Opto-Thermo-Mechanical Microsystems for Energy Conversion and High Precision Sensing

用于能量转换和高精度传感的光热机械微系统

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-04412
• 负责人: StGelais, Raphael
• 金额: $ 2.77万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=760119
• 关键词: Opto; Thermo; Mechanical; Microsystems; Energy

The general philosophy of my program is to harness recent progress from fundamental nanoscale science and translate them to new disruptive applied technologies. Following this philosophy, our specific goal for this proposal is to exploit recent progress from the fields of (1) nanoscale thermal transport and (2) optomechanics to create a novel class of opto-thermo-mechanical microsystems. The potential applications of these microsystems are divided in three sub-objectives: (1) direct conversion of heat to electricity, (2) high precision infrared and THz light detection, and (3) high precision vibration sensing. Our first objective is to create novel portable solutions for electricity generation from heat using the Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic (NFTPV) effect. The principle is to build modules in which energy from a heat source is radiated towards a specially tailored photovoltaic cell placed in its extreme proximity, typically <100 nm, for performance enhancement. We will develop high temperature micro-mechanical systems that will allow such sub-100 nm distance control and integrate them with photovoltaic cells. We aim to achieve the first demonstration of this technology which, at term, promises greater conversion efficiencies than existing thermoelectric generators. Our second objective is to enhance the detection limit of infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) photodetectors using optomechanical resonators. Rather than relying on conventional (resistive) temperature sensors, we will create photodetectors that correlate absorbed radiation to the resonance frequency of an ultra-low loss micro-mechanical resonator. This method will eliminate electrical noise sources, which will allow us to reach the bolometer fundamental detection limita two orders of magnitude improvement over current performances. If successful, our work will help bring to life the potential applications of IR and THz science in sensing, security, and medical diagnosis, which are often limited by poor detector performances. Our third objective is to enhance the sensitivity of vibration sensors. The response of a mechanical system to external vibration is enhanced by its quality factor (up to several millions) at its natural resonance frequency. This enhancement is however never harnessed in accelerometers as it would allow sensing only at one fixed frequency out of a complex broad-band excitation spectrum. We will break this limitation using our recent demonstration of frequency-tunable high quality factor resonators. Applying resonant enhancement to a broad frequency spectrum will allow us to reach the fundamental accelerometer noise limit, a two orders of magnitude improvement over current performances. This improvement could prove useful in existing applications (e.g., early machine failure monitoring), or enable new ones (e.g. acoustic tracking of underwater vehicles).

我的计划的总体理念是利用基础纳米科学的最新进展，并将其转化为新的颠覆性应用技术。遵循这一理念，我们的具体目标是利用（1）纳米级热传输和（2）光学机械领域的最新进展，创造一类新的光热机械微系统。这些微系统的潜在应用分为三个子目标：（1）直接将热量转换为电能，（2）高精度红外和太赫兹光检测，以及（3）高精度振动传感。我们的第一个目标是利用近场热光伏（NFTPV）效应创建新型便携式热发电解决方案。其原理是构建模块，其中来自热源的能量辐射到放置在其极近处（通常<100 nm）的特别定制的光伏电池，以增强性能。我们将开发高温微机械系统，使这种亚100纳米的距离控制，并将它们与光伏电池集成。我们的目标是实现这项技术的首次演示，该技术承诺比现有的热电发电机具有更高的转换效率。我们的第二个目标是提高检测极限的红外（IR）和太赫兹（THz）光电探测器使用光机械谐振器。而不是依赖于传统的（电阻式）温度传感器，我们将创建光电探测器，吸收辐射相关的谐振频率的超低损耗微机械谐振器。这种方法将消除电噪声源，这将使我们能够达到测辐射热计的基本检测极限两个数量级的改善电流性能。如果成功，我们的工作将有助于实现红外和太赫兹科学在传感，安全和医疗诊断方面的潜在应用，这些应用通常受到探测器性能差的限制。我们的第三个目标是提高振动传感器的灵敏度。机械系统对外部振动的响应通过其在其自然共振频率处的品质因数（高达数百万）来增强。然而，这种增强从未被利用在加速度计中，因为它只允许在复杂的宽带激励频谱中的一个固定频率处进行感测。我们将打破这一限制，使用我们最近的演示频率可调高品质因数谐振器。将谐振增强应用于宽频谱将使我们能够达到基本的加速度计噪声极限，比当前性能提高两个数量级。这种改进可以证明在现有应用中是有用的（例如，早期机器故障监测），或启用新的监测（例如水下航行器的声学跟踪）。