Microscale FPI Pressure Sensor on Optical Fiber Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current sensor technologies face challenges in miniaturization, particularly in fabricating microscopic sensors with specific surface properties and complex structures, limiting their performance and utility in applications like aircraft and satellite systems where size, weight, and power (SWAP) considerations are critical.
Innovation Solution
The development of a passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) pressure sensor using two-photon polymerization (2PP) micro-fabrication on an optical fiber tip, which enables the creation of sub-micron resolution 3D mechanical structures and a hinged spring-body pressure sensor that deflects in response to external pressure, altering the resonant wavelengths and allowing for precise pressure measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If additive manufacturing is used to fabricate microscopic sensors, then internal cavities can be produced, but surface properties and complex structures cannot be readily deposited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines additive manufacturing (for internal cavity structure) with sequential deposition processes (for surface properties and functional layers) to create a hybrid fabrication approach that achieves both complex 3D geometry and precise surface characteristics that neither method could achieve alone
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process is divided into distinct stages: first additive manufacturing creates the internal cavity structure, then subsequent deposition steps add surface properties and functional coatings. This segmentation allows each process to be optimized independently for its specific requirements
2Volume of moving object
If sensor size is reduced for miniaturization, then SWAP is decreased, but fabrication complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple fabrication techniques are merged into a single integrated process sequence, allowing complex microstructures to be built up layer by layer through combined additive manufacturing and deposition steps, thereby achieving miniaturization without proportionally increasing fabrication complexity
3Measurement precision
If a single large high fidelity sensor is used, then measurement accuracy is improved, but SWAP increases and spatial coverage is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing function is segmented into multiple distributed micro-sensors rather than one large sensor. Each micro-sensor maintains high measurement precision through carefully designed microstructures, while the array of sensors provides comprehensive spatial coverage throughout the jet turbine environment
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from a single-point measurement approach to a distributed field measurement approach. By deploying multiple sensors in spatial distribution, the system achieves both high measurement precision at each location and comprehensive three-dimensional situational awareness
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach results in a low SWAP sensor capable of accurately measuring pressure changes, offering improved performance and autonomy for miniaturized aircraft and enabling multiple data points within jet turbines without altering the overall geometry, thus enhancing operational efficiency and performance.
Implementation Method 1
a hinged spring-body pressure sensor that deflects in response to external pressure
Implementation Method 2
passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) pressure sensor
Implementation Method 3
two-photon polymerization (2PP) micro-fabrication on an optical fiber tip, which enables the creation of sub-micron resolution 3D mechanical structures
Data Source
AI summary
A passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) pressure sensor includes an optical fiber and a three-dimensional microscopic optical enclosure. The three-dimensional microscopic optical enclosure includes tubular side walls having lateral pleated corrugations and attached to a cleaved tip of the optical fiber to receive a light signal. An optically reflecting end wall is distally engaged to the tubular side walls to enclose a trapped quantity of gas that longitudinally positions the optically reflecting end wall in relation to ambient air pressure, changing a distance traveled by a light signal reflected back through the optical fiber.