MOEMS based photonic crystal sensor for structural health monitoring system

MEMS is the acronym for micro electro mechanical systems. Recently optical techniques have become important for sensor applications. MOEMS combine MEMS and integrated optics to miniature optical sensors which can be used for mechanical sensing such as pressure, displacement, reverberation etc. In this paper we propose design and simulation on MOEMS mechanical sensor with the application of displacement sensing in submicron range. Structural health monitoring is very important in civil structures which aids in a strong motivation for safety measures and maintenances. Various researches are going on in structural health monitoring systems where sensor sensitivity is important. In this paper, we propose photonic crystal mechanical sensor based on MOEMS using finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm. In here displacement is measured, as the displacement is changed in the sub-micron level the intensity level changes due to change in refractive indices. By using MEMS along with photonic crystal sensing technology it improves the sensitivity and stability of the sensor, thus this can be successfully implemented in damage detection of civil structures. The simulation tool that is used in the paper is Synopsis RSOFT fullwave.