diaphragm dimensions are reduced as long as both the aspect ratio and the characteristic length of the diaphragm remain constant. Here, the characteristic length is introduced as the cube of either width or length of the rectangular diaphragm divided by the square of its thickness. Such a scale-reduction rule would be very useful for miniaturizing a sensor without reducing sensitivity, although it has not been experimentally confirmed. In this study, the scale-reduction rule was experimentally examined using three fabricated sensors with the same aspect ratio and the same characteristic length. The measured sensitivities of the three sensors were quite similar to each other, as theoretically predicted.

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Masashi Ohkawa and Takashi Sato "Scale-reduction rule without drop in the sensitivity of a silicon-based guided-wave optical pressure sensor using a micromachined diaphragm," Optical Engineering 51(1), 014401 (7 February 2012). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014401

Published: 7 February 2012

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