Quick search Find article
Quick search
Find article

An oscillator circuit for dual-harmonic tracking of frequency and resistance in quartz resonator sensors

Marco Ferrari and Vittorio Ferrari

Show affiliations


An oscillator circuit is proposed that simultaneously excites and tracks two harmonic resonances in a quartz crystal resonator sensor. The oscillator outputs two pairs of signals, related to the sensor series resonant frequency and motional resistance for the fundamental and the third harmonic, respectively. The circuit also provides compensation of the sensor parallel capacitance for increased accuracy. By probing the resonator with the superposition of two harmonic modes simultaneously, enhanced sensing capabilities can be advantageously achieved because a larger set of parameters can be measured with a single sensor and its response is tracked in real time. Experimental tests were first run with the developed oscillator connected to 5 MHz AT-cut crystals exposed to different liquid solutions, obtaining results in good agreement with the theory. Evidence of different dynamic responses at the fundamental and the third harmonic was obtained, possibly related to differences in acoustic penetration depth into the liquid. The oscillator was then tested with the sensor loaded by microdroplets of liquid solutions deposited by a piezoelectric microdispenser. The oscillator could detect and track the resulting time response of the sensor, outperforming measurement methods based on impedance analysis in terms of speed and resolution, and evidencing a complex combination of effects in the sensor transient response.


PACS

07.07.Df Sensors (chemical, optical, electrical, movement, gas, etc.); remote sensing

77.65.Fs Electromechanical resonance; quartz resonators

85.50.-n Dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric devices

Subjects

Electronics and devices

Condensed matter: electrical, magnetic and optical

Instrumentation and measurement

Dates

Issue 12 (December 2009)

Received 2 June 2009, in final form 11 July 2009

Published 26 October 2009



  1. An oscillator circuit for dual-harmonic tracking of frequency and resistance in quartz resonator sensors

    Marco Ferrari and Vittorio Ferrari 2009 Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 124005

  2. Many-pole model of inelastic losses applied to calculations of XANES

    J J Kas et al 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 190 012009

  3. Spectroscopy and dissociative recombination of the lowest rotational states of H+3

    A Petrignani et al 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 192 012022

  4. Modelling non-Gaussianity from foreground contaminants

    C S Carvalho 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 189 012006

  5. A magnetorheological valve with both annular and radial fluid flow resistance gaps

    D H Wang et al 2009 Smart Mater. Struct. 18 115001

  6. Total and positronium formation cross sections for positron scattering from H2O and HCOOH

    Casten Makochekanwa et al 2009 New J. Phys. 11 103036

  7. Non-ideality limit of ultracold laser plasma

    I V Krasnov and A P Gavrilyuk 2008 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 41 125301

  8. Non-equilibrium dynamics of disordered systems: understanding the broad continuum of relevant time scales via a strong-disorder RG in configuration space

    Cécile Monthus and Thomas Garel 2008 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 41 255002

  9. Spin injection in lateral InAs quantum dot structures by optical orientation spectroscopy

    J Beyer et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 375401

  10. Alfvén waves and birkeland currents

    Thomas A Potemra 1995 Phys. Scr. 1995 107

Related review articles

What's this?
View review articles related to this research to gain an insight into the key trends in this subject area. Related review articles are selected based on PACS/MSC codes, and are no more than three years old.

  1. Nitride and oxide semiconductor nanostructured hydrogen gas sensors
  2. A survey of snake-inspired robot designs

View by subject




Export








Please login to access our web services, or create an account if you don't yet have one.

You must have cookies enabled in your web browser to be able to login.

Username
Password

Forgotten your password? Get a new one here.