Miniaturized sensor for particles in air using Fresnel ring lenses and an enhanced intensity ratio technique.

We present a miniaturized particle sensor collecting scattered light in two solid angle intervals by Fresnel ring lenses. The particle size is determined from the ratio of both scattering amplitudes (intensity ratio) in addition to a linear diversity combining technique, generating a 3D particle size matrix that reduces the ambiguity by the index of refraction on the particle size identification. A signal-to-noise ratio of 30.3 was achieved for 147 nm sized polystyrene latex particles. Measurements of polydisperse particle size distribution show good agreement with the results by a scanning mobility particle sizer.

Highly sensitive laser-based sensor for nanoparticles in air using a dual-ring-mirror setup.

One of the most frequently applied techniques to detect nanoparticles in air is analyzing laser light scattering. This technique is very flexible while offering high accuracy and reliability. Yet its functionality highly depends on the sensitivity of the measurement system components. Especially for miniaturized sensor devices with limited space, additional techniques are needed to preserve high intensity of scattered light. In our work we demonstrate a technique using two spherical ring mirrors to identify nanoparticles with diameters below 100 nm in a forward-scattering setup. We succeeded measuring polystyrene particles with diameters of 92 nm with a signal-to-noise-ratio of more than 10.