Abstract
We report on a comparison between piezoelectric and interferometric readouts of vibrations in quartz tuning forks (QTFs) when acting as sound wave transducers in a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic setup (QEPAS) for trace gas detection. A theoretical model relating the prong vibration amplitude with the QTF prong sizes and electrical resistance is proposed. To compare interferometric and piezoelectric readouts, two QTFs have been selected; a tuning fork with rectangular-shape of the prongs, having a resonance frequency of 3.4 kHz and a quality-factor of 4,000, and a QTF with prong having a T-shape characterized by a resonance frequency of 12.4 kHz with a quality-factor of 15,000. Comparison between the interferometric and piezoelectric readouts were performed by using both QTFs in a QEPAS sensor setup for water vapor detection. We demonstrated that the QTF geometry can be properly designed to enhance the signal from a specific readout mode.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 100155 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-7 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Photoacoustics |
| Volume | 17 |
| Early online date | 8 Jan 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2020 |
Funding
This work was supported by THORLABS GmbH , within the joint-research laboratory PolySense. We also acknowledge the support from European Research Council (ERC) ( 615170 ) and LASERLAB-EUROPE ( 654148 ). Stefano Dello Russo obtained his M.S. degree (cum laude) in Physics in 2018 from the University of Bari. From the same year, he is a PhD student at the Physics Department of the University of Bari, developing his research work at PolySense Lab, joint-research laboratory between Technical University of Bari and THORLABS GmbH. Currently, his research activities are focused on the development of custom tuning forks for Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy and on the study of vibrational-translational dynamics of molecules in gaseous mixtures. Sheng Zhou is a Ph.D. candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Science. He received his B.Sc. degree in Material Processing and Control Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2012. Also, he received his Master degree in Material Processing Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2015. His current research interests include photoacoustic spectroscopy, gas sensing, fiber optic sensors, and instrument miniaturization. Andrea Zifarelli obtained his M.S. degree (cum laude) in Physics in 2018 from the University of Bari. From the same year, he is a PhD student at the Physics Department of the University of Bari, developing his research work at PolySense Lab, joint-research laboratory between Technical University of Bari and THORLABS GmbH. Currently, his research activities are focused on the development of gas sensors based on Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy for detection of gas mixtures and broadband absorbers, exploiting non-conventional laser sources. Pietro Patimisco obtained the Master degree in Physics (cum laude) in 2009 and the PhD Degree in Physics in 2013 from the University of Bari. Since 2018, he is Assistant professor at the Technical University of Bari. He was a visiting scientist in the Laser Science Group at Rice University in 2013 and 2014. Dr. Patimisco’s scientific activity addressed both micro-probe optical characterization of semiconductor optoelectronic devices and optoacoustic gas sensors. Recently, his research activities included the study and applications of trace-gas sensors, such as quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy and cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy in the mid infrared and terahertz spectral region, leading to several publications, including a cover paper in Applied Physics Letter of the July 2013 issue. Angelo Sampaolo obtained his Master degree in Physics in 2013 and the PhD Degree in Physics in 2017 from University of Bari. He was a visiting researcher in the Laser Science Group at Rice University from 2014 to 2016. Since May 2017, he is a Post-Doctoral Research associate at University of Bari. His research activity has included the study of the thermal properties of heterostructured devices via Raman spectroscopy. Most recently, his research interest has focused on the development of innovative techniques in trace gas sensing, based on Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy and covering the full spectral range from near-IR to THz. His achieved results have been acknowledged by a cover paper in Applied Physics Letter of the July 2013 issue. Marilena Giglio received the M.S. degree (cum laude) in Applied Physics in 2014, and the PhD Degree in Physics in 2018 from the University of Bari. In 2012 she’s been visiting the Academic Medical Center of Amsterdam as a trainee. In 2015 she was a Research Assistant with the Department of Physics, University of Bari. She was a visiting researcher in the Laser Science Group at Rice University from 2016 to 2017. Since 2018, she is a Post-Doc Research Assistant at the Physics Department of the Technical University of Bari. Her research activity is focused on the development of gas sensors based on Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy and on the optical coupling of hollow-core waveguides with interband- and quantum-cascade lasers. Davide Iannuzzi obtained his PhD at the University of Pavia in 2002. He then went to the USA, where he was postdoctoral fellow at Bell Labs and Harvard. In 2005, he moved to the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he is now Professor in Experimental Physics. He is one of the two the co-founders of Optics11 - a 40+ people company that designs, produces, and sells optical fiber sensors all across the world. In Amsterdam, he has also created a knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship laboratory, which he is still the director of. Iannuzzi, who also holds an MBA from TIAS School for Business and Society (2015), has received several international recognitions, published nearly 100 papers, collected more than 7 million euros of research funds (including 3 ERC grants), and has written the book “Entrepreneurship for Physicists”, which nowadays counts nearly 20,000 downloads (entire book and single chapters). Vincenzo Spagnolo obtained the PhD in physics in 1994 from University of Bari. From 1997 to 1999, he was researcher of the National Institute of the Physics of Matter. Since 2004, he works at the Technical University of Bari, formerly as assistant and associate professor and, starting from 2018, as full Professor of Physics. He is the director of the joint-research lab PolySense between Technical University of Bari and THORLABS GmbH, fellow member of SPIE and senior member of OSA. His research interests include optoacoustic gas sensing and spectroscopic techniques for real-time monitoring. His research activity is documented by more than 190 publications and two filed patents. He has given more than 50 invited presentations at international conferences and workshops.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Thorlabs GmbH | |
| Seventh Framework Programme | 615170, 654148 |
| European Research Council |
Keywords
- Gas sensing
- Interferometry
- Photoacoustic spectroscopy
- Piezoelectricity
- Tuning fork
