Home – Home – Jornals – Avtometriya 2023 number 4

Classical opto-acoustic receivers (OAR) are successfully used to solve a number of scientific and applied tasks, such as measuring weak optical radiation fluxes in the IR and THz ranges, quantitative and qualitative analysis of gas mixtures, and studies of absorption spectra of gases and vapors. The purpose, design, and evolution of the main structural elements of classical OAR are considered. The prospects of using single-layer graphene as the most promising material for creating membranes are analyzed. A significant increase in sensitivity is due to the exceptionally high elasticity of graphene combined with its high mechanical strength. It is shown that the use of a flexible membrane made of single-layer graphene reduces the OAR susceptibility to acoustic and vibration noise by more than three orders of magnitude without the use of any vibration protection devices. Due to the preservation of high elasticity by the graphene membrane at helium temperatures, the OAR operating range can be extended from 320 K to helium temperatures, which ensures reaching the theoretically maximum threshold sensitivity by reducing noise and opens up the possibility of wide application of the OAR for solving scientific problems of astrophysics and cosmology. Capacitive, optical, tunnel, and cantilever detectors of microdeformations of a flexible membrane are considered. It is shown that the maximum metrological characteristics of the OAR can be reached due to combining the unique capabilities of two developments: a membrane made of single-layer graphene and a tunnel microdeformation detector.