Analysis of Dielectric Waveguide Grating and Fabry–Perot Modes in Elastic Grating in Optical Detection of Ultrasound

In our previous work, we have demonstrated that dielectric elastic grating can support Fabry–Perot modes and provide embedded optical interferometry to measure ultrasonic pressure. The Fabry–Perot modes inside the grating provide an enhancement in sensitivity and figure of merit compared to thin film-based Fabry–Perot structures. Here, in this paper, we propose a theoretical framework to explain that the elastic grating also supports dielectric waveguide grating mode, in which optical grating parameters control the excitation of the two modes. The optical properties of the two modes, including coupling conditions and loss mechanisms, are discussed. The proposed grating has the grating period in micron scale, which is shorter than the wavelength of the incident ultrasound leading to an ultrasonic scattering. The gap regions in the grating allow the elastic grating thickness to be compressed by the incident ultrasound and coupled to a surface acoustic wave mode. The thickness compression can be measured using an embedded interferometer through one of the optical guided modes. The dielectric waveguide grating is a narrow bandpass optical filter enabling an ultrasensitive mode to sense changes in optical displacement. This enhancement in mechanical and optical properties gives rise to a broader detectable pressure range and figure of merit in ultrasonic detection; the detectable pressure range and figure of merit can be enhanced by 2.7 times and 23 times, respectively, compared to conventional Fabry–Perot structures.

Direct and Competitive Optical Grating Immunosensors for Determination of Fusarium Mycotoxin Zearalenone

Novel optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS)-based immunosensor formats were developed for label-free detection of Fusarium mycotoxin zearalenone (ZON). To achieve low limits of detection (LODs), both immobilised antibody-based (direct) and immobilised antigen-based (competitive) assay setups were applied. Immunoreagents were immobilised on epoxy-, amino-, and carboxyl-functionalised sensor surfaces, and by optimising the immobilisation methods, standard sigmoid curves were obtained in both sensor formats. An outstanding LOD of 0.002 pg/mL was obtained for ZON in the competitive immunosensor setup with a dynamic detection range between 0.01 and 1 pg/mL ZON concentrations, depending on the covalent immobilisation method applied. This corresponds to a five orders of magnitude improvement in detectability of ZON relative to the previously developed enzyme-linked immonosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The selectivity of the immunosensor for ZON was demonstrated with structural analogues (α-zearalenol, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol) and structurally unrelated mycotoxins. The method was found to be applicable in maize extract using acetonitrile as the organic solvent, upon a dilution rate of 1:10,000 in buffer. Thus, the OWLS immunosensor method developed appears to be suitable for the quantitative determination of ZON in aqueous medium. The new technique can widen the range of sensoric detection methods of ZON for surveys in food and environmental safety assessment.

Design and control of precision work stage with air bearing for large size optical grating fabrication

Scanning Beam Interference Lithography (SBIL) is an advanced large-diameter and high-precision plane grating manufacturing solution, which has very high requirements for the positioning accuracy and running speed of the work stage carrying the substrate. In order to improve the size and accuracy of optical grating manufacturing in scanning interference lithography further, air bearing with high precision, high loading capacity and high stiffness is one of the key components for the work stage. In this paper, in order to design a large stroke work stage which meets the demand, firstly, the air bearing, the core part of the work stage, is analyzed and calculated by finite element method, and the pressure distribution curve of the air bearing of the work stage is obtained. On this basis, the linear air bearing with high bearing capacity and high stiffness is designed by using the omni-directional preloading analysis method of high-precision motion platform. Based on the high-precision position feedback of grating encoder, the high-precision closed-loop control of 20nm (3σ) is realized by using PID control and trap filter, which meets the design and requirements, and provides technical and engineering support for the manufacture of large-scale optical grating.