High-sensitivity miniature dual-resonance photoacoustic sensor based on silicon cantilever beam for trace gas sensing

We report a miniature dual-resonance photoacoustic (PA) sensor, mainly consisting of a small resonant T-type PA cell and an integrated sensor probe based on a silicon cantilever beam. The resonance frequency of the miniature T-type PA cell is matched with the first-order natural frequency of the cantilever beam to achieve double resonance of the acoustic signal. The volume of the designed T-type PA cell is only about 2.26 cubic centimeters. A PA spectroscopy (PAS) system, employing the dual-resonance photoacoustic (PA) sensor as the prober and a high-speed spectrometer as the demodulator, has been implemented for high-sensitivity methane sensing. The sensitivity and the minimum detection limit can reach up to 2.0 pm/ppm and 35.6 parts-per-billion, respectively, with an averaging time of 100 s. The promising performance demonstrated a great potential of employing the reported sensor for high-sensitivity gas sensing in sub cubic centimeter-level spaces.