Kim, Seonghwan (Sam)Ahmed, Amr Elsayed Shebl Mahmoud2016-04-252016-04-2520162016Ahmed, A. E. (2016). Enhancing the Sensitivity of NDIR Spectroscopy Using Plasmonic Crystal Structures (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25911http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2899Monitoring 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.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Engineering--MechanicalNDIRPlasmonicsMEMSSensorsPyroelectric Detectorsmaster thesishttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25911