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John O | May 2017

University of Nebraska engineers build microscopic heater-thermometer


engineers at the university of nebraska, who recently created thermal diodes that were used for powering computers, have developed a silicon-tipped, fiber-optic device that can be heated to nearly 2,000°f and goes from room temperature to 300°f in fractions of a second, according to a notice on the nebraska website.

 



ming han (left) and guigen liu work on the new microscopic thermometer.
(craig chandler/nebraska university communication)

the researchers integrated the heating element and temperature-sensing element into a device that is only one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter and its applications range from monitoring greenhouse gases to preparing specimen for biological research to producing microbubbles for medical or industrial purposes.

 

the device also acts as a thermometer to monitor temperatures in harsh environments, such as engines and power plants, according to a researcher. 

 

this design builds off previous work on a microscopic silicon pillar at the end of fiber-optics for oceanography applications. during that work, the engineers could not overcome the thermal boundary of the glue that held the silicon and fiber optics together. it softened at 200°f.

 

“after again bonding the fiber-optic and silicon pillar with glue, the team used an extremely hot arc of electric current – essentially a sustained bolt of lightning – to fuse another fiber-optic strand with the opposite side of the pillar,” the article explained. “the process simultaneously softened the glue on the other side and detached the original fiber-optic strand, leaving just the newly fused device.”

 

the engineers then fed two wavelengths of light through the fiber optics producing heat that could be controlled by remote. the wavelengths entering the silicon are partially reflected by the ends of the pillar and interfere with each other. the pattern of interference changes with the temperature, giving the engineers a precise thermometer.

 

the research was recently documented in optics letters. the abstract stated:

 

“we report a fiber-optic micro-heater based on a miniature crystalline silicon fabry–perot interferometer (fpi) fusion spliced to the endface of a single-mode fiber. the silicon fpi, having a diameter of 100 μm and a length of 10 or 200 μm, is heated by a 980 nm laser diode guided through the lead-in fiber, leading to a localized hot spot with a temperature that can be conveniently tuned from the ambient temperature to >1000°c>1000°c in air.

 

“in the meantime, using a white light system operating in the 1550 nm wavelength window where the silicon is transparent, the silicon fpi itself also serves as a thermometer with high resolution and high speed for convenient monitoring and precise control of the heater temperature.

 

“due to its small size, high temperature capability, and easy operation, the micro-heater is attractive for applications in a variety of fields, such as biology, microfluidics system, mechanical engineering, and high-temperature optical sensing.

 

“as an example, the application of this micro-heater as a micro-boiler and micro-bubble generator has been demonstrated.”

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