"Near Zero Power RF and Sensor Work" Project Receives Research Results

China Instrument Network Instrument R&D Recently, U.S. researchers have developed a miniature sensor that can be used to detect hot exhaust pipes, fire wood, and even human infrared wavelength characteristics. This type of sensor will remain vigilant for several years without consuming battery energy when it is dormant and unattended. Once activated, this sensor's detection activity can send a signal to warn a soldier, firefighter, or other person that a signal of interest has been detected. This is an intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance technology that can improve situational awareness while minimizing the need to replace old battery maintenance tasks to avoid possible danger.

On September 11th, 2017 in the website of "Nature Nanotechnology" magazine, the Northeastern University research team, under the leadership of Matteo Rinaldi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, reported on the use of The Boston research team called it a "plasma-enhanced micromechanical optical switch" device and implemented a highly challenging DARPA "Near Zero Power RF and Sensor Work" (N-ZERO) project.

Troy Olsson, project manager of the DARPA Microsystems Technology Office's N-ZERO project, said: "The practical significance of the infrared sensor technology developed by Tohoku University is that when the wavelength of infrared light to be detected does not exist, the sensor consumes standby power. The power is zero; when the infrared wavelength to be detected appears, the energy from the infrared source heats the sensing component, which in turn causes the physical activity of the critical part of the sensor.These activities cause the circuit that has been opened to be turned off, thereby signaling that the target Infrared signal has been detected."

The sensor exhibits clever physics and engineering mechanisms, including a nanoscale array of plaques, and its specific size limits its ability to absorb only infrared light of a particular wavelength. Narti said: "Under the so-called plasmon polaritons (similar to those on the surface of the water) under the excitation of the charge, subject to the limitations of nano-scale plaques, infrared rays of a specific wavelength are trapped in the ultra-thin structure, resulting in a large temperature Rapid rise.” Temperature spikes trigger a series of pre-order events that change the shape of the circuit in the rest of the sensor.

Nalty pointed out: "The technology has multiple sensing components - each capable of absorbing specific infrared wavelengths. Together these sensing components form a complex logic circuit capable of analyzing the infrared spectrum. This method can not only Detect infrared energy in the environment, and you can determine if this energy is from a fire, vehicle, human, or other infrared source."

Take the example of using the vehicle's infrared radiation to identify the vehicle type. Engines that burn gasoline or diesel fuel emit compounds in their exhaust gas. These compounds contain carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water, various nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, and hydrocarbons such as methane. Zhenyun Qian, a research team member of the N-ZERO project, explained: “As a result, the infrared spectrum of hot exhaust from trucks, cars or airplanes can be used as a sign of a specific vehicle type.

The main goal of the N-ZERO project is to develop basic technologies that will open the way for the development of new and more capable sensor systems related to national security. The Northeastern University research team pointed out in its paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology that in the near future, as the Internet of Things expands to include hundreds of billions of devices such as automobiles, home appliances, and remotely deployed sensors, such Technology will become very important. Researchers at Northeastern University predicted in their paper that “energy consumption only occurs when useful information appears. This will lead to unrestricted continuous working hours for unattended sensors. It can be used to detect frequency infrequently but Response time is very sensitive to events that will have a fundamental impact on the popularity of the Internet of Things."

(Original title: DARPA "near zero power RF and sensor work" project has achieved phased research results)