Douglas A. Olson

Hybrid Miniature Fabry–Perot Sensor with Dual Optical Cavities for Simultaneous Pressure and Temperature Measurements

We present a novel hybrid miniature dual-cavity Fabry-Perot sensor for simultaneous pressure and temperature measurements. The pressure sensing cavity is composed of an UV-molded cavity covered by a metal/polymer composite diaphragm for achieving a high pressure sensitivity while maintaining a miniature sensor size. Another intrinsic polymer/silica cavity is adopted for temperature sensing, which enables a high temperature sensitivity even with a short cavity length due to the large thermal expansion of the polymer. The sensor is fabricated by using a unique UV molding process with simple and safe procedures. The overall sensor size is around 150 μm in diameter and 343 μm in length. Experimental studies show that the sensor exhibits a good linearity over a pressure range of 6.89 to 27.58 kPa with a pressure sensitivity of 0.0122 μm/kPa at 26 °C, and a temperature range of 26.0 °C to 50.0 °C with a temperature sensitivity of 0.0029 μm/°C. An optical signal processing method is developed to retrieve the two cavity length changes, which is demonstrated to have a better resolution and a faster speed than the conventional method. The sensor is expected to benefit many fronts that require simultaneous pressure and temperature measurements with minimum intrusiveness, especially for biomedical applications.

Final Report on Key Comparison CCM.P-K7 in the range 10 MPa to 100 MPa of hydraulic gauge pressure

This report describes a CCM key comparison of hydraulic pressure standards of nine National Metrology Institutes that was carried out in the period from November 2002 to June 2004 in order to determine their degrees of equivalence in the range 10 MPa to 100 MPa of the gauge pressure. The pilot laboratory was PTB. The primary pressure standards were pressure balances of different design equipped with piston-cylinder assemblies operated in freedeformation, controlled-clearance or re-entrant operation mode. The transfer standard was a pressure balance equipped with a piston-cylinder assembly and a mass set. The pressuredependent effective areas of the transfer standard at specified pressures were reported by the participants and led to the reference values calculated as medians. All participants’ results agree with the reference values and with each other within the expanded uncertainties calculated with a coverage factor 2, most of them even within their standard uncertainties. In addition, the results were analysed in terms of the zero pressure effective area and the pressure distortion coefficient. Also for them agreement within expanded uncertainties (k=2) is observed. The results of the comparison demonstrate equivalence of the laboratory standards and support their measurement capability statements.

Accurate determination of equilibrium state between two pressure balances using a pressure transducer

To determine an equilibrium state between two pressure balances accurately, the measurement method using a precise pressure transducer and two air-operated constant volume valves (CVV) is proposed in this paper. The advantages of the proposed method are as follows: (1) by the usage of two air-operated CVV, the pressure generated by the pressure balance can be connected and disconnected quickly to the transducer without volume change in the hydraulic circuit or heat transfer from the operator, (2) by managing the time intervals between measurements equally, the method proposed can compensate for the effect of the drift component in the successive values measured by the transducer used and (3) the short time stability of the pressure generated by each pressure balance used can be evaluated quantitatively at each pressure. From the measurement results, it was revealed that the equilibrium state could be determined accurately using the method proposed, and the differences between this method and the conventional fall-rate method were sufficiently small.

Primary pressure standards based on dimensionally characterized piston/cylinder assemblies

NIST has characterized two large diameter (35.8 mm) piston/cylinder assemblies as primary pressure standards in the range 0.05 MPa to 1.0 MPa with uncertainties approaching the best mercury manometers. The realizations of the artefacts as primary standards are based on the dimensional characterization of the piston and cylinder, and models of the normal and shear forces on the base and flanks of the piston. We have studied two piston/cylinder assemblies, known at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as PG 38 and PG 39, using these methods. The piston and cylinder of both assemblies were accurately dimensioned by Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). All artefacts appeared to be round within ±30 nm and straight within ±100 nm over a substantial fraction of their heights. PG 39 was dimensioned a second time by PTB, three years after the initial measurement, and showed no significant change in dimensions or effective area. Comparisons of the effective area of PG 38 and PG 39 from dimensional measurements, against those obtained with calibration against the NIST ultrasonic interferometer manometer (UIM), are in agreement within the combined standard (k = 1) uncertainty of the dimensional measurements and the UIM. A cross-float comparison of PG 38 versus PG 39 also agreed with the dimensional characterization within their combined standard uncertainties and with the UIM calibrations. The expanded (k = 2) relative uncertainty of the effective area is about 6.0 × 10−6 for both assemblies.

On-fiber plasmonic interferometer for multi-parameter sensing

We demonstrate a novel miniature multi-parameter sensing device based on a plasmonic interferometer fabricated on a fiber facet in the optical communication wavelength range. This device enables the coupling between surface plasmon resonance and plasmonic interference in the structure, which are the two essential mechanisms for multi-parameter sensing. We experimentally show that these two mechanisms have distinctive responses to temperature and refractive index, rendering the device the capability of simultaneous temperature and refractive index measurement on an ultra-miniature form factor. A high refractive index sensitivity of 220 nm per refractive index unit (RIU) and a high temperature sensitivity of -60 pm/ °C is achieved with our device.

Characterization of a compact 200 MPa controlled clearance piston gauge as a primary pressure standard using the Heydemann and Welch method

Controlled clearance piston gauges are used as primary pressure standards at many national metrology institutes. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (India), is studying the performance of a new generation of controlled clearance gauges that offer the potential for reduced uncertainties. The gauges are also well suited to interlaboratory comparisons because of their smaller, integrated design and use of existing mass sets. In this paper we present results of the characterization of a 200 MPa oil-operated controlled clearance gauge with a 2.5 mm nominal diameter piston and cylinder. The gauge is operated with an external cylinder pressure of 0 MPa to 80 MPa. We present results of piston fall rate measurements, deformation measurements, piston diameter measurements and modelling calculations using the Heydemann–Welch (HW) method on two occasions over a two-year time period. The relative standard uncertainties in the effective area (Ae) using the HW method range from 24 × 10−6 at 20 MPa to 37 × 10−6 at 200 MPa. We have compared results of the HW method to the present NIST hydraulic pressure scale. For the entire pressure range, there is agreement in Ae within the combined standard uncertainty (k = 1).

Final report on Key Comparison APMP.SIM.M.P-K1c: Bilateral comparison between NIST (USA) and NPLI (India) in the pneumatic pressure region 0.4 MPa to 4.0 MPa

We report the results of a bilateral comparison of pressure measurement between NIST and NPLI using a piston gauge transfer standard (TS), designated as NPLI-4, over the range of nominal applied pressure 0.4 MPa to 4.0 MPa. This TS was cross-floated against the laboratory secondary standard designated as PG13 at NIST, USA and against NPLI-8 at NPLI, India. The nominal pressure points of the bilateral comparison were (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.2, 3.6 and 4.0) MPa, respectively. The comparison was performed in both the institutes in identical pressure cycles in increasing pressures. The comparison data were analysed in terms of the effective area [Ap (mm2)] as a function pressure [p (MPa)] of the TS at the above-mentioned pressures. We have also estimated the zero-pressure effective area [A0 (mm2)] and the pressure distortion coefficient [? (MPa-1)] of the transfer standard. The consistency of the results at every pressure in the range indicates that the laboratory standards used in this comparison are compatible, uniform and can be considered traceable to each other. Finally, the degree of equivalence between NPLI and NIST is 11.4 ? 10-6 or better, which is always less than the relative standard uncertainty of the difference (33.6 ? 10-6). Main text. To reach the main text of this?Paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

Characterization of a controlled-clearance piston gauge using the Heydemann-Welch model

A study on the characterization of a controlled-clearance piston gauge was performed. In this study, the Heydemann-Welch model was used to define the controlled-clearance piston gauge as a primary pressure gauge. The parameters needed for the model were determined from measurements, and the characteristics of the controlled-clearance gauge were evaluated along with their uncertainty.

Pressure Balance Cross-Calibration Method Using a Pressure Transducer as Transfer Standard

Abstract: Piston gauges or pressure balances are widely used to realize the SI unit of pressure, the pascal, and to calibrate pressure sensing devices. However, their calibration is time consuming and requires a lot of technical expertise. In this article, we propose an alternate method of performing a piston gauge cross calibration that incorporates a pressure transducer as an immediate in-situ transfer standard. For a sufficiently linear transducer, the requirement to exactly balance the weights on the two pressure gauges under consideration is greatly relaxed. Our results indicate that this method can be employed without a significant increase in measurement uncertainty. Indeed, in the test case explored here, our results agreed with the traditional method within standard uncertainty, which was less than 6 parts per million.

A Gas Pressure Scale Based on Primary Standard Piston Gauges

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has redefined its gas pressure scale, up to 17 MPa, based on two primary standard piston gauges. The primary standard piston gauges are 35.8 mm in diameter and operate from 20 kPa to 1 MPa. Ten secondary standard piston gauges, two each of five series of the Ruska 2465 type, with successively smaller diameters form the scale extending up to 17 MPa. Six of the piston gauges were directly compared to the primary standards to determine their effective area and expanded (k = 2) uncertainty. Two piston gauges operating to 7 MPa were compared to the 1.4 MPa gauges, and two piston gauges operating to 17 MPa were compared to the 7 MPa gauges. Distortion in the 7 MPa piston gauges was determined by comparing those gauges to a DH Instruments PG7601 type piston gauge, whose distortion was calculated using elasticity theory. The relative standard uncertainties achieved by the primary standards range from 3.0 × 10−6 to 3.2 × 10−6. The relative standard uncertainty of the secondary standards is as low as 4.2 × 10−6 at 300 kPa. The effective areas and uncertainties were validated by comparison to standards of other National Metrology Institutes (NMIs). Results show agreement in all cases to better than the expanded (k = 2) uncertainty of the difference between NIST and the other NMIs, and in most cases to better than the standard (k = 1) uncertainty of the difference.