Micro/Nano Optical Devices and Sensing Technology

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "A:Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 647

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Instrument and Electronics, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Interests: micro/nano optical devices; optical sensing; plasmonic resonance; metasurfaces

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue on “Micro/Nano Optical Devices and Sensing Technology” addresses a cutting-edge and rapidly evolving area at the intersection of optics, materials science, and nanotechnology.

Sensing technology within this field exploits the sensitivity of micro/nano optical devices to detect various physical, chemical, and biological parameters. In addition, micro/nano optical devices are used in optical communication systems to increase data transmission rates and reduce energy consumption. They enable the integration of multiple optical functions on a single chip, leading to more compact and cost-effective optical communication modules. The fabrication of micro/nano optical devices often requires advanced techniques such as electron beam lithography, focused ion beam milling, and self-assembly methods, which allow for the precise control of device structures and properties at the nanoscale.

In conclusion, micro/nano optical devices and sensing technology hold great promise for revolutionizing various fields, from healthcare and environmental protection to information technology, by providing highly sensitive, compact, and efficient optical solutions through the manipulation of light at the micro- and nanoscales.

Prof. Dr. Zhidong Zhang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • micro/nano optical devices
  • optical sensing
  • photonic crystals
  • plasmonic resonance
  • metasurfaces
  • micro/nano fabrication

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2407 KB  
Article
LiDAR-Based Safety Envelope Detection with Accelerometer and DTW for Intrusion Localization in Roller Coasters
by Huajie Wang, Zhao Zhao, Yifeng Sun and Weikei Song
Micromachines 2025, 16(9), 1062; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16091062 - 19 Sep 2025
Viewed by 133
Abstract
Autonomous vehicles, submersible robotic systems and drones, and other human-carrying equipment consistently adhere to a safety perimeter, ensuring collision-free navigation amidst surrounding objects. In contrast, roller coaster vehicles, despite being constrained to a predetermined track, necessitate frequent safety distance detection owing to the [...] Read more.
Autonomous vehicles, submersible robotic systems and drones, and other human-carrying equipment consistently adhere to a safety perimeter, ensuring collision-free navigation amidst surrounding objects. In contrast, roller coaster vehicles, despite being constrained to a predetermined track, necessitate frequent safety distance detection owing to the variability introduced by trees and decorative installations. Passengers’ limbs may protrude beyond vehicle boundaries, posing a collision hazard. The motion range of limbs, influenced by vehicle-specific conditions, mismatches standardized safety volumes (cylindrical, cubic, and rectangular) designed for mobile entities. The roller coaster industry’s current practice involves a moving safety frame, which visually inspects for collisions to assess safety distances, which is cumbersome and prone to oversight in intricate settings. Therefore, this study introduces a novel safety envelope detector (SE-detector). It creates a customer-defined virtual safety envelope around the roller coaster vehicle and measures the safety distance based on LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to detect the intrusions of obstacles. Meanwhile, this SE-detector also innovatively integrated an accelerometer to synchronously measure the acceleration of the vehicle. The measured acceleration will be aligned with simulated sequences by dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithms to pinpoint intrusion location. Additionally, a wide-angle camera is also deployed to enhance perception of the surrounding environment. The SE-detector developed in this study has the capability to record inspection results. It is expected to enhance the inspection capabilities of the safety envelope for roller coasters, thereby improving the efficiency of safety distance inspection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Optical Devices and Sensing Technology)
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12 pages, 1086 KB  
Article
Research on High-Precision Measurement Technology of the Extinction Ratio Based on the Transparent Element Mueller Matrix
by Ruiqi Xu, Mingpeng Hu, Xuedong Cao and Jiahui Ren
Micromachines 2025, 16(7), 781; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16070781 - 30 Jun 2025
Viewed by 372
Abstract
With the widespread application of optical technology in numerous fields, the polarization performance of transmissive optical components has become increasingly crucial. The extinction ratio, an important indicator for evaluating their polarization characteristics, holds great significance for its precise detection. Aiming at the measurement [...] Read more.
With the widespread application of optical technology in numerous fields, the polarization performance of transmissive optical components has become increasingly crucial. The extinction ratio, an important indicator for evaluating their polarization characteristics, holds great significance for its precise detection. Aiming at the measurement of the extinction ratio of a transparent component, this study proposes a measurement method for solving the extinction ratio based on measuring the Mueller matrix of the transparent component. The purpose is to analyze the worst position of the extinction ratio of the transmissive component. The extinction ratio of the sample is obtained according to the phase retardation derived from the Stokes vector of the incident light and the Mueller matrix of the optical component, and a theoretical analysis and simulation of this method are carried out. The simulation results verify the feasibility of the theoretical derivation of this method. To further verify the accuracy of the measurement method, experimental verification is conducted. A standard transparent sample with a phase retardation of 13 nm is selected for actual measurement. The data of independent experiments on the transparent sample under different powers are analyzed, and the extinction ratio of the transparent sample is further obtained. When using this method, the relative error is less than 2%, indicating good accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Optical Devices and Sensing Technology)
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