Atmospheric Remote Sensing
Atmospheric Remote Sensing Customer Case The customer requires a combination of hardware and software ("data system") to do live update sampling, processing, display, and archival of atmospheric measurements using an airborne Lidar system. This system, which continuously emits laser pulses, measures line-of-sight velocity and backscattered signals at a particular range from the aircraft. Real-time performance is necessary to observe the state of the atmosphere and to assess the performance of their instrument. Their requirement is similar to that of laser Doppler anemometry. The signal from the Lidar system will vary continuously with time and the signal waveform will be [...]
Nuclear Decay Experiment
Nuclear Decay Experiment Customer Case A customer wants to measure nuclear decay rates of various radioactive isotopes. With each nuclear decay, the isotope under study simultaneously emits a beta particle, which is a high-speed electron, and a gamma particle, which is a high-frequency photon of light. Beta particles are detected with an efficiency of over 90% by a proportional gas counter that surrounds the radioactive isotope. Surrounding only one quarter of the isotope, a sodium iodide scintillator crystal detects gamma particles with about 25% efficiency. When it impinges on the scintillator crystal, a gamma creates a flash of visible [...]
Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Experiment
Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Experiment Customer Case A customer has an Electronic Spin Resonance (ESR) experiment. ESR is based on the fact that the magnetic moment of an electron precesses in an applied magnetic field, not unlike a child's top in a gravitational field, at a well-defined frequency called the Larmor frequency. Electromagnetic radiation at the Larmor frequency, when impinging on such an electron, will be preferentially absorbed. This principle is identical to that employed in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), where the atomic nucleus precesses. In NMR, Larmor frequencies are of order 100 MHz. Because the electron is 2000 [...]
Nuclear Ion Testing
Nuclear Ion Testing Customer Case This customer is involved in nuclear ion testing. The pulse amplitudes of nuclear ions from a detector must be measured and sorted into a histogram, which will show the number of times a given amplitude was received. The customer wants a "multi-channel analyzer" capable of analyzing 4,000 to 8,000 "channels." In the customer's terminology, "channels" are actually histogram bins. The customer has pulses coming in at 20 - 30 ms minimum interval and needs to peak detect (calculate the maximum value of the pulse). Then, based on peak height, each is stored in a [...]
Non-Contact Displacement Sensors for Detection and Measurement
Non-contact displacement sensors are designed to detect or measure physical properties such as linear displacement, thickness, proximity, and distance without physically touching the target. By emitting various forms of energy, such as capacitance, fiber optic, or laser triangulation, these sensors capture highly accurate readings without physically touching the object. This contrasts with traditional contact sensors, which rely on direct mechanical contact to gauge displacement or other physical properties. Benefits of Non-Contact vs. Contact Displacement Sensors Compared to contact sensors, non-contact displacement sensors offer faster response times, higher sampling rates, and minimal interference with the object being measured. They are [...]
Alpha Particle Counting
Alpha Particle Counting Customer Case A customer has to characterize a new design for a solid state alpha particle detector. The detector is essentially a silicon diode with a large area face. Because alpha particles, which are high-speed helium nuclei, are electrically charged, they interact strongly with matter and lose their energy quickly upon entering a solid. When an alpha particle decelerates within the depletion region of the diode, it creates electron-hole pairs. The carriers are collected by the diode's electrodes and create a measurable current pulse. The customer's experimental solid state detector has two implanted electrodes whose signals [...]
Laser Spectroscopy
Laser Spectroscopy Customer Case An academic researcher is studying the attenuation properties of different materials inside Laser cavities for applications in Laser Spectroscopy. The Laser pulses are generated by one Laser, and are then transmitted by mirrors into another cavity filled with gaseous material. In the second cavity, the light pulses are continuously reflected by opposite mirrors and their intensities are measured by a transducer which converts them into decaying pulses of 30 nanosecond width. The decay takes about 40 microseconds to settle. The researcher is required to capture the decaying pulses and save the captured data onto the [...]
Advantages of Measuring Semiconductor Thin Film Thickness with Capacitance GalleryAdvantages of Measuring Semiconductor Thin Film Thickness with Capacitance
Application Notes-MTI, Brand-MTI, Industry-Compliance Testing, Industry-Electronics, Industry-Manufacturing, Industry-R&D, Industry-Semiconductor, Industry-Semiconductor-MTI, Industry-Sensors, Products-MTI-Capacitance, Products-MTI-Laser/Fiber Optic, Products-MTI-Semiconductor/Metrology, Z-REPUB, z1
Advantages of Measuring Semiconductor Thin Film Thickness with Capacitance
Thin Film Thickness Measurement Using Capacitance in the Semiconductor Industry In the semiconductor industry, the precise measurement of thin film thickness is crucial for ensuring the quality and functionality of wafer coatings. Thin films are deposited onto silicon and other wafer materials one atomic layer at a time, and the thickness of these coatings significantly impacts the wafer’s electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. Thin film thickness measurement is particularly important for semiconductor wafers, which may have either conductive metallic films or non-conductive metal oxide films deposited onto them. Common deposition methods include chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor [...]
Laser Transient Absorption Spectroscopy
Laser Transient Absorption Spectroscopy Customer Case The customer's setup is a scientific application in which transient signals from a Laser Absorption Spectroscope are transferred to a computer. The laser power is modified in steps and the process is repeated. The measurement sensitivity is limited by noise generated by the current digitizer. The customer wants to capture and continuously average very small pulse responses. The lowest signal pulse height is 0.5 milliVolts and can range up to 2 mV. The duration of each response pulse is 1 to 10 microseconds. The Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) is 10 Hz. The customer's [...]
Charge-Couple Device (CCD) Data Capture
Charge-Couple Device (CCD) Data Capture Customer Case The client is involved in developing a charge-couple device (CCD) based system to function as an imaging spectrometer. The spectrometer will image 5x5 mm squares that will form a 50 mm line or 1.5x1.5 mm squares in a 15 mm line. The line is to be imaged on a CCD chip. In this application the customer needs to simultaneously acquire 10 independent spectra that are 200 pixels long each with 12-bit resolution. The read-out rate is 1000 frames per second for a period of 10 seconds. The 12-bit data is to be [...]