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Photomechanical Sensing from Spectral Shifts in Graphene-Doped Polydimethylsiloxane Reflection Gratings

delete2026-03-01
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PRE
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A
Abigail Deaton
DOI:10.3390/opt7020023delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films doped with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) with an embossed surface-relief grating were investigated as photothermal actuated sensors. The films were initially characterized using controlled environmental heating where the wavelength of a diffracted white-light probe beam measured at a fixed angle increased monotonically with temperature due to thermal expansion of the grating. An asymmetric double sigmoidal function tracked the shift in peak diffraction wavelength. The observed thermal response is consistent with the thermal expansion of a freestanding PDMS composite film. When a continuous-wave (CW) laser was incident on the film, intensity-dependent photothermal expansion caused a transient deformation in the grating. The photomechanical behavior of the grating, tracked by the diffracted probe beam with a miniature spectrometer, was then shown to act as a laser power meter. These results demonstrate that photomechanical materials can be used as add-ons to existing optical spectroscopy devices for power-sensing applications.
Keywords:
photomechanical
graphene nanoplatelets
polydimethylsiloxane
diffraction grating
optical spectroscopy
thermal expansion
photothermal heating

Journal

O
Optics
IF:
1.6
Papers:
29
Citations:
0

Organization

F
Florida Polytechnic University
Scholars:
131
Papers: 126
Citations: 486