Integrated Computational Element Layer Sensitivity Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical computing devices face challenges in predicting physical or chemical properties due to fabrication errors in integrated computational elements (ICE) layers, which can lead to significant shifts in transmission spectra and impact chemometric predictability.
Innovation Solution
A method is developed to evaluate and rank the sensitivity of each layer in an ICE design by simulating fabrication errors, calculating the standard error of calibration, and correlating it with actual fabrication errors, allowing for increased precision in depositing sensitive layers to minimize predictability degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If standard fabrication processes are used for ICE layers, then manufacturing efficiency is maintained, but fabrication errors cause significant shifts in transmission spectra and degrade chemometric predictability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by evaluating and ranking layer sensitivity to fabrication errors before the actual fabrication process. The method calculates a sensitivity metric for each layer based on its impact on chemometric predictability, allowing the system to identify which layers require enhanced precision control in advance. This preliminary evaluation enables proactive adjustment of fabrication parameters for specific layers rather than uniform high-precision fabrication of all layers.
2Reliability
If increased precision is applied to all layers during fabrication, then chemometric predictability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by applying different fabrication precision levels to different layers based on their individual sensitivity rankings. Instead of uniformly increasing precision for all layers, the method identifies specific layers with high sensitivity metrics and applies enhanced precision control only to those layers. This localized approach maintains chemometric predictability while avoiding the unnecessary complexity and cost of high-precision fabrication across the entire multi-layer structure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fabrication errors occur in hypersensitive layers, then transmission spectra shift significantly, but prediction performance may remain acceptable depending on the specific layer affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses this contradiction by performing preliminary sensitivity analysis to identify which layers are hypersensitive to fabrication errors. By calculating sensitivity metrics that quantify the impact of layer thickness variations on transmission spectra and chemometric predictability, the system can anticipate which layers require strict tolerance control. This allows the design to be adapted for robustness by focusing precision requirements on identified hypersensitive layers while allowing greater tolerance in non-critical layers.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are methods and techniques for providing favorable fabrication characteristics for optical elements. One method includes providing a desired integrated computational element (ICE) design comprising a plurality of layers, each layer having a design thickness, randomizing the design thickness of each layer of the desired ICE design to simulate a fabrication error in each layer, thereby generating a plurality of randomized ICE designs, calculating a standard error of calibration between each randomized ICE design and the desired ICE design, correlating the standard error of calibration between a given layer of the desired ICE design and the fabrication error of each corresponding layer of each randomized ICE design, and ranking the plurality of layers of the desired ICE design based on the sensitivity to changes in the standard error of calibration.