PHYSICS OF SENSORS

Syllabus
• Resistive sensors :
• a) Temperature measurement : PT100 construction, Calibration,
• b) Humidity measurement using resistive sensors.

• Pressure sensor: Concept of pressure sensing by capacitive, Flex and

inductive method, Analog pressure sensor : Construction working and
calibration and applications.

• Piezoelectric transducers : Concept of piezoelectricity, Use of piezoelectric

transducer as ultrasonic generator and application of ultrasonic transducer
for distance measurement, Liquid and air velocity measurement.

• Optical sensor : Photodiode, Construction and use of photodiode as

ambient light measurement and flux measurement.

• Pyroelectric sensors : Construction and working principle, Application of

pyroelectric sensor as bolometer.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• What is transducer
A transducer is a device that is used to convert a non-electrical signal
into an electrical signal
For example : microphone, Digital thermometer , vehicle’s speedo meter
etc.

converts voice, temperature and speed respectively in to its

equivalent electrical signal

• What is Sensor: sensor is a device used to measure the physical

changes that occur in the surroundings like pressure, temperature,
light, etc. by converting them into a readable signal.

Examples of sensors are: Barometer, mercury thermometer,

accelerometer

Every transducer is a sensor but every sensor is not a transducer.

 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• Calibration :
Calibration means just the act of comparison of measured
quantity with a standard and does not include any
subsequent adjustment.

All the new instruments have to be calibrated against some

standard in the very beginning. For the new instrument the
scale is marked as per the sub-standards available in the
laboratories, which are meant especially for this purpose.

After continuous use of the instrument for long periods of time,

sometimes it loses its calibration or the scale gets distorted,
in such cases the instrument can be calibrated again to make
it in good reusable condition.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
Resistive Sensors or Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD)
• “The resistance of metal changes with respect to
temperature”. This property is utilized for measurement of
temperature.
• Temperature and resistance of metal are related with the
equation ,

• R- resistance at temperature T
• Ro - resistance at temperature To oc
• α- Temperature coefficient of resistance
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
Temperature Measurement by PT 100 and its Calibration
Why Platinum ?
The reason platinum is extensively used as element in the resistance
thermometer as :
(a) It can withstand high temperatures while maintaining excellent
stability.
(b) Extremely resistant to corrosion and chemical reaction.
(c) Linear relationship between temperature and resistance.
(d) Mass of Platinum used to in manufacturing sensing element is extremely
small. Even though the cost of platinum is high, the cost of device is not
high.

What 100 signifies in PT 100 ?

At 0C the resistance value is 100 . The temperature coefficient of PT 100 is
0.00385/C (Industrial grade).
By measuring the resistance at unknown temperature, one can determine the
unknown temperature using
Calibration of PT 100/measurement of resistance Rx

(PT100)

The sensing element PT100 is placed at one of the arms of

Wheatstone's bridge. Let Rx be the resistance of PT100.
At 0o c the bridge is balanced. Rx is measured.
As the temperature changes, Rx changes and Galvanometer
shows deflection. Rx can be determined using balancing
condition of Wheatstone's bridge, R1/R2 =R3/Rx
This deflection can be calibrated to give suitable temperature
scale.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS

RTD- Resistance Temperature Detector

Resistive sensors are passive sensors. The require external
power supply for its operation.
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PT - 100 (2 -wire connection)

RT=R1 + R2 + RD
Remedies to Reduce contribution of R1 and R2
(1) Use of thick lead wire. (2) Use of high quality lead wire.

Application
Useful only when high accuracy is not needed

Limitation : we need only RD and not R1 and R2 but it appears due to its construction
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
PT - 100 (3 - wire connection)

we consider all the lead wires of the same type and of the same length then
R1 = R2 = R 3
Take resistance between points A and B then total Resistance RAB is given by
RAB =R1 + RD + R2 = RD + (R1 + R2 ) … (1)
Now, take resistance between B and C
RBC= R2 + R3 = R1 + R2 Now put the value of R1 + R2 in (1) we get
RAB = RD + RBC
RD = RAB –RBC
i.e. RTD’s resistance or just RD thus is gives accurate results.

Draw back: we require all the resistances R1, R2 and R3 to be equal

 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• PT - 100 (4 - wire connection)

In 4 - wire RTD connection, one pair of wire say R1 & R4 are used to deliver
current and other two i.e. R2 and R3 are for measurement of voltage across RTD.

By using Ohm’s law, the voltage reading across R2 and R3 (V) and current
delivered to RTD by R1 and R4 (I), we can find resistance of RTD alone.
This technique eliminates the lead wire resistance

Application : When high accuracy is needed

 Advantage of PT100
• The measurement is accurate.
• It provides excellent stability.
• The response time of sensor is very less.
• Sensor can be used for a long period of time.
• PT100 is relatively immune to electrical noise and
therefore well suited for temperature
measurement in industrial environments
especially around motors, generators and other
high voltage equipment.
• Size of sensing element is small(6-12 mm in
diameter and 12-75mm in length)
 Disadvantages

1. Cost is comparatively high

2. Being a passive device it requires external source of
electricity.
3. Self heating might occur

2 lead PT100
3 lead
PT100
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• Humidity Measurement using Resistive
Sensors
Humidity represents the presence of water
vapour or molecules.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• Resistive Sensor
As per the content of syllabus we are suppose to study only
Resistive Sensor for humidity measurements.
It basically works on the simple procedure that detects or
makes use of ions in salts to measure the electrical
impedance of atoms.
Principle:
Resistive humidity sensors utilize ions in salts to measure
the electrical impedance of atoms. As humidity changes,
so does the resistance of the electrodes on either side of
the salt medium. Two thermal sensors conduct electricity
based upon the humidity of the surrounding air.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
Construction: Two electrodes
are immersed into salt of low
resistance. The top layer absorbs
humidity.
Working: Current is passed through the
two leads. Resistance is measured by
using standard method like Wheatstone's
bridge.
When the top layer absorbs humidity, the
resistance between leads changes.
Change in resistance can be measured by
calibrating the equipment.

Disadvantages
Advantages Application
1.They are sensitive to chemical vapors.
1. Low cost. 2.If water absorbed has some soluble In textile industry to detect
2.Small size products, the readings will be affected. the humidity in storage
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
Pressure Sensors

A pressure sensor as the name suggests, is a device which

provides measurement of gasses or liquids. It usually act as a
transducer, it generates a signal as a function of the pressure
applied.

Types of Pressure Sensors

• Capacitive Method
• Flex Method
• Inductive Method
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• Capacitive Method
• Principle : C= εo εr (A/d)
Where
A=Area of plates
d=Distance between plates
o=8.854  10 -12 F/m
r=Dielectric constant of material
Capacitance is inversely proportional to the distance between
the plates
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS

Any change in capacitance caused by movement of diaphragm is measure of pressure

applied
By changing the pressure at the port, of diaphragm, the position of
diaphragm will be slightly changed. This will change the distance
‘d’ between the plates (one of them is diaphragm itself) Hence
capacitance
C = r o (A/d) will change. On calibrating the variation in C in
terms of pressure one can find the unknown pressure.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS

Pressure Sensing by Flex (bend/deform)

Flex are available in a long strip form. One of the side of flex is printed with a
polymer ink that has conductive particles embedded on it.
When a sensor is straight the particles of ink gives a resistance say some ‘X’ 
when the sensor is bent in the opposite direction of ink layer, the conductive
particles move further apart thereby increasing the resistance say to some ‘Y’
.
When the force is removed, the bending is lost and the flex becomes straight
again. The original particle configuration is regained hence the original
resistance ‘X’ is observed.
The amount of bending is calibrated for resistance.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
Pressure Sensing by Inductive
Method

The apparatus consists of a inductance coil wound on a insulating tube, in

which a soft iron core is placed.
The core is in contact with pressure sensing element.
Change in pressure causes the core to move inside the coil. This changes the
inductance of the coil and hence current also changes.
The change in current in the coil is directly proportional to pressure on the
core and is calibrated to give the magnitude of pressure.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS

Piezoelectric Transducer

• When mechanical compression is applied to a crystal like

quartz, a voltage proportional to the applied pressure appears
across the crystal perpendicular to the direction of force.
Also, if the faces are subjected to tension(stretch) instead of
compression, the change is still developed but of the opposite
sign. This phenomenon is known as piezoelectric effect
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS

• Conversely, when a voltage is applied to crystal surfaces the

crystal is distorted (i.e. compression or tension) is developed.
This is identified as inverse piezoelectric effect

• This property of Piezo electric Transducer is used as Ultrasonic Generator

• Resonance is obtained between natural frequency of appropriately cut
piezoelectric crystal and a suitable frequency superimposed on it which is
generated by oscillator
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
(1)

(3)

(2)

Y= Young’s modulus , t = Thickness and ρ = Density of the crystal.

In the diagram we have a thin plate of piezoelectric crystal placed

between two plates A&B. Alternating signal is generated due to
parallel combination of capacitance C and inductance L2.
The frequency generated is given by equation (1)
 Piezoelectric transducer

The inductance L2 is coupled with L and so the AC is

applied to the plates.
On application of high frequency electric field, the crystal
vibrates with it’s natural frequency given by equation (2)

When these two frequencies match, resonance takes

place. Crystal vibrates with large amplitudes. Thus
ultrasonic sound is produced.
XL in equation 3 is the inductive reactance.
For high frequency f, XL is also high which reduces the
current in the circuit. Therefore a transistor is connected in
the circuit which amplifies the current.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
Application of Ultrasonic Transducers For Distance measurements:

• Ultrasonic generator will send repeated pulses towards the target and
the reflection from target is collected by a transducer and displayed on
CRO screen along with the sent pulse.
• From the difference in time between pulse sent and collected, one can
find the distance as velocity of ultrasound is known.
• Here, the distance between source and target is covered twice by the
ultrasonic waves.
 Distance of target = vt/2
Where v=velocity and t=time difference

Sonar: Velocity of sound in sea can be measured by the formula

V = Vo + 1.14S + 4.21T – 0.037 T2
V- velocity of sound in sea water
Vo- velocity of sound in pure water at temperature 0oc
T- temperature of sea water in degree Celsius
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• Optical Sensors
Photodiode Construction and use of Photodiode as Ambient Light Measurement
and Flux Measurements. It works on reverse bias mode.

current generated when photons are absorbed by photodiode, we expose

photodiode to detect and produce an electrical signal equivalent to the light. This
measures the ambient light. It is a passive device as it requires external power
supply;
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS

• Flux Measurement by Photodiode

• Luminous flux is the measure of power of visible light. Where
as radiant flux includes infrared, visible and ultraviolet light as
well.
• SI unit of luminous flux is lumen.

• In order to measure luminous flux, a specially designed

box is used. The short circuit current is measured and
then subsequent reading are taken that provide us
measurement of flux in response to the current.
 V-I Characteristics of Photodiode
Photodiode operates in reverse bias condition. Reverse voltages are plotted
along X axis in volts and reverse current are plotted along Y-axis in microampere.
Reverse current does not depend on reverse voltage. When there is no light
illumination, reverse current will be almost zero. The minimum amount of
current present is called as Dark Current. Once when the light illumination
increases, reverse current also increases linearly.
 PHYSICS OF SENSORS
• Pyroelectric Sensors:
• Pyroelectricity represents the ability of certain
materials to generate a temporary voltage
when they are subjected to a variation in
temperature. The change in temperature
modifies the position of atoms slightly within
the crystal structure such that the polarization
of material changes which finally brings a
voltage to exist in crystal.
As the voltage generated is very less, it cannot be used for generation
of electricity. It can only be used as very good sensor