Phototransistors for CMOS Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits

Integrated pnp phototransistors (PT) built in 0.6 μm OPTO ASIC CMOS are presented. The production starts with a low doped epitaxial wafer as bulk material. This work presents several different types of phototransistors due to the realization of base and emitter areas. The different types are optimized for different goals, e.g. responsivity or bandwidth. Responsivities up to 76 A/W, 35 A/W for DC light at 675 nm and 850 nm, respectively, as well as 37.2 A/W for modulated light at 300 kHz and 850 nm wavelength were achieved. On the other hand bandwidths up to 14 MHz with lower responsivity were achieved with different design of base and emitter area. Due to the fact that the used process is a production silicon CMOS technology, cheap integration of an integrated optoelectronic circuit is possible. Possible applications are low cost, highly sensitive optical receivers, optical sensors, systems-on-a-chip for optical distance measurement or combined to an array even a 3D camera.     

Modeling directional-hemispherical reflectance and transmittance of fresh and dry leaves from 0.4 μm to 5.7 μm with the PROSPECT-VISIR model

Vegetation water content retrieval using passive remote sensing techniques in the 0.4-2.5 μm region (reflection of solar radiation) and the 8-14 μm region (emission of thermal radiation) has given rise to an abundant literature. The wavelength range in between, where the main water absorption bands are located, has surprisingly received very little attention because of the complexity of the radiometric signal that mixes both reflected and emitted fluxes. Nevertheless, it is now covered by the latest generation of passive optical sensors (e.g. SEBASS, AHS). This work aims at modeling leaf spectral reflectance and transmittance in the infrared, particularly between 3 μm and 5 μm, to improve the retrieval of vegetation water content using hyperspectral data. Two unique datasets containing 32 leaf samples each were acquired in 2008 at the USGS National Center, Reston (VA, USA) and the ONERA Research Center, Toulouse (France). Reflectance and transmittance were recorded using laboratory spectrometers in the spectral region from 0.4 μm to 14 μm, and the leaf water and dry matter contents were determined. It turns out that these spectra are strongly linked to water content up to 5.7 μm. This dependence is much weaker further into the infrared, where spectral features seem to be mainly associated with the biochemical composition of the leaf surface. The measurements show that leaves transmit light in this wavelength domain and that the transmittance of dry samples can reach 0.35 of incoming light around 5 μm, and 0.05 around 11 μm. This work extends the PROSPECT leaf optical properties model by taking into account the high absorption levels of leaf constituents (by the insertion of the complex Fresnel coefficients) and surface phenomena (by the addition of a top layer). The new model, PROSPECT-VISIR (VISible to InfraRed), simulates leaf reflectance and transmittance between 0.4 μm and 5.7 μm (at 1 nm spectral resolution) with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.017 and 0.018, respectively. Model inversion also allows the prediction of water (RMSE = 0.0011 g/cm²) and dry matter (RMSE = 0.0013 g/cm²) contents.     

Contact CMOS imaging of gaseous oxygen sensor array

We describe a compact luminescent gaseous oxygen (O₂) sensor microsystem based on the direct integration of sensor elements with a polymeric optical filter and placed on a low power complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imager integrated circuit (IC). The sensor operates on the measurement of excited-state emission intensity of O₂-sensitive luminophore molecules tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) ([Ru(dpp)₃]²⁺) encapsulated within sol-gel derived xerogel thin films. The polymeric optical filter is made with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that is mixed with a dye (Sudan-II). The PDMS membrane surface is molded to incorporate arrays of trapezoidal microstructures that serve to focus the optical sensor signals on to the imager pixels. The molded PDMS membrane is then attached with the PDMS color filter. The xerogel sensor arrays are contact printed on top of the PDMS trapezoidal lens-like microstructures. The CMOS imager uses a 32 × 32 (1024 elements) array of active pixel sensors and each pixel includes a high-gain phototransistor to convert the detected optical signals into electrical currents. Correlated double sampling circuit, pixel address, digital control and signal integration circuits are also implemented on-chip. The CMOS imager data is read out as a serial coded signal. The CMOS imager consumes a static power of 320 μW and an average dynamic power of 625 μW when operating at 100 Hz sampling frequency and 1.8 V DC. This CMOS sensor system provides a useful platform for the development of miniaturized optical chemical gas sensors.     

The infrared spectral signature of volcanic ash determined from high-spectral resolution satellite measurements

High-spectral resolution infrared spectra of the earth's atmosphere and surface are routinely available from satellite sensors, such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). We exploit the spectral content of AIRS data to demonstrate that airborne volcanic ash has a unique signature in the infrared (8-12 μm) that can be used to infer particle size, infrared opacity and composition. The spectral signature is interpreted with the aid of a radiative transfer model utilizing the optical properties of andesite, rhyolite and quartz. Based on the infrared spectral signature, a new volcanic ash detection algorithm is proposed that can discriminate volcanic ash from other airborne substances and we show that the algorithm depends on particle size, optical depth and composition. The new algorithm has an improved sensitivity to optically thin ash clouds, and hence can detect them for longer (~ 4 days) and at greater distances from the source(~ 5000 km).     

投影法测径系统的信号处理方法

介绍采用线阵ＣＣＤ传感器投影放大法线径测量系统的信号处理方法,介绍对ＣＣＤ输出信号进行高通,低通滤波预处理的方法,着重 基于微分法的图像边缘检测算法,对ＣＣＤ视频信号求取其一阶微分的绝对值,求其局部重心点作为其边缘特征点,实验结果表明,采取基于微分法的重心算法检测图像边缘特征点,测量系统的重复精度优于１μm,本文还介绍了对测量系统的线性,非线性标定方法。     

线阵CCD机械拼接技术的高精度测量研究

对于圆柱外径在2-22μm、精度为1μm这样的大范围高精度测量要求,提出了一种用二个线阵CCD进行拼接的测量方法,阐述CCD机械拼接技术和原理,说明了圆柱外径在不同尺寸范围的拼接测量原理和计算方法,从而拓展出拼接CCD在实际测量中的应用领域。     

Improved forest biomass estimates using ALOS AVNIR-2 texture indices

Optical remote sensing is still one of the most attractive choices for obtaining biomass information, as new sensors are available with fine spatial and spectral resolutions. Better biomass estimates may be possible if suitable processing techniques for these sensors can be demonstrated. This research investigates the potential of high resolution optical data from the ALOS AVNIR-2 sensor for biomass estimation in a mountainous, subtropical forested region using four different types of image processing techniques including i) spectral reflectance and simple spectral band ratio, ii) commonly used vegetation indices, iii) texture parameters and iv) ratio of texture parameters. Simple linear and stepwise multiple regression models were developed between biomass data from 50 field plots, and image parameters derived from these techniques.Results indicate that spectral reflectance, the simple band ratio, and commonly used vegetation indices have relatively low potential for biomass estimation, as only about 58% of the variability in the field data was explained by the model (adjusted r² = 0.58 and RMSE = 64 t/ha). However, the texture parameters of spectral bands were found to be effective for biomass estimation with an explained variability of ca. 76% (adjusted r² = 0.76 and RMSE = 46 t/ha). The result was further improved to adjusted r² = 0.88 (RMSE = 32 t/ha) using the simple ratio of texture parameters. The results suggest that the performance of biomass estimation can be improved significantly using the texture parameters of high resolution optical data, and further improvement can be obtained using the ratio of texture parameters, as this combines the advantages of both texture and ratio.     

线阵CCD非接触直径测量系统设计

为解决直径测量系统中存在的对工件有磨损、测量精度低、无法实现动态测量的问题,提出采用光电传感器件——电荷耦合器件线阵CCD光电检测方法,配合光学系统实现工件的非接触直径测量,满足了现代工业生产对直径测量系统提出的高精度、快速、非接触和实时反馈的需求。对线阵CCD的信号检测电路、调理电路及数据处理电路设计进行了研究,并进行了三种工件直径测量试验和误差分析。试验表明,该系统可对φ0.5 mm～φ30 mm的工件进行直径测量,测量精度为±5μm。     

Estimating average tree crown size using spatial information from Ikonos and QuickBird images: Across-sensor and across-site comparisons

The forest canopy is the medium for energy, mass, and momentum exchanges between the forest ecosystem and the atmosphere. Tree crown size is a critical aspect of canopy structure that significantly influences these biophysical processes in the canopy. Tree crown size is also strongly related to other canopy structural parameters, such as tree height, diameter at breast height and biomass. But information about tree crown sizes is difficult to obtain and rarely available from traditional forest inventory. The study objective was to test the hypothesis that a model previously developed for estimation of tree crown size can be generalized across sensors and sites. Our study sites include the Racoon Ecological Management Area in southeast Ohio, USA and the Duke Forest in North Carolina Piedmont, USA. We sampled a series of circular plots in the summers of 2005 and 2007. We derived average tree crown diameter (CD) for trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) greater than 6.4 cm (2.5 in) for each sampling plot. We developed statistical models using image spatial information from Ikonos and QuickBird images as the independent variable and CD for stands in Ohio as the dependent variable. The models provide an explanation of tree crown size for the hardwood stands comparable to other approaches (R² = ∼ 0.5 and RMSE = 0.83 m). Moreover, the models that estimate tree crown size using the ratio of image variances at two spatial resolutions can be applied across sensors and sites, i.e. the statistical models developed with Ikonos images can be applied directly to estimate tree crown size with QuickBird image, and the statistical models developed in Ohio can be applied directly to estimate tree crown size with images in North Carolina. These results indicate that the model developed based on image variance ratio at two spatial resolutions can be used to take advantage of existing sampling plot data and images to estimate CD with more recent images, enhancing the efficiency of forest resources inventory and monitoring.     

Micro-piezoelectric immunoassay chip for simultaneous detection of Hepatitis B virus and α-fetoprotein

In this paper, a piezoelectric diaphragm-based immunoassay chip was developed to simultaneously detect anti-Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and anti-alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The chip was fabricated by micro-machining technology and consists of eight individual circular sensors with a diameter of 800 μm. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), Hepatitis C core antigen (HBcAg) and AFP as the probe molecules were immobilized on different sensing spots on the chip. A solution containing anti-HBsAg and anti-AFP was applied into the reaction chambers in all sensors of the chip, and significant frequency shifts were only observed in the sensors with HBsAg and AFP for immunoassay detection. The fluorescence image further confirmed the successful detection of anti-HBsAg and anti-AFP. The total assay time was less than 2 h. The frequency shift-based calibration curves show a detection limit of 0.1 ng/ml and a dynamic detection range of 0.1-10,000 ng/ml for both anti-HBsAg and anti-AFP, respectively, thus demonstrating that the developed piezoelectric immunoassay chip has potential applications for rapid, specific, sensitive, and multiple detections of HBV.     

Influence of morphology and structure geometry on NO2 gas-sensing characteristics of SnO2 nanostructures synthesized via a thermal evaporation method

SnO₂ microwires, nanowires and rice-shaped nanoparticles were synthesized by a thermal evaporation method. The diameters of microwire and nanowire were 2 μm and 50-100 nm, respectively, with approximately the same length (∼20 μm). The size of nanoparticles was about 100 nm. It was confirmed that the as-synthesized products have SnO₂ crystalline rutile structure. The sensing ability of SnO₂ particle and wire-like structure configured as gas sensors was measured. A comparison between the particle and wire-like structure sensors revealed that the latter have numerous advantages in terms of reliability and high sensitivity. Although its high surface-to-volume ratio, the nanoparticle sensor exhibited the lowest sensitivity. The high surface-to-volume ratio and low density of grain boundaries is the best way to improve the sensitivity of SnO₂ gas sensors, as in case of nanowire sensor which exhibited a dramatic improvement in sensitivity to NO₂ gas.     

Spectrophotometric sensor system based on a liquid waveguide capillary cell for the determination of titanium: Application to natural waters, sunscreens and a lake sediment

An analytical procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of titanium at trace levels was developed. The procedure involves the use of a multi-pumping flow system (MPFS) coupled with a liquid waveguide capillary cell (LWCC) with 1.0 m path length, 550 μm i.d. and 250 μL internal volume, which enabled to enhance the sensitivity of the determination and thus avoid complex and time-consuming pre-concentration steps. The determination is based on the colorimetric reaction of titanium with chromotropic acid. The limit of detection (3σ) was 0.4 μg/L and a linear response up to 100 μg/L with a sample throughput of 46 h⁻¹, and a low reagent consumption/effluent production was achieved. The developed procedure was applied to natural waters, sunscreen formulations and one certified lake sediment sample.     

基于线阵CCD拼接技术的一维尺寸测量

通过分析基于线阵CCD传感器的一维尺寸测量原理,提出了采用拼接技术测量较大一维尺寸的测量方案,并系统分析了该方案的测量误差。实验表明:采用该方案进行一维尺寸测量时,可以达到较大的测量范围和较高的测量准确度。     

CuO nanowire-based humidity sensors prepared on glass substrate

The authors report the growth of CuO nanowires (NWs) on glass substrate and the fabrication of CuO NW humidity sensors. It was found that average length of the CuO NWs increased from 0.4 μm to 2.8 and 6 μm, respectively, as we increased the initial copper film thickness from 0.5 μm to 1 and 2 μm after oxidation. It was also found that resistance of the CuO NWs increased as we increased the relative humidity due to the p-type nature of CuO. Furthermore, it was found that samples with a larger initial copper film thickness and thus a longer average CuO NW length could provide a larger sensor response.     

A new construction adder based on Chinese abacus algorithm

A new construction adder based on Chinese abacus algorithm is presented in this paper. There are two kinds of beads used in this construction. Each column element has three higher beads with a weight of four and three lower beads with a weight of one. The proposed 32-bit adder contains eight column elements. The construction was simulated by the technology of TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS process. Layout was also made by the same technology. The maximum delay of the 32-bit abacus adder is 0.91 ns and 14% less than that of Carry Look-ahead Adders for 0.18 μm technology. The power consumption of the abacus adder is 3.1 mW and 28% less than that of Carry Look-ahead Adders for 0.18 μm technology. Recent researches are compared with the proposed adder. The construction was also simulated by Predictive Technology Model. The PTM results also presented. The use of Chinese abacus approach offers a competitive technique with respect to other adders.     

Preparation and characterization of unimorph actuators based on piezoelectric Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 materials

This paper describes the preparation and characterization of unimorph actuators for deformable mirrors, based on Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT52) thin film. As comparison, two different designs, where the PZT layer in the unimorph actuators was driven by either interdigitated electrodes (IDT-mode) or parallel plate electrodes (d₃₁-mode), were investigated. The actuators utilize a unimorph membrane (diaphragm) structure consisting of an active PZT piezoelectric layer and a passive SiO₂/Si composite layer. To fabricate the diaphragm structures, n-type (1 0 0) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers with 1 μm thermal SiO₂ were used as substrates (for d₃₁-mode actuators, the upper Si part of SOI need to be heavily doped and used as bottom electrodes simultaneously). Sol-gel derived PZT piezoelectric layers with PbTiO₃ (PT) bufferlayer in total of 0.86 μm were then fabricated on them, and 0.15 μm Al reflective layers were deposited and patterned into top electrode geometries, subsequently. The diaphragms were released using orientation-dependent wet etching (ODE) with 5-10 μm residual silicon layers. The complete unimorph actuators comprise 4 × 4 discrete units (4 mm² in size) with patterned PZT films for parallel plate configuration or 3 × 3 individual pixels (2 mm in IDT diameter) with continuous PZT films in graphic region for IDT configuration. The measurement results indicated that both of the two configurations can generate considerable deflections at low voltage. The measured maximum central deflections at 15 V were approximately 2.5 μm and 2.8 μm, respectively. The intrinsic strain conditions shaping the deflection profiles for the diaphragm actuators were also analyzed. In this paper, the behaviors of clamped parallel plate configuration without a diaphragm were also evaluated.     

Evaluate error sources and uncertainty in large scale measurement systems

Modern manufacturing technologies place increasingly higher demands on industrial measurement systems. Over the last decade there have been rapid developments in 3D measurement systems, with the primary requirement coming from industries such as automotives, aerospace, shipbuilding and power plant equipments for accuracy and efficiency. This paper focusses on the analysis of large scale scanning techniques using a laser scanner; investigating the errors which arise during the measurement process and the uncertainty calculations for the measurements. Both point measurement and surface measurement has been performed and the result shows that the consistency of distance measurements between two points was 65 μm and between two surfaces was 9 μm. The laser scanner requires scans from different positions which have to be aligned. The result shows that reference frame alignment is the best method when compared to the tooling ball best fit method, fitting to 17 μm when using the laser scanner.     

Measurement error analysis and accuracy enhancement of 2D vision system for robotic drilling

Robotic drilling for aircraft structures demands higher accuracy on industrial robots than their traditional applications. Positioning error measurement and compensation based on 2D vision system is a cost-effective way to improve the positioning accuracy in robotic drilling. In this paper, we first discuss the principle of error measurement and compensation with a 2D vision system for robotic drilling and the determination of tool center point of the vision system so that the Abbe errors are eliminated in the measurement process. Measurement errors due to nonideal measurement conditions, i.e. nonperpendicularity of the camera optical axis to the workpiece surface and incorrect object distance, are mathematically modeled and experimentally verified. A method utilizing four laser displacement sensors is proposed to ensure perpendicularity of the camera optical axis to the workpiece surface and correct object distance in the measurement process, and hence to achieve high accuracy in 2D vision-based measurement. Experiments performed on a robotic drilling system show that the 2D vision system can achieve an accuracy of approximately 0.1 mm with the proposed method.     

Improved land surface emissivities over agricultural areas using ASTER NDVI

Land surface emissivity retrieval over agricultural regions is important for energy balance estimations, land cover assessment and other related environmental studies. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) produces images of sufficient spatial resolution (from 15 m to 90 m) to be of use in agricultural studies, in which fields of crops are too small to be well-resolved by low resolution sensors. The ASTER project generates land surface emissivity images as a Standard Product (AST05) using the Temperature/Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm. However, the TES algorithm is prone to scaling errors in estimating emissivities for surfaces with low spectral contrast if the atmospheric correction is inaccurate. This paper shows a comparison between the land surface emissivity estimated with the TES algorithm and from a simple approach using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for five ASTER images (28 June 2000, 15 August 2000, 31 August 2000, 28 April 2001 and 02 August 2001) of the agricultural area of Barrax (Albacete, Spain). The results indicate that differences are < 1% for ASTER band 13 (10.7 μm) and < 1.5% for band 14 (11.3 μm), but > 2% for bands 10 (8.3 μm), 11 (8.6 μm) and 12 (9.1 μm). The emissivities for the five ASTER bands were tested against in situ measurements carried out with the CIMEL CE 312-2 field radiometer, the NDVI method giving root mean square errors (RMSE) < 0.005 over vegetated areas and RMSE < 0.015 over bare soil, and the TES algorithm giving RMSE ∼ 0.01 for vegetated areas but RMSE > 0.03 over bare soil. The errors and inconsistencies for ASTER bands 13 and 14 are within those anticipated for TES, but the greater errors for bands 10-12 suggest the presence of problems related to atmospheric compensation and model assumptions about soil spectra. The NDVI method uses visible/near-infrared data co-acquired with the thermal images to estimate vegetation cover and, hence, provides an independent constraint on emissivity. The success of this approach suggests that it may be useful for daytime images of agricultural or other heavily vegetated areas, in which the TES algorithm has occasional failures.     

Improved algorithm for MODIS satellite retrievals of aerosol optical thickness over land in dusty atmosphere: Implications for air quality monitoring in China

A new algorithm, using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite reflectance and aerosol single scattering properties simulated from a chemistry transport model (GEOS-Chem), is developed to retrieve aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over land in China during the spring dust season. The algorithm first uses a “dynamic lower envelope” approach to sample the MODIS dark-pixel reflectance data in low AOT conditions, to derive the local surface visible (0.65 μm)/near infrared (NIR, 2.1 μm) reflectance ratio. Joint retrievals of AOT at 0.65 μm and surface reflectance at 2.1 μm are then performed, based on the time, location, and spectral-dependent single scattering properties of the dusty atmosphere as simulated by the GEOS-Chem. A linearized vector radiative transfer model (VLIDORT) that simultaneously computes the top-of-atmosphere reflectance and its Jacobian with respect to AOT, is used in the forward component of the inversion of MODIS reflectance to AOT. Comparison of retrieved AOT results in April and May of 2008 with AERONET observations shows a strong correlation (R = 0.83), with small bias (0.01), and small RMSE (0.17); the figures are a substantial improvement over corresponding values obtained with the MODIS Collection 5 AOT algorithm for the same study region and time period. The small bias is partially due to the consideration of dust effect at 2.1 μm channel, without which the bias is − 0.05. The surface PM₁₀ (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 μm) concentrations derived using this improved AOT retrieval show better agreement with ground observations than those derived from GEOS-Chem simulations alone, or those inferred from the MODIS Collection 5 AOT. This study underscores the value of using satellite reflectance to improve the air quality modeling and monitoring.