No abstract

This work reports on the development of a Lead Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate (PLZT) bulk ferroelectric poled ceramic structure as a Piezoelectric Plethysmograph (PZPG) sensor. The ceramic was implanted during its fabrication with a platinum (Pt) wire which works as an internal electrode. The ceramic was then submitted to an experimental setup in order to validate and determine the Pt-wire mechanical effects. This PZPG sensor was also mounted on a finger splint in order to measure the blood flow that results from the pulsations of blood occurring with each heartbeat. Fingertip pulses were recorded jointly with an ECG signal from a 25 year old male to compare the time shift; the PZPG sensor guarantees the electrical isolation of the patient. The proposed PZPG has several advantages: it can be adjusted for fingertip measurements, but it can easily be extended by means of spare bands, therefore making possible PZPG measurements from different body locations, e.g., forehead, forearm, knee, neck, etc.

Originally developed for application with laser beams, trap detectors are widely used as transfer standards in modern monochromator radiometry. However, a non-optimized beam focus applied to trap detectors can result in significant spectral errors. This paper shows that a defocused and improperly aligned beam entering a Si reflection trap detector can cause an apparent modification of the measured relative spectral responsivity. This is true especially in the ultraviolet (UV) region of the spectrum, where the measured relative differences are of the order of several percent due to the significant influence of the direct band-band transitions of Si on the reflectance of the Si photodiode. The spectral range from 248 nm to 600 nm was investigated in detail. Calculated curves, simulated by a computerized geometrical model, were fitted to the measured data. The geometrical model uses experimental spectral reflectance data.

This work reports the formation of a ferroelectric poled bulk ceramic structure as opacity sensor (OPS) and the improved photovoltaic output of the lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) employed. This ceramic was implanted during its fabrication with a platinum wire (Pt-wire) which works as an internal electrode. Photovoltaic current have been measured in PLZT with Pt-wire under chopped LASER beam illumination. This photovoltaic current was measured on the upper face of a sensor in order to obtain a characterization curve. Different thin materials were put on the OPS in order to determine its opacity according to their thickness and viscosity. Opacity is a condition in which a material partially or completely impedes the passage of light beam. The results indicated that the photovoltaic current response was less than 700 pA at 160 mW cm 2 maximum power of illumination; 2-D scans were obtained from fruit tissues, vegetal oils and thin materials at 160 mW cm 2 of illumination in order to get a representation of opacity images.