MetromeetBlog

Bi-Polar Linear Position Sensors, Hermetically Sealed Ideal For Test & Automation Applications

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:25:07 +0000

Macro Sensors, US-based manufacturer of LVDT Linear Position Sensors and Rotary Position Sensors, offers a bi-polar version of its DC-operated LVDT linear position sensors. Operating from ±15 V DC input, the HSD/HSDR 750 Series Hermetically Sealed LVDT Position Sensors offer a precalibrated 0 to ±10 V DC output that is ideal for easy integration with PLCs, digital indicators, A/D converters, computer-based data processors and QC data collection systems.

Constructed entirely of stainless steel, the HSD/HSDR 750 Series of DC-operated Linear Position Sensors are hermetically sealed, making them impervious to dirt, water, steam and other corrosive elements. These highly rugged units are ideal for use in automatic assembly equipment and other industrial applications with hostile conditions and corrosive environments.

Click here to continue reading this article at Metrology World.

Moore and more progress in electronics and photonics

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:00:59 +0000

Meyya Meyyappan of the NASA Ames Research Center and speaker at Metromeet 2009, picks out some of his favourite papers from Nanotechnology . This year marks the 20th volume of Nanotechnology, the first journal dedicated to the emerging field of nanoscale science and technology, pre-empting the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) by ten years.

1990–1999
In the first decade of the journal, papers on nanoelectronics were scarce and primarily reported research on resonant tunnelling devices, transport in quantum dots and other III-V devices. With the ability to produce single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and semiconducting nanowires on patterned substrates using CVD and similar techniques, nanoscale electronics and photonics flourished.

Click here to read the whole article at Optics.org

Ensuring The Quality Of Wind Turbine Parts

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:50:52 +0000

In the fast growing market for wind power systems, quality assurance according to international industrial standards has become an important issue. Wind power plants are no longer a niche playground for environmental proponents, but a serious business where cost efficiency, life cycle costs, reliability and availability of the components must be considered. Coordinate measuring machines play a vital role in ensuring the accuracy and quality of components.

Gear Boxes are a major part of all wind turbines. The quality requirements are high: as the wind blows in gusts, a backlash-free operation is indispensable to ensure a long and beneficial lifespan of the system. Mechanical efficiency is directly related to economic efficiency. Noise reduction in the gear box is important to ensure the public acceptance of wind turbines and the industry has to follow these requirements. Not many manufacturers are able to produce such large gear boxes (and with the off-shore systems, the sizes are even larger), and now they have to deal with serial production, having many unknown requirements for quality in very large dimensions.

Click here to continue reading this article at Metrology World.

Polymer micro optics: because size matters

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:13:55 +0000

Developments in the manufacture of polymer micro optics are helping optical designers to meet the exacting tolerances that are required for miniaturized optical components and subsystems.

Micro optics of all types are coming into their own as the relentless push towards compact photonic devices and subsystems continues across markets as diverse as automotive, lighting, biomedical and solar. The advantages are clear. Smaller part diameters allow for shorter focal lengths and smaller, lighter-weight optical systems. What’s more, micro optics such as diffractives and microlens arrays enable applications with custom output patterns and enhanced illumination homogeneity.

Click here to continue reading this article at Optics.org.

Nano Measurement In The 3rd Dimension

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:38:22 +0000

From the motion sensor to the computer chip – in many products of daily life components are used whose functioning is based on smallest structures of the size of thousandths – or even millionths – of millimetres. These micro and nano structures must be manufactured and assembled with the highest precision so that in the end, the overall system will function smoothly.

Because of this, details are important. Scientists at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt have now developed a metrological scanning probe microscope into a micro and nano coordinate measuring instrument. This allows dimensional quantities with nanometer resolution also to be measured on three-dimensional objects in an extraordinarily large measurement range of 25 mm x 25 mm x 5 mm. The new device is already extensively being used at PTB – to a large part for calibration orders from industry and research.

Click here to continue reading this article at Metrology World.

Contactless Detection and Measurement

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:18:35 +0000

The necessity to measure precisely, together with the development of complex surfaces, or of surfaces that cannot be touched during the process, trigger the development that the use of contactless technologies for detection and measurement is currently living through. Sensors of multiple shapes and sizes, based on different functioning principles, are being launched on the market.

By combining different optical techniques with modern computer systems, artificial vision systems are one of the most comprehensive tools for contactless detection and measurement. They are flexible, versatile and powerful, and their price is usually of several thousands of euros for the simplest projects.

The possibilities brought by vision systems are fascinating for any engineer, but if the matter to be solved is simple, and does not require an excessive flexibility, it is interesting to review the different specific sensors existing on the market, in order to determine whether one of the technologies developped could provide a quick and successful solution to the matter.

Click here to continue reading this article at Measure Control

Optofluidic microscope shrinks to fit on a chip

admin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:34:39 +0000

An inexpensive and high-resolution microscope has for the first time been engineered to fit onto a single chip. The performance of the device is comparable to a 20x microscope, but in terms of size, cost and ability to mass produce, the device has significant advantages.

Scientists in Switzerland and the US have built the first on-chip microscope, which they claim will provide clinicians with a rugged and high-resolution instrument that can be carried around in a pocket. The system disposes of bulky lenses in favour of a CMOS sensor combined with a microfluidic channel for a highly compact design.

If you want to continue reading this article at Optics.org, click here.

Revolutionary White Reflectance Standard for Metrology

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:54:42 +0000

Today we will see a revolutionary new white reflectance standard for metrology. This new reflectance standard is a breakthrough in terms of cost, simplicity and unique environmentally friendly disposal process. This new white standard will have broad impact in the fields of photonics, digital photography and color measurement and is available for immediate commercial and research use. Numerous materials and processes have been proposed for use as white standards. These include smoked magnesium oxide and polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE. Both of these materials have significant drawbacks in environmental safety and complexity of preparation and disposal. The proposed white standard is shown in the pricture next to a freshly pressed PTFE or halon disk. Aside from the irregular border, the size, shape and general appearance of the proposed white standard greatly resemble that of the freshly pressed halon disk. The average cost of the white standard material is less than US$0.10 each in quantity. Bulk quantities of pre-packaged standards are also widely available through a number of distribution channels.

Click here to continued reading this article.

Detecting colour on the nanoscale

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:53:46 +0000

Scientists in the US have copied the way the retina sends electrical signals to the brain in order to construct nanoscale colour detectors. The devices, composed of carbon nanotubes decorated with photosensitive molecules, can detect very weak sources of visible light at specific wavelengths and could have applications in astronomy and biology.

The ability to detect photons over just a few square nanometres is useful in studying light sources that are either veryweak or very small. To date, researchers have attempted this largely through the construction of solid-state devices, which produce electron-hole pairs when illuminated. However, building such devices with nanoscale precision is extremely difficult.

If you want to continue reading this article at Optics, click here.

Putting the Squeeze on Optical Microlithography

admin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:17:14 +0000

Integrated circuits routinely produced by microlithography have feature sizes as small as 65 nm, well below the traditional diffraction limit for the exposure wavelength of 193 nm. Achieving this level of performance requires using a number of techniques to bypass the resolution limitations posed by the wave nature of light. It also means that the optical system always must perform to specification, with little tolerance for deviation. One problem in microlithography tools is uneven heating of the imaging lens elements by the excimer laser, which results in focus issues. This article explores the background and development of a CO2 laser-based system that controls lens heating and that has proved sufficiently robust for the demands of production semiconductor fabrication.

If you want to continue reading about microlitography in Photonics, click here.