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Lecture 3

Optical Components of Sensors,

Interface Electronic Circuits

Contents
• Optical Components of Sensors
• Interface Electronic Circuits

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Optical Components of Sensors

• Light direction can be changed
by the refraction with the help
of lenses, prisms, windows,
chemical solutions, crystals,
organic materials, and
biological objects.
• While passing through these
objects, properties of light
may be modified (modulated)
such as intensity and direction.
Fig. 4.1 Examples of optical
systems that use refraction (a)
and reflection (a, b, c)
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(1) Radiometry

• Radiometry is the measurement

of optical radiation (entire
spectrum).
• Ray of light travels from medium
1, to medium 2 and then medium
3.
• Part of the incident light is
reflected from a planar boundary
between the first and second
media according to the law of
reflection, Θ1 = Θ’1 .
• Part of light flux enters the plate Fig. 4.2 Light passing through materials with
different refractive indices.
(medium 2) at a different angle.
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(1) Radiometry

• The new angle Θ2 is governed by the refraction law,

n1sin Θ1 = n2sin Θ2
where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction of two media.

• Amount of reflected flux φp relates to incident φ0 through the

coefficient of reflection ρ, which can be expressed by means of
refractive indices

• If the light flux enters from air into an object having refractive
index n, ρ is simplified as

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(2) Photometry
• Photometric characteristics (visible spectrum) of the optical
system light includes emittance, luminance, brightness, etc.
• Radiant flux (energy emitted per unit time), which is situated in a
visible portion of the spectrum, is referred to as luminous flux.
• Illuminance is given as a differential amount of luminous flux (F)
over a differential area (A).

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(3) Window
• The main purpose of windows is to protect interiors of sensors
and detectors from environment.
• A good window should transmit light rays in a specific wavelength
range with minimal distortions.
• Therefore, windows should possess appropriate characteristics
depending on a particular application.
• For instance, if an optical detector operates under water, perhaps
its window should posses the following properties: a mechanical
strength to withstand water pressure, low water absorption, a
transmission band corresponding to the wavelength of interest,
and an appropriate refractive index, which preferably should be
close to that of water.

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(4) Mirrors
• Whenever light passes from one medium to
another, there is some reflection.
• To enhance a reflectivity, a single or
multilayer reflecting coating is applied on
either the front (first surface) or the rear
(second surface) of a plane-parallel plate or
other substrate of any desirable shape.
• In the second surface mirror, light must
enter a plate having generally a different
index of refraction than the outside
medium.
Fig. 4.9 Second surface
• A second surface mirror in effect is a mirror

combination of mirror and window.

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(5) Lenses
• Lenses are useful in sensors and detectors to divert the direction
of light rays and arrange them in a desirable fashion.

• A planoconvex lens, which has one spherical surface and the other
is flat.
• The lens has two focuses at both sides: F and F’, which are
positioned at equal distances –f and f from the lens.
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(5) Lenses
• The focal distance, f may be found from a thin lens equation:

• Several lenses may be combined into a more complex system.

• For two lenses separated by distance d, combination focal length
may be found from equation:

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(6) Fresnel Lenses

• Fresnel lenses are optical elements with step-profiled surfaces.

• They prove to be very useful in sensors and detectors where a
high quality of focusing is not required and primarily the light
energy is of prime concern.
• Major applications include light condensers, magnifiers, and
focusing element in occupancy detectors.
• Fresnel lenses may be fabricated of glass, acrylic (visible and near
infrared range), or polyethylene (mid- and far-infrared ranges).

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(6) Fresnel Lenses

• The lens is sliced into several concentric rings by removing the x
region.
• All the rings are shifted to align their flat surfaces.
• Fresnel lens has several advantages over conventional lens, such as
low weight, thin size, ability to be curved (for a plastic lens) to any
desirable shape and, most importantly, a lower absorption loss of
the light flux.

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(7) Fiber Optics and Waveguides

• Light can be channeled along complex paths by the use of
waveguides.
• To operate in the visible and near infrared spectral ranges, the
guides may be fabricated of glass or polymer fibers.
• For the mid- and far-infrared spectral ranges, the waveguides are
made of special materials or as hollow tubes with highly reflective
inner surfaces.
• The tubular waveguide operates on the principle of reflection
where light beams travel in a zigzag pattern.
• A fiber can be used to transmit light energy without any transport
of heat from the light source.

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(7) Fiber Optics and Waveguides

• Optical fibers may be used in two modes.
• In the first mode (Fig. 4.17a), the same fiber is used to transmit
the excitation signal and to collect and conduct an optical
response back to the processing device.
• In the second mode, two or more fibers are employed where
excitation (illumination) function and collection function are
carried out by separate fibers (Fig. 4.17b).

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(7) Fiber Optics and Waveguides

• The most commonly used type of fiber optic sensor is an intensity
sensor, where light intensity is modulated by an external stimulus.
• Microbend strain gauge can be designed with an optical fiber,
which is squeezed between two deformers (Fig. 4.19).
• The external force applied to the upper deformer bends the fiber,
affecting a position of an internal reflective surface.

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(7) Fiber Optics and Waveguides

• The closer the deformers come to each other, the more light goes
astray and the less light is transmitted along the fiber.
• For operation in the spectral range where loss in fibers is too great
(mid- and far infrared spectral ranges), hollow tubes are generally
used for light channeling (Fig. 4.19b).
• The tubes are highly polished inside and coated with reflective
metals.
• For instance, to channel thermal radiation, a tube may be
fabricated of brass and coated inside by two layers: Nickel as a
leveling underlayer and the optical quality gold having thickness in
the range 500–1,000 x 10-10 m.

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(8) Concentrators
• Collectors or concentrators are used to increase density of the
photon flux (energy factor) impinging on the sensor’s surface.
• They have some properties of the waveguides and some
properties of the imaging optics (like lenses and curved mirrors).
• The most important characteristic of a concentrator is the ratio of
the area of the input aperture divided by the area of the output
aperture, the concentration ratio C.
• Its value is always more than unity.
• The concentrator collects light from a larger area and directs it to a
smaller area [Fig. 4.20a].

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(8) Concentrators

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Interface Electronic Circuits

• Input Characteristics of Interface Circuits
• Amplifiers
• Light-to-Voltage Converters
• Excitation Circuits
• Analog-to-Digital Converters
• Integrated Interface
• Noise in Sensors and Circuits
• Calibration
• Batteries for Low-Power Sensors

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(1) Input Characteristics of Interface Circuits

• A sensor is rarely directly connected to processing, monitoring, or
recording instruments, unless a sensor has a built-in electronic
circuit with an appropriate output format.
• When a sensor generates an electric signal, that signal often is
either too weak, or too noisy, or it contains undesirable
components.
• Signal from a sensor usually has to be conditioned before it is fed
into a processing device.
• An interface or a signal conditioning circuit has a specific purpose:
to bring signal from the sensor up to the format that is compatible
with the load device.

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(1) Input Characteristics of Interface Circuits

• Figure 5.1 shows a stimulus that acts on a sensor, which is
connected to a load through an interface circuit.
• Its input characteristics must be matched to the output
characteristics of the sensor and its output must be interfaceable
with the load.

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(1) Input Characteristics of Interface Circuits

• The input impedance; shows by how much the circuit loads the
sensor.
• Whenever an input impedance of a circuit is considered, the
output impedance of the sensor must be taken into account.
• Accounting for both impedances, the circuit input voltage, Vin is
represented as

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(2) Amplifiers
• Most passive sensors produce weak output signals.
• The magnitudes of these signals may be on the order of microvolts
(mV) or picoamperes (pA).
• On the other hand, standard electronic data processors, such as
A/D converters, frequency modulators, data recorders, etc.
require input signals of sizable magnitudes on the order of volts
(V) and milliamperes (mA).
• Therefore, an amplification of the sensor output signals has to be
made with a voltage gain up to 10,000 and a current gain up to 1
million.
• Amplification is part of a signal conditioning.

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(2) Amplifiers
• A purpose of an amplifier is much broader than just increasing the
signal magnitude.
• An amplifier may be also an impedance matching device, an
enhancer of a signal-to-noise ratio, a filter, and an isolator
between input and output.

20log A = 110
A = 300k

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(2) Amplifiers
• Figure 5.5a depicts an operational amplifier without any feedback
components.
• Therefore, it operates under the so-called open-loop conditions.
• An open loop gain, AOL, of an OPAM is always specified but is not a
very stable parameter.
• Its frequency dependence may be approximated by a graph of Fig.
5.5b.
• An OPAM is very rarely used with an open loop (without the
feedback components) because the high open-loop gain may
result in circuit instability, a strong temperature drift, noise, etc.

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(2) Amplifiers
• Figure 5.6a depicts a non-inverting amplifier where resistors R1
and R2 define the feedback loop.
• The resulting gain A=1 + R2/R1 is a closed-loop gain.
• It may be considered constant over a much broader frequency
range [see Fig. 5.5b], however, f1 is the frequency limiting factor
regardless of the feedback.
• f1 is the frequency where the gain is unity.

Fig. 5.6a Non-inverting amplifier

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(2) Amplifiers
• A voltage follower (Fig. 5.7) is a an electronic circuit that provides
impedance conversion from a high to low level.
• A typical follower has high input impedance (the high input
resistance and the low input capacitance) and low output
resistance.
• A good follower has a voltage gain very close to unity (typically,
0.999 at lower frequencies) and a high current gain.

Fig. 5.7 Voltage follower

with an operational amplifier

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(2) Amplifiers
• An instrumentation amplifier (IA) has two inputs and one output
(Fig. 5.8).
• It is distinguished from an operational amplifier by its finite gain
(which is usually no more than 100) and the availability of both
inputs for connecting to the signal sources.
• The main function of the IA is to produce an output signal which is
proportional to the difference in voltages between its two
inputs:

• where V+ and V- are the input voltages at non-inverting and

inverting inputs respectively, and a is the gain.

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(2) Amplifiers
• Thus, the IA should have a high common-mode rejection ratio
(CMRR), that is, its output signal should be insensitive to the value
of V+ or V- but responsive only to their difference.

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(3) Light-to-Voltage Converter

• Light-to-voltage converters are based on combination of
photosensors and current-to-voltage converter circuits.
• For detecting extremely low-intensity light, typically one or several
photons, the photomultipliers are generally employed (Chap. 15),
however, for less demanding applications three types of a
photosensor are available: a photodiode, phototransistor, and
photoresistor (Chap. 14).
• A circuit with an operational amplifier has a zero-bias across the
photodiode as shown in Fig. 5.14a.
• This arrangement provides a near-ideal short-circuit current in a
wide operating range.
• The output voltage (VOUT) is given as VOUT =ipR.

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(3) Light-to-Voltage Converter

• Figure 5.14b shows the output voltage vs. radiant intensity (a
transfer function).

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(4) Excitation Circuits

• External power is required for operation of the active sensors.
• Examples are temperature sensors (thermistors and RTDs),
pressure sensors (piezoresistive and capacitive), and
displacement (electromagnetic and resistive).
• The power may be delivered to a sensor in different forms.
• It can be a constant voltage, constant current, and sinusoidal or
pulsing currents.
• It may even be delivered in the form of light or ionizing radiation.
• The name for that external power is an excitation signal.

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(4) Excitation Circuits

• A current generator (current pump) is a device which produces
electric current independent of the load impedance.
• There are two main characteristics of a current generator: the
output resistance and the voltage compliance.
• The output resistance should be as high as practical.
• A voltage compliance is the highest voltage that can be
developed across the load without affecting the output current.
• A unipolar current generator is called either a current source
(generates the outflowing current), or a current sink (generates
the in-flowing currents).
• Unipolar means that it can produce currents flowing in one
direction only, usually toward the ground.

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(4) Excitation Circuits

• A voltage-controlled current source includes an operational
amplifier (Fig. 5.16).
• The circuit contains a feedback loop through the OPAM that keeps
voltage across resistor R1 constant and thus the constant current.
• To deliver a higher current at a maximum voltage compliance, a
voltage drop across the sensing resistor R1 should be as little as
possible.
• In effect, that current is equal to V1/R1.

Fig. 5.16 Current sources with OPAM

zL = load impedance

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(4) Excitation Circuits

• A generator provides a sensor with the excitation current, which
may flow in both directions (in and out-flowing).
• Figure 5.17 shows circuits with an operational amplifier where the
load is connected as a feedback.
• Current through the load ZL, is equal to V1/R1 and is load-
independent.

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(5) Analog-to-Digital Converters

• The analog-to-digital converters (abbreviated as A/D, or ADC, or
A2D, or A-to-D) range from discrete circuits, to monolithic ICs
(integrated circuits), to high-performance hybrid circuits, modules,
and even boxes.
• The A/D converters transform analog data, usually voltage, into an
equivalent digital format, compatible with digital data processing
devices.
• Key characteristics of the A/D converters include absolute and
relative accuracy, linearity, no-missing codes, resolution,
conversion speed, stability, and price.
• When price is of a major concern, the monolithic IC versions
(integrated circuits) are the most efficient.

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(5) Analog-to-Digital Converters

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(5) Analog-to-Digital Converters

• Resolution describes the quantization bit of amplitude.
• Sampling rate describes how fast the analogue signal to be
sampled.
• According to Nyquist Theorem, sampling frequency, fs > 2 fm
where fm is maximum frequency of the signal.

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(6) Integrated Interface

• The sensor signal conditioning is to integrate in a single silicon chip
the amplifiers, multiplexers, A/D converter, and other circuits.
• Figure 5.33 illustrates a signal conditioning circuit ZMD21013 from
ZMD (www.zmd.buz).
• This integrated circuit provides programmable amplification and
A/D conversion of the sensor signals with up to three resistive
bridges or two bridges and one thermocouple, thermopile or any
other low-voltage generating sensor.
• The auto-zero, A/D resolution (10- to 16-bit), sample rate, input
range, sensitivity, and measurement mode they all are
programmable.
• This circuit is quite efficient for interfacing a microcontroller with
the following resistive and voltage generating sensors:
acceleration, pressure, force, flow, and temperature.
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(6) Integrated Interface

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(7) Noise in Sensors and Circuits

• Noise in sensors and circuits may present a substantial source of
errors and should be seriously considered.
• There are two basic classifications of noise for a given circuit: they
are inherent noise, which is noise arising within the circuit, and
interference (transmitted) noise, which is noise picked up from
outside the circuit.
• Distortions of the output signal can be either systematic or
stochastic.
• Systematic distortion is related to the sensor’s transfer function,
its linearity, dynamic characteristics, etc.
• They all are the result of the sensor’s design, manufacturing
tolerances, material quality, and calibration.

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(7) Noise in Sensors and Circuits

• Stochastic distortion, on the other hand, often are irregular,
unpredictable to some degree and may change rapidly.
• Generally, they are termed noise, regardless of their nature and
statistical properties

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(7) Noise in Sensors and Circuits

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(8) Battery for Low Power Sensors

• Modern development of integrated sensors and need for long-
term remote monitoring and data acquisition demand use of
reliable and high-energy density power sources.
• Well-known old electrochemical power sources improve
dramatically such as C-Zn, alkaline, Zn-air, NiCd, and lead-acid
batteries.
• Nowadays, newer systems such as secondary Zn-air, Ni-metal-
hydride, and especially lithium batteries are growing in use as
new devices are designed around their higher voltage and
superior shelf life.
• All batteries can be divided into two groups: primary – single use
devices and secondary (rechargeable) – multiple use devices.

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(8) Battery for Low Power Sensors

• Manufacturers usually specify batteries as ampere-hours or watt-
hours when discharged at a specific rate to a specific voltage cut-
off.
• If the battery capacity is C (in mA·hour) and the average current
drain is I (mA), the time of a battery discharge (lifetime for a
primary cell) is defined as

• where n is a duty cycle.

• For instance, if the battery is rated as having capacity of 100 mA h,
the circuit operating current consumption is about 5 mA and the
circuit works only 3 min every hour (duty cycle is 3/60), the
battery will last approximately for

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(8) Battery for Low Power Sensors

• It is highly recommended to determine battery life
experimentally, rather than rely on the calculation.
• When designing the electronic circuit, its power consumption shall
be determined during various operating modes and over the
operating temperature range.

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(8) Battery for Low Power Sensors

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