Development of a Multi-Spectral Fluid/Solid Micro-Motion Measurement System

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

We propose the development of a high-speed imaging system capable of measuring the motion of both solid surfaces and fluid elements inside a micromachined system. The system is unique in that it will be capable of operating both in the near infrared - a capability that allows it to see through silicon substrates and into the inner chambers of complex micromachined devices. This will enable, for the first time, high-speed measurements of the kinematics and dynamics of micromachined devices and the motion of fluids inside complex micromachined systems. Applications of this instrument will include measurement of micro device operation (valves, pumps, accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc), direct measurement of fluid behavior inside micro-geometries where visible imaging is not possible due to intervening silicon surfaces. The instrument development includes the assembly of custom hardware for infrared microscopy and illumination with lasers operating in conjunction with nonlinear Opto-Parametric Oscillators (OPOs). These create two very short laser pulses (4 ns each). The resultant image is captured by a pair of near-IR focal plane arrays and downloaded to a Digital Signal Processing Board (DSP) for real-time processing and display on a host PC. Custom signal processing software will enable three modes of operation: solid motion measurement, solid deformation measurement and fluid motion measurement.