A pressure sensor for determining a pressure measurement variable includes a housing, a pressure sensor element arranged in the housing, a lighting means arranged in the housing and a control/evaluation unit, the pressure sensor element having a semiconductor material and a measuring membrane, which has at least one integrated resistance element. When the measuring membrane experiences a pressure dependent deflection, the control/evaluation unit ascertains using the integrated resistance element, an electrical signal for determining the pressure measurement variable, wherein the lighting means optically excites the integrated resistance element, and the control/evaluation unit ascertains, based on a change of the electrical signal caused by the optical excitation, whether a malfunction of the pressure sensor is present.

A sensor device including a deflectable membrane made of a 2D nanomaterial, a first optical waveguide for guiding light, disposed adjacent to the membrane and extending along the surface of the membrane at least in a first section, as well as a measuring device for measuring, within the first section the influence of the membrane on an evanescent wave range of the light guided along the first optical waveguide. The influence of the membrane on the light guided in the optical waveguide, in particular on the evanescent wave range of the light, can be measured interferometrically by detecting phasing differences or phase shifts. This allows for a force-free readout of the membrane deflection. By using very thin 2D nanomaterials, the membrane can also react to very quick changes in force.

A sensor comprises: a thin structure, which is configured to receive a force for deforming a shape of the thin structure and which is arranged above a substrate; and a waveguide for guiding an electro-magnetic wave comprising: a first waveguide part; and a second waveguide part; wherein the second waveguide part has a larger width than the first waveguide part; and wherein the first and the second waveguide parts are spaced apart by a gap which is sufficiently small such that the first and second waveguide parts unitely form a single waveguide, wherein one of the first and the second waveguide part is arranged at least partly on the thin structure and another of the first and the second waveguide part is arranged on the substrate.

A waveguide for guiding an electro-magnetic wave comprises: a first waveguide part; and a second waveguide part; wherein the first waveguide part has a first width in a first direction (Y) perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the electro-magnetic wave and the second waveguide part has a second width in the first direction (Y), wherein the second width is larger than the first width; and wherein the first and the second waveguide parts are spaced apart by a gap in a second direction (Z) perpendicular to the first and second planes in which the waveguide parts are formed, wherein the gap has a size which is sufficiently small such that the first and second waveguide parts unitely form a single waveguide for guiding the electro-magnetic wave.

A photonic integrated circuit component, a sensor and an actuator comprising the waveguide are disclosed.

A method for manufacturing of a waveguide for guiding an electro-magnetic wave comprising: forming a first waveguide layer, a sacrificial layer and a protection layer on a first wafer, patterning to define a pattern of a first waveguide part and a supporting structure in the first waveguide layer; exposing the sacrificial layer on the first waveguide part while the protection layer still covers the sacrificial layer on the supporting structure; removing the sacrificial layer on the first waveguide part; removing the protection layer; bonding a second wafer to the sacrificial layer of the first wafer such that a second waveguide part is supported by the supporting structure and a gap corresponding to the thickness of the sacrificial layer is formed between the first and second waveguide parts.

Achieving high spatial resolution in contact sensing for robotic manipulation often comes at the price of increased complexity in fabrication and integration. One traditional approach is to fabricate a large number of taxels, each delivering an individual, isolated response to a stimulus. The proposed sensors include a continuous volume of soft material, e.g., a transparent polymer, and light emitting diodes configured to emit light into the transparent volume that can be received by photodetectors. The location and depth of indentations can be measured between all pairs of light emitting diodes and photodetectors in the set, and this rich signal set can contain the information needed to pinpoint contact location with high accuracy using regression algorithms.

An optically powered pressure sensor for sensing pressure of a liquid in a tank includes a hermetically sealed housing with at least a portion of the housing having a diaphragm, at least one sensor within the hermetically sealed housing, at least one optical emitter, and a photocell array. The hermetically sealed housing forms at least a portion of a hermetically sealed wall of the tank. The at least one sensor within the hermetically sealed housing is configured to sense the pressure of the liquid. The at least one optical emitter is configured to transmit data corresponding to the sensed pressure. The photocell array is configured to receive light and provide power to the at least one sensor and the at least one optical emitter.

Techniques and apparatus are provided for downhole sensing using optical couplers in a downhole splitter assembly to split interrogating light signals into multiple optical sensing branches. Each optical branch may then be coupled to an optical sensor (e.g., a pass-through or an optical single-ended transducer (OSET)) or to another optical coupler for additional branching. The sensors may be pressure/temperature (P/T) type transducers. Some systems may exclusively use OSETs as the optical sensors. In this manner, if one of the OSETs is damaged, it does not affect light traveling to any of the other sensors, and sensing information from remaining sensors is still returned.

A photonic pressure sensor device includes a cantilever pivotally attached to a fixed mount. The cantilever has an electromagnetic reactive material located thereon that is configured to cause a movement of the cantilever based on a photonic pressure exerted on the electromagnetic reactive material from an electromagnetic radiation source incident on the material. An etalon is coupled to the cantilever such that a position of the etalon changes based on the movement of the cantilever. A light source is optically coupled to the etalon to provide a light beam to the etalon. The change in the position of the etalon causes interference of the light within the etalon resulting in an interference light beam. A light detector is positioned to receive the interference light beam from the etalon and configured to measure an intensity value for the interference light beam.

A photonic device includes a semiconductor substrate and a pressure-sensitive membrane. The pressure-sensitive membrane is arranged in or on the substrate. A photonic structure is at least partly coupled to the membrane and arranged to change an optical property depending on a deformation to be induced by a pressure applied to the membrane.