Optical Sensors

Sources + Detectors
Optical Elements
Sensors using geometric optics principles
Sensors using physical optics principles
Others
 Optical Spectrum

Wavelength () * Frequency () = Velocity of light (c) in vacuum

Refractive Index of Medium (n) = c / Velocity of light in medium (v)
Optical Path Length (OPL) = n * Physical Distance (d)

Measurands
Intensity
Phase or Optical Path Difference
Wavelength/Frequency Color
Polarization
 Optical Sensor Components
Source
Source Coupling Measurand
S() medium T(,I)
KSM

Detector
Signal Detector coupling
Processing KD*D() medium
KMD

S() Radiant Power of Source as function of wavelength

KSM and KDM are the efficiencies of the coupling medium
T(,I) is the efficiency (transmittance or reflectance or absorption) of the
measurand and can also change with wavelength
D() is the Detector Response and KD is the detector sensitivity

PD ( I ) = K SM K MD S ( )T ( , I ) D ( )d
0

V ( I ) = K D PD ( I )
 Blackbody sources

C1
W ( , T ) = C1 = 37,413 m4 cm-2
C2
C2 = 14,388 m K
e
5 T
1 - wavelength in um
T is temperature in Kelvin
 Blackbody Radiation
Plancks Blackbody Law Spectral Exitance by a blackbody at temperature T(K)

2hc 3 1
W ( , T ) = ( )
5 hc
e kT
1
2 3 1
W ( , T ) = 3 ( h
)
c
e KT
1

Stefans Law: Total power at all wavelengths (Area under curve)

W = T4
- Surface emissivity - Stefan-Boltzman constant = 5.67 x 10-8 W/m2 K4
Wiens Displacement Law max T = constant = 2.898 x10-3 m.K
Examples: Wire filament in bulb, Sunlight, Human body T=310K, max = 9.3 um
 Line Sources
Bohrs Model
hc 1 1
E i E f = h = = 13.6Z 2 ( )
n 2
m 2

Emission Spectrum
Z
1

80

10

Absorption Spectrum

Example:
Fluorescent lamp.
Sodium Lamp
LED Electron-hole combination gives
radiation whose energy is proportional
to energy gap (Eg = h = hc/)

GaAsP - 0.655 um
GaP - 0.65 um
GaAlAs 0.8 to 0.9 um
InGaAsP - 1.3 1.6 um
Absorption, Spontaneous and Stimulated emission
h = E2-E1= hc/

Absorption
E2

E1

Spontaneous Emission
E2

E1

E2

E1
Stimulated Emission
Laser CO2 9- 11 um
He-Ne 633 nm
Ar 514.5 and 488 nm
Excimer 175, 193 nm

Solid State
Ruby 694 nm
Nd- YAG 1064 nm
 Summary of Light Sources
Type Examples Power Angular spread Wavelength spread

Blackbody Xe- Arc Watts to 4 steraradians 200 nm - 2000 nm

Tungsten Lamp Kilowatts
Fluorescent lamp
Sunlight
Line Sodium Lamp Watts 4 steraradians < 100 nm
Sources Neon Lamps
Semi- LED Watts Elliptical beam < 100 nm
conductor with 10 -50o
sources divergence
Lasers He-Ne Mega Watts Diffraction < 10 nm
DPSS limited
 Detectors
Performance Characteristics
a) Responsivity (Sensitivity) KD Volts/ Watt
b) Time Constant
c) Wavelength Response D()
d) Noise Equivalent Power (NEP) or factor of merit (D*)
NEP is the amount of incident power (Watts) required to produce an electrical
signal of the same RMS Voltage as the background noise

A f
D ( , f , f ) =
*

NEP
Thermal Detectors
oThermoelectric
oBolometer
oPyroelectric
Photon (Quantum detector)
oPhotoconductive
oPhotovoltaic
 Photon Detectors
Photoelectric Effect When light hits a metal plate, electrons are released from the
surface of the material.
1. Photons transfer their energy (h) to electrons.
2. Work Function () is the minimum energy required to liberate an electron
3. Kinetic Energy of electron is thus E = h
4. No electron will be released if energy of photon is less than Work Function
Photomultiplier Tube Photo-diode

p-n junction in reverse

P 0 bias. Usually integrated
Np =
hc as a current source.
P PIN and Avalanche
i = e 0 Photodiodes
hc
 Imaging Devices
CCD

CMOS
 Optical elements
1 r
Mirrors, Lenses, Prisms, Fibers use the n1
geometrical optics principles of reflection and
refraction
n2
1 = r 2

n1 sin 1 = n2 sin 2
Lens maker equation

1/ f =
(n 1)(1/ R1 1/ R2 )
Total internal reflection
When light refracts from a medium with high
refractive index to a medium with low refractive
index, the light bends away from the normal
Optical fibers transmit light by TIR
Lenses

Microscope

Lithography
 Dispersive Elements
1. Prisms: The refractive index of a
material depends on wavelength of
light. Hence for glass for example- blue
light has higher refractive index than
red light. While this give rise to so-
called chromatic aberrations in lenses,
it is used in prisms to split light into its
constituent colors.
2. Diffraction gratings

d (sin + sin n ) = n
Polarisers
Polarised light can be achieved by
1. Selective Absoption
2. Reflection
3. Scattering
 Sensor - examples
Sensors based on obstruction of light

Smoke Detector

Rain Sensor
 Intensity Modulation by Shutters and gratings

Encoder

Bar-code scanner encoders

 Ball and Optical mouse

QR-code

The mouse has a small, red light-emitting diode (LED) that bounces light off that
surface onto a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.
The CMOS sensor sends each image to a digital signal processor (DSP) for analysis. The
DSP, operating at 18 MIPS (million instructions per second), is able to detect patterns in
the images and see how those patterns have moved since the previous image. Based
on the change in patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the
mouse has moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer. The
computer moves the cursor on the screen based on the coordinates received from the
mouse. This happens hundreds of times each second, making the cursor appear to
move very smoothly.
 Fiber Optic Intensity Sensors

Pressure Sensor
Liquid Level Sensor Force Sensor
 Distance Measurement
Light detection and ranging ( LIDAR ) for metre level distance measurement
t
L = c*
2
Surface
Modulator Detector
Laser
Filter

Oscillator t
= 2 = 2ft
Phase Analyser T
ct cT
L= = ( + n 2 )
2 4
It takes light 3.3 nanoseconds to travel 1 meter
So to measure fast times, electronics has to be very sophisticated.
One solution is to modulate the laser beam at some frequency f. The distance that the
light has traveled will then result in a phase shift, , of the modulation signal that the
detector receives. This phase shift is proportional to the distance.
 Triangulation
For micron level displacement measurement

x dx
d d ' = z = =
M tan Ms

Optical Pick-up Unit for a CD

 Interferometers
For nanometer level displacement measurement

Light is a wave with an amplitude and phase.

The light field can thus be written as

E = A cos
What we measure or see is the Intensity which is
the square of the light field

I = E2 = A2cos2 = A2
since the phase is changing at over 1014 Hz
Superposition of waves

In phase Out of phase Changing

Constructive Destructive
 Interferometer -equations
E1 = A cos
E2 = A cos( + )
+
E = E 1+ E2 = 2 A cos / 2{cos( )}
2

I = E = 4 A cos
2 2
= 2 A(1 + cos )
2

2
For constructive interference I= Imax = 4A whenever = N2
For destructive interference I = Imin = 0 whenever = (N+0.5) 2
Where N= 0,1,2,3 (can be negative integers as well)

= 2 nd/ where nd is the Optical Path Difference between two

waves (n is refractive index and d is physical path difference)
 Michelson Interferometer
Mirror 1
2
Phase difference = ( )2 d Mirror 2

Laser

Beamsplitter
For constructive interference d
Phase difference = 2N
Detector
d = N ( )
2
= wavelength
N = fringe number
d = displacement
 Thin-film Interferometer
OPD = AB + BC AD = 2 n d cos
For Constructive Interferen ce
OPD = N
For Destructive Interferen ce
( 2 N + 1) n=1
OPD =
2
For = 500 nm and =00 and n=1
n
hmin =/4 = 125 nm

For = 0, N=1 and n=1.5

h = /3
For =600 nm, h = 200 nm
we see red light
For =500 nm, h = 167 nm
we see green light
For =400 nm, h = 133 nm
we see blue light
 Derivative of Displacement
Strain or Velocity
Mv
f = Use of gratings
f = periodical signal frequency
g = 500 um
g M=0.5
M is lens magnification v=100m/s
v velocity of object f=100kHZ
g period of grating

Laser Doppler Sensor

g= /2sin(/2)

Fiber Optic Gyroscope for angular velocity

measurements.
N- is number of loops 8NA
=
A is 2R 2 c
is the angular velocity
Signal is symmetric (+ and ve values give
same output). Change to sin function by
Gas or Fluid Flow adding a phase shift of pi/2

I = 2 A(1 + cos ) = 2 A(1 + cos + / 2) = 2 A(1 sin )

 Strain Measurement
Fiber Bragg Grating

Spectrum of the reflected light shows a

sharp peak at the following (Bragg)
wavelength

2neff g = B

B
= K + T
B 0

K is similar to Gauge Factor for strain gauge and its

value is about 0.8
Change in wavelength of 1 picometer (10-12 m)
Typical wavelength is 1510-1590 nm
 Optical Diffraction Strain Sensor
g sin =
d ( g sin ) = 0
dg sin + g cos d = 0
dg d
=
g tan
X 1
= = KX 1
L tan

Consider a grating with period of 0.8 m and light source with wavelength of 0.6 m,
then for L =500 mm, K = -0.0018 and hence for a strain of 1 , X1= 0.56 m.

Q1 What happens if the specimen experienced change in temperature

Q2 What happens if specimen were to tilt
 Advantages of Optical Sensors
Electromagnetic Immunity
Electrical Isolation
Compact And Light
Both Point And Distributed Configuration
Wide Dynamic Range
Amenable To Multiplexing
Mechanical and Chemical durability