MEMS-based compact FT-spectrometers - a platform for spectroscopic mid-infrared sensors

Novel low-voltage driven translational MEMS micro-mirror components are used to build a fully portable Fourier-Transform spectrometer. Applying nearly inertia-less MEMS devices to modulate the IR light allows building highly compact spectrometers with sub-millisecond scan times that are immune to shock and vibrations. Compact, energy efficient and robust, MEMS-based spectrometers can thus act as transducers for spectroscopic IR sensors deployable in the field. The devices shown can be used to qualitatively and quantitatively measure absorbance and/or emission spectra, even of transient signals and in real time, over a wide spectral range. This allows making full use of the inherent multi-analyte detection capabilities of spectroscopic sensors, giving this spectroscopy platform a significant advantage over single-wavelength IR sensors. When combined with already available fibre-optic sensor probes, the resulting sensors could open new application fields for smart sensors.