Gap measurement by position-sensitive detectors

Graphene-enhanced lateral photovoltaic effect observed in the Ag nanoparticle-covered graphene/n-type silicon

Graphene is a kind of two-dimensional material with a single-layer carbon structure and has been investigated in many high-performance photodetectors. The lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) is widely used in the position-sensitive detectors (PSDs) owing to its linear response of photovoltage to the light position. In this Letter, a type of graphene-enhanced LPE is observed in the Ag nanoparticle-covered graphene/n-type Si. The LPE sensitivity can reach 97.3 mV/mm, much higher than the sensitivity of 1.3 mV/mm in the control sample of Ag/Si and 5.2 mV/mm of graphene/Si. Based on the photocarriers' diffusion mechanism, tailoring a photocarrier transfer at the interface of a heterojunction plays a key role for the enhancement. These findings exhibit great application potential of graphene in the field of PSDs and offer an effective method for the optimization of LPE devices.

Six-Degree-of-Freedom Posture Measurement Technologies Using Position Sensitive Detectors (PSDs): State of the Art

Six degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) posture measurement is an important academic research topic which has been broadly applied in many fields. As a high-speed photoelectronic sensor with ultra-high resolution and precision, position sensitive detector (PSD) has shown to be one of the most competitive candidates in 6-DOF measurement. This review presents the research progress of PSD-based 6-DOF posture measurement systems in the field of large-scale equipment assembly, ultra-precision manufacturing and other emerging areas. A total of six methods for implementing 6-DOF measurement are summarized and their advantages and limitations are discussed. Meanwhile, the paper illustrates challenges, potential solutions and future development trends.

Heterojunction interface-induced enhancement of position-sensitive photodetection in the nano-film of Ti/SrTiO3 based on the p-type silicon

Complex oxide perovskites exhibit a range of novel, to the best of our knowledge, physical phenomena and have gained popularity as a material system in the past decades. Strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) is an iconic material among oxide perovskite due to its unusual electronic transport behavior and has been investigated in many electronic devices. In this Letter, a type of SrTiO₃ nano-film-induced enhancement of lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) is observed in the heterojunction of Ti/SrTiO₃/p-type Si. Optimizing the thickness of SrTiO₃, the LPE sensitivity can reach 123.2 mV/mm, which is much higher than the sensitivity in the control samples of Ti/Si (55.3 mV/mm) and SrTiO₃/Si (∼0mV/mm). These findings offer an effective way to improve the sensitivity and will be helpful in the development of oxide-based photodetection devices.

Vibration Measurement Method of a String in Transversal Motion by Using a PSD

A position sensitive detector (PSD) is frequently used for the measurement of a one-dimensional position along a line or a two-dimensional position on a plane, but is more often used for measuring static or quasi-static positions. Along with its quick response when measuring short time-spans in the micro-second realm, a PSD is also capable of detecting the dynamic positions of moving objects. In this paper, theoretical modeling and experiments are conducted to explore the frequency characteristics of a vibrating string while moving transversely across a one-dimensional PSD. The theoretical predictions are supported by the experiments. When the string vibrates at its natural frequency while moving transversely, the PSD will detect two frequencies near this natural frequency; one frequency is higher than the natural frequency and the other is lower. Deviations in these two frequencies, which differ from the string's natural frequency, increase while the speed of motion increases.

Nonvolatile and tunable switching of lateral photo-voltage triggered by laser and electric pulse in metal dusted metal-oxide-semiconductor structures

Owing to the innate stabilization of built-in potential in p-n junction or metal-oxide-semiconductor structure, the sensitivity and linearity of most lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) devices is always fixed after fabrication. Here we report a nonvolatile and tunable switching effect of lateral photo-voltage (LPV) in Cu dusted ultrathin metal-oxide-semiconductor structure. With the stimulation of electric pulse and local illumination, the sensitivity and linearity of LPV can be adjusted up and down in a nonvolatile manner. This phenomenon is attributed to a controllable change of the Schottky barrier formed between the metal layer and silicon substrate, including the consequent change of film resistivity. This work may widely improve the performance of existing LPE-based devices and suggest new applications for LPE in other areas.

Large lateral photovoltaic effect in metal-(oxide-) semiconductor structures

The lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) can be used in position-sensitive detectors to detect very small displacements due to its output of lateral photovoltage changing linearly with light spot position. In this review, we will summarize some of our recent works regarding LPE in metal-semiconductor and metal-oxide-semiconductor structures, and give a theoretical model of LPE in these two structures.

White-light scanning interferometer for absolute nano-scale gap thickness measurement

A special configuration of white-light scanning interferometer is described for measuring the absolute air gap thickness between two planar plates brought into close proximity. The measured gap is not located in any interference arm of the interferometer, but acts as an amplitude-and-phase modulator of the light source. Compared with the common white-light interferometer our approach avoids the influence of the chromatic dispersion of the planar plates on the gap thickness quantification. It covers a large measurement range of from approximate contact to tens of microns with a high resolution of 0.1 nm. Detailed analytical models are presented and signal-processing algorithms based on convolution and correlation techniques are developed. Practical measurements are carried out and the experimental results match well with the analysis and simulation. Short-time and long-time repeatabilities are both tested to prove the high performance of our method.

Measurement of displacement and vibration by using the oblique ray method

An optical system that can measure vibrations and displacements is developed by using the oblique ray method. By employing a single convex lens that plays both roles of sending and receiving the beams that are reflected by the target surface, the optical measurement system became compact and reliable. A position-sensitive detector is used to measure the position change of the beam spot on the target surface. The resolution of the optical system can be controlled by changing the optical magnitude of the objective lens and is designed to be less than 0.1 microm for the developed system.