Resonant tuning fork detector for electromagnetic radiation

A mechanical quartz microresonator (tuning fork) is used to detect electromagnetic radiation. The detection scheme is based on forces created due to the incident electromagnetic radiation on the piezoelectric tuning fork. A force can be created due to the transfer of the photon momentum of the incident electromagnetic radiation. If the surfaces of the tuning fork are nonuniformly heated, a second force acts on it, the so-called photophoretic force. These processes occur for all wavelengths of the incident radiation, making the detector suitable for sensing of ultraviolet, visible, and mid-infrared light, even THz-radiation. Here the detector is characterized in the visible range; noise analysis is performed for 650 nm and 5.26 microm. A linear power characteristic and the dependence on pulse lengths of the incoming light are shown. Examples for applications for the visible and mid-infrared spectral region are given by 2f and absorption spectroscopy of oxygen and nitric oxide, respectively.