Fan Yu

This paper presents a miniaturized, broadband near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer with a flame-retardant 4 (FR4)-based scanning micrograte. A 90° off-axis parabolic mirror and a crossed Czerny–Turner structure were used for creating an astigmatism-free optical system design. The optical system of the spectrometer consists of a 90° off-axis parabolic mirror, an FR4-based scanning micrograte, and a two-color indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) diode with a crossed Czerny–Turner structure optical design. We used a wide exit slit and an off-axis parabolic mirror with a short focal length to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the full spectrum. We enabled a miniaturized design for the spectrometer by utilizing a novel FR4 micrograte for spectral dispersion and spatial scanning. The spectrometer can detect the full near-infrared spectrum while only using a two-color InGaAs diode, and thus, the grating scanning angle of this spectrometer is small when compared to a dual-detector-based spectrometer. In addition, the angle signal can be obtained through an angle sensor, which is integrated into the scanning micrograte. The real-time angle signal is used to form a closed-loop control over the scanning micrograte and calibrate the spectral signal. Finally, a series of tests was performed. The experimental results showed that the spectrometer has a working wavelength range of 800–2500 nm. The resolution is 10 nm at a wavelength range of 800–1650 nm and 15 nm at a wavelength range of 1650–2500 nm. Similarly, the stability of these two wavelength ranges is better than ±1 nm and ±2 nm, respectively. The spectrometer’s volume is 80 × 75 × 65 mm³ and its weight is 0.5 kg. The maximum spectral fluctuation does not exceed 1.5% and the signal-to-noise ratio is 284 after only one instance of averaging.

This paper presents a compound control system for precise control of the flame-retardant 4 (FR4)-based electromagnetic scanning micrograting. It mainly consists of a frequency controller and an angle controller. A dual closed-loop structure consisting of a current loop and an angle loop was designed in the angle controller. In addition, the incremental proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control algorithm was designed in the current loop, and the fuzzy-PID control algorithm was employed in the angle loop. From the experimental results, the frequency controller can effectively track the real-time resonant frequency of the scanning micrograting with a tracking accuracy of 0.1 Hz. The overshoot of the scanning micrograting is eliminated. Compared to an open-loop control system, the control system presented in this work reduces the steady-state error of the scanning micrograting from 1.122% to 0.243%. The control accuracy of the compound control system is 0.02°. The anti-interference recovery time of the scanning micrograting was reduced from 550 ms to 181 ms, and the long-term stability was increased from 2.94% to 0.12%. In the compound control system presented in this paper, the crucial parameters of the FR4-based electromagnetic scanning micrograting, including motion accuracy, anti-interference ability, and long-term stability, were effectively improved.

This paper performs a detailed investigation on the electromagnetic angle sensor integrated in the flame retardant 4 (FR4)-based scanning micromirror. An accurate theoretical model is presented, especially considering the coupling effect between the driving and sensing coils. Experimental results agree well with the theoretical results, and show a sensitivity of 55.0 mV_p/° and a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 71.9 dB. Moreover, the linearity of the angle sensor can still reach 0.9995, though it is affected slightly by the coupling effect. Finally, the sensor’s good feasibility for feedback control has been further verified through a simple closed-loop control circuit. The micromirror operated with closed-loop control possesses better long-term stability and temperature stability than that operated without closed-loop control.