Researchers Make Tiny, Yet Complex Fiber Optic Force Sensor
Phoenix666 writes:
Researchers Make Tiny, Yet Complex Fiber Optic Force Sensor:
Researchers have developed a tiny fiber optic force sensor that can measure extremely slight forces exerted by small objects. The new light-based sensor overcomes the limitations of force sensors based on micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS) and could be useful for applications from medical systems to manufacturing.
[...] In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters, Donlagic and Simon Pevec describe their new sensor, which is made of silica glass formed into a cylinder just 800 microns long and 100 microns in diameter-roughly the same diameter as a human hair. They demonstrate the new sensor's ability to measure force with a resolution better than a micronewton by using it to measure the stiffness of a dandelion seed or the surface tension of a liquid.
"The high resolution force sensing and broad measuring range could be used for sensitive manipulation and machining of small objects, surface tension measurements on very small volumes of liquid, and manipulating or examining the mechanical properties of biological samples on the cellular level," said Donlagic.
Key to manufacturing the very small is the ability to measure the very small.
Journal Reference:
Simon Pevec, Denis Donlagic. Miniature all-fiber force sensor, Optics Letters (DOI: 10.1364/OL.401690)
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