Browsing by Author "Ahmed, Amr Elsayed Shebl Mahmoud"

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    Enhancing the Sensitivity of NDIR Spectroscopy Using Plasmonic Crystal Structures
    (2016) Ahmed, Amr Elsayed Shebl Mahmoud; Kim, Seonghwan (Sam); Mohamad, Abdulmajeed; Murari, Kartikeya; Sanati Nezhad, Amir
    Monitoring the concentration of methane is of crucial importance for health, safety, and maintenance. NDIR spectroscopy is a widely used commercially available method of monitoring the concentration of Gases. Enhancing the sensitivity of the IR detector enhances the limit of detection of NDIR sensors. Plasmonic crystal structures have been shown to enhance the absorption of EM radiation at certain wavelengths depending on their dimensions. In this thesis, a 13 fold enhancement in the LOD of a methane NDIR gas sensor was achieved by designing a plasmonic crystal structure. The structure is a layer of gold with a two dimensional array of micro sized holes. The dimensions of the structure were optimized by COMSOL simulations to get maximum absorption at λ=7.7 µm. The structure was fabricated and the NDIR sensor was developed to experimentally show the enhancement. The experimental results showed good agreement with the simulations and achieved the expected enhancement.