Diffused reflectance infrared spectroscopy is well known as a compact, low-cost, and efficient handheld spectrometers. One of the spectrometer’s most important optical parameters is the effective collected spot profile from diffuse reflection samples not the simple illumination spot which determines the analyzed sample portion defining the spatial resolution. In this work, we present a novel method for characterizing the spot size based on the Knife-Edge technique. A sharp high scattering material such as PTFE is displaced into the spectrometer optical interface on a 1-dimensional moving stage while capturing the power at each step. Then by differentiating this cumulative power, the intensity spot profile is obtained and fitted to a Gaussian profile where the spot size is defined as the diameter that contains 90% of the reflected power. MEMS FT-IR spectrometers with different spot sizes measured as a demonstration of the technique. Moreover, this method quantifies different other parameters such as Goodness of Fit, spot lateral shift in addition to spot shape wavelength dependence that may occurs due to any non-ideality in the spectrometer system.
Diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy has gained traction in many industrial applications in the recent years due to the emergence of new generation of low cost handheld spectrometers that did not exist a decade ago. Real-time monitoring puts a limit on the sample preparation process especially with inhomogeneous samples in the food industry, like grains, hay, wheat and corn. The heterogeneity of the samples and the pseudo-random spatial arrangement of the grains in front of the optical interface, leads to prediction errors. The spatial variations depend also on the spot size of the diffuse-reflected scattered light from the sample that is collected by the spectrometer. A larger spot size leads to simultaneous averaging of a larger amount of spectrospatial information from different locations on the sample, leading to better repeatability and better prediction accuracy. Up to date, the Microelectromechanical (MEMS) based spectrometers reported in the literature have limited optical spot size, usually smaller than 3 mm in diameter. We report MEMS based FTIR spectral sensors with optical spot sizes of 6 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm working across the spectral range of 1350 nm to 2500 nm. The core spectral engine comprises monolithic MEMS chip, micro-optics for light coupling and a single photodetector in a tiny package. The optical head combines several miniaturized filament- based lamps and reflective optics for illumination. The sensors are compared and the 10-mm sensor gives an optimal performance with a Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 4000:1 and spectrospatial photometric repeatability down to 0.02 absorbance units.
Tunable finesse optical filters and resonators are required for some applications when the signal-to-noise ratio and spectral resolution are traded-off to optimize the system performance. They can be used as well to control the amount of energy stored inside the resonator that can be used for optical trapping and atomistic studies. In this work we report a tunable finesse optical MEMS filter in deeply-etched SOI technology. The structure is composed of an optical cavity formed between a multilayer dielectric-coated optical fiber and slotted micromirror, attached to a comb-drive actuator. The cavity length between the multilayer Bragg coated fiber and the slotted micromirror is constant, while the slit width is being varied. The slit width is controlled by the applied voltage on the actuator. Changing the slit width modulates the reflectivity of the micromirror; and hence the finesse of the optical cavity. The obtained finesse is tuned by a factor of 5 across the band of 1330 nm and 1550 nm.
In this work we report a novel optical MEMS deeply-etched mirror with metallic coating and vertical slot, where the later allows reflection and transmission by the micromirror. The micromirror as well as fiber grooves are fabricated using deep reactive ion etching technology, where the optical axis is in-plane and the components are self-aligned. The etching depth is 150 μm chosen to improve the micromirror optical throughput. The vertical optical structure is Al metal coated using the shadow mask technique. A fiber-coupled Fabry-Pérot filter is successfully realized using the fabricated structure. Experimental measurements were obtained based on a dielectric-coated optical fiber inserted into a fiber groove facing the slotted micromirror. A versatile performance in terms of the free spectral range and 3-dB bandwidth is achieved.
We report a MEMS optical tunable filter based on high-aspect-ratio etching of sub-wavelength silicon layers on a silicon-
on-insulator wafer. The reported filter has measured free-spectral and filter-tuning ranges of approximately 100 nm
and a finesse of about 20 around a wavelength of 1550 nm, enabled by the use of 1000 nm-thick silicon layers and a balanced
tilt-free motion using a lithographically-aligned electrostatic actuator. The average insertion loss of the filter is
about 12 dB with a superior wavelength-dependent loss of about 1.5 dB. The filter has an out-of-band to in-band wavelength
rejection ratio that is better than 20 dB. The reported filter experimental characteristics and its integrability are
suitable for the production of integrated swept sources for optical coherence tomography application and miniaturized
spectrometers.
In this work we study the effect of the ring width on the performance of a ring generated Bessel beam. Experimental
results and simulation model for ring generated Bessel beams are investigated and compared. The simulation model is
based on Fourier optics. The effect of varying the ring radius and the ring width on the Bessel beam parameters like the
axial intensity and the detected output power transported by the beam passing through the ring is studied. A good
agreement is found between the simulation model and the measurements. Larger ring width led to higher efficiency
(output power) but to less beam quality.
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