UNIT IV

SELF-GENERATING SENSORS

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Contents
Self-generating sensors:
• Thermoelectric sensors,
• Piezoelectric sensors,
• Pyroelectric sensors,
• Photovoltaic sensors ,
• Electrochemical sensors,
Signal conditioning for self-generating sensors:
• Chopper and low-drift amplifiers-Offset and drifts
amplifiers ,
• Electrometer amplifiers,
• Charge amplifiers,
• Noise in amplifiers
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 SELF-GENERATING SENSORS

• Self-generating sensors yield an electric signal from a

measurand without requiring any electric supply. They offer
alternative methods for measuring many common quantities
-in particular, temperature, force, pressure, and acceleration.
• Furthermore, because they are based on reversible
effects, these sensors can be used as actuators to obtain
nonelectric outputs from electric signals.

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 THERMOELECTRIC SENSORS:
THERMOCOUPLES
• Thermoelectric sensors are based on two effects that are reversible as
contrasted with the irreversible Joule effect. They are the Peltier effect
and the Thomson effect.
• Historically, it was Thomas J. Seebeck who first discovered in 1822
that in a circuit with two dissimilar homogeneous metals A and B,
having two junctions at different temperatures, an electric current arises
(Fig.).
• That is, there is a conversion from thermal to electric energy. If the
circuit is opened, a thermoelectric electromotive force (emf) appears that
depends only on the metals and on the junction temperatures. A pair of
different metals with a fixed junction at a point or zone constitutes a
thermocouple.

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Figure : Seebeck effect in a thermocouple: (a) a current or (b) a potential
difference appear when there are two metal junctions at different temperatures

The relationship between the emf EAB and the difference in temperature
between both junctions T defines the Seebeck coefficient SAB,

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• where SA and SB are, respectively, the absolute thermoelectric power for A
and B. SAB is not in general constant but depends on T, usually increasing
with T.
• It is important to realize that while the current flowing in the circuit
depends on conductors' resistances, the emf does not depend on the
resistivity, on the conductors’ cross sections, or on temperature
distribution or gradient.
• It depends only on the difference in temperature between both junctions
and on the metals, provided that they are homogeneous. This emf is due to
the Peltier and Thomson effects.

Peltier effect: When there is a current along a thermocouple circuit, one junction cools and
the other warms
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 • The Thomson effect, discovered by William Thomson (later Lord
Kelvin) in 1847-1854, consists of heat absorption or liberation in a
homogeneous conductor with a non homogeneous temperature when
there is a current along it, as shown in Figure.
• The heat liberated is proportional to the current, not to its square,
and therefore changes its sign for a reversed current.
• Heat is absorbed when charges flow from the colder to the hotter
points, and it is liberated when they flow from the hotter to the
colder one. In other words, heat is absorbed when charge and heat
flow in opposite directions, and heat is liberated when they flow in
the same direction.

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 Thomson effect: When there is a current along a conductor with
non homogeneous temperature, heat is absorbed or liberated.

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 • The heat flux per unit volume q in a conductor of resistivity r with
a longitudinal temperature gradient dT=dx, along which there is a
current density i, is

• where s is the Thomson coefficient. The first term on the right side
describes the irreversible Joule effect, and the second term describes
the reversible Thomson effect.

Practical Thermocouple Laws

• Law of Homogeneous Circuits
• Law of Intermediate Metals
• Law of Successive or Intermediate Temperatures

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Law of Homogeneous Circuits.
• It is not possible to maintain a thermoelectric current in a circuit formed by
a single homogeneous metal by only applying heat, not even by changing
the cross section of the conductor. Figure 6.6 describes the meaning of this
law. In (Figure a )the temperatures T3 and T4 do not alter the emf due to T1
and T2. In particular, if T1 . T2 and A or B are heated, there is no current.
• In other words, intermediate temperatures along a conductor do not alter the
emf produced by a given temperature difference between junctions (Figure
b).
• But this does not mean that if along a conductor there are different temp.,
then long extension wires identical to those of the thermocouple must
be used. Instead of these, we can use compensation wires that are made
from metals that do not display any appreciable emf and at the same time
are cheaper than thermocouple wires. Nevertheless, they are four to five
times more expensive than copper wires. Thermocouple wire coverings
use standard colors.

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 Homogeneous circuits law for thermocouples

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Law of Intermediate Metals.
• The algebraic sum of all emfs in a circuit composed by several different
metals remains zero as long as the entire circuit is at a uniform temperature.
This implies that a meter can be inserted into the circuit without adding
any errors, provided that the new junctions introduced are all at the same
temperature, as indicated
• Nichrome is used in wirewound resistors and strain gages.
• The Cu±Cu pair refers to copper with different purity grades. The
Pb/Sn alloy refers to the common solder alloy, and the Cd/Sn alloy refers
to a low- temperature solder alloy. Kovar is an alloy used in some IC pins.
• Because CuO/Cu yields a large emf, it is advisable to keep electric contacts
clean.

Intermediate metals law for thermocouple circuits

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• A corollary of this law is that if the thermal relationship between each of
two materials and a third one is known, then it is possible to deduce the
relationship between the two first ones, as shown in Figure. Therefore it is
not necessary to calibrate all the possible metal pairs in order to know the
temperature corresponding to a given emf measured with a given pair.
Rather, its behavior with respect a third material is enough. The reference
metal is platinum

Corollary for intermediate metals law in thermocouple circuits

Intermediate temperature law for thermocouple circuits

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Law of Successive or Intermediate Temperatures
• If two homogeneous metals yield an emf E1 when their junctions are
at T1 and T2, and an emf E2when they are at T2 and T3, then the emf
when the junctions are at T1 and T3 will be E1 . E2 (Figure). This
means, for example, that it is not necessary for the reference junction
to be at 00 C. Any other reference temperature is also acceptable.
• The preceding laws enable us to analyze circuits such as those in
Figure
• Case (a) shows several thermocouples connected in series,
thus constituting a thermopile. It is straightforward to verify
that this increases the sensitivity compared to the case where a
single thermocouple is used.
• Case (b) shows a parallel connection, which yields the average
temperature if all thermocouples are linear in the measurement range
and have the same resistance

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 (a) Series (thermopile) and (b) parallel thermocouple connection

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Electronic compensation for the reference junction in a thermocouple
circuit. Ambient temperature fluctuations are measured by another sensor,
and a voltage equal to that generated by the cold junction is subtracted from
the output voltage

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 Piezoelectric Sensors
Piezoelectric Effect
• The piezoelectric effect is the appearance of an electric polarization in
a material that strains under stress. It is a reversible effect. Therefore,
when applying an electric voltage between two sides of a piezoelectric
material, it strains.
• Piezoelectric equations describe the relationship between electric and
mechanical quantities in a piezoelectric material. In Figure (a),
where two metal plates have been placed to form a capacitor, for a
dielectric non piezoelectric material we have that an applied force F
yields a strain S that, according to Hooke's law , in the elastic range
is

• where s is compliance, 1/s is Young's modulus, and T is the stress

(F/A).

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 • A potential difference applied between plates creates an electric
field E and we have

(a) Parameters used in piezoelectric equations. (b) Equivalent circuit for a

piezoelectric sensor.
where D is the displacement vector (or electric flux density), is the dielectric
constant, 0 . 8:85 pF/m is the permittivity of vacuum, and P is the
polarization vector

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 • For a uni dimensional piezoelectric material with field, stress, strain,
and polarization in the same direction, according to the principle of
energy conservation, at low frequency we have

• where εT is the permittivity at constant stress and sE is the compliance at

constant electric field.
• Therefore, when compared to a non piezoelectric material, there is also a
strain due to the electric field and an electric charge due to the
mechanical stress (charges displaced inside the material induce opposite
polarity surface charges on the plates).

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 • Solving above equation(2) for E
yields
3

where g=d / εT is the piezoelectric voltage coefficient

By solving equ.3. for T, we have

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 Piezoelectric Materials
• Piezoelectric properties are present in 20 of the 32 crystallographic
classes, although only a few of them are used; they are also present in
amorphous ferroelectric materials. Of those 20 classes, only 10 display
ferroelectric properties.
• Whatever the case, all piezoelectric materials are necessarily anisotropic.
Figure shows why it must be so. In case (a) there is central symmetry.
An applied force does not yield any electric polarization. In case (b), on
the contrary, an applied force yields a parallel electric polarization,
while in case (c) an applied force yields a perpendicular polarization.

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 Several forms of applying the piezoelectric effect at low frequencies. In each case, one of
the quantities is zero. (a) Null effort, T=0; (b) null electric field, E =0; (c) null strain, S =
0; (d ) null charge density, D = 0.

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 PYROELECTRIC SENSORS
The Pyroelectric Effect
• The pyroelectric effect is analogous to the piezoelectric effect, but instead of
change in stress displacing electric charge, now it refers to change in
temperature causing change in spontaneous polarization and resulting
change in electric charge.
• When the change in temperature ΔT is uniform throughout the material, the
pyroelectric effect can be described by means of the pyroelectric coefficient,
which is a vector p with the equation

• where P is the spontaneouspolarization

• This effect is mainly used for thermal radiation detection at ambient
temperature. Two metallic electrodes are deposited on faces perpendicular to
the direction of the polarization, which yields a capacitor (Cd) acting as
thermal sensor. When the detector absorbs radiation, its temperature and
hence its polarization changes, thus resulting in a surface charge on the
capacitor plates
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• If Ad is the area of incident radiation and the detector thickness b is small
enough so that the temperature gradient in it is negligible, then the charge
induced will be

• Where ΔT is the increment in temperature of the detector. The

resulting voltage will be

• When the incident radiation is pulsating and has a power Pi, the
resulting voltage on the capacitor is

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 Equivalent circuit for a pyroelectric sensor
including thermal noise

Figure shows the equivalent circuit for a noisy but

otherwise ideal pyroelectric sensor. The star symbol
for the current generator modeling thermal noise
means that it is a random signal

The energy Wλ emitted by the blackbody per unit time, per unit area, at a
given wavelength λ and temperature T, is given by Planck's law,

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 PHOTOVOLTAIC SENSORS
• When the internal photoelectric effect discussed for photoconductors
occurs in a p-n junction, it is possible to obtain a voltage that is a
function of the incoming radiation intensity. The photovoltaic effect
is the generation of an electric potential when the radiation ionizes a
region where there is a potential barrier
• When a p-doped semiconductor (doped with acceptors) contacts an
n- doped semiconductor (doped with donors), because of the thermal
agitation there are electrons that go into the p region and ``holes''
that move into the n-region.
• There they recombine with charge carriers of opposite sign. As a
result, at both sides of the contact surface there are very few
free charge carriers

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 Equivalent simplified circuit for a photovoltaic
detector. isc is the short circuit current, Rp is the
parallel resistance, Rs is the output series
resistance, and Cd is the junction capacitance.
RL is the load resistance

• In addition to p-n junctions, there are other methods that produce a

potentialn barrier, but p-n junctions are by far the most common one. If the
p-n junction is between semiconductors of the same composition, then it is
called a homojunction. Otherwise it is called a heterojunction.
• In the visible and near-infrared regions, silicon and selenium are used.
Silicon is in the form of homojunctions. Selenium in the form of a
selenium layer ( p) covering cadmium oxide (n).
• For silicon sometimes an intrinsic (non doped) silicon region is added
between the p and n regions ( p-i-n detectors). This results in a wider
depletion region, which yields a better e½ciency at large wavelengths, faster
speed, and lower noise and dark current. At other wavelengths, germanium,
indium antimonide (SbIn), and indium arsenide (AsIn), among others, are
used
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 ELECTROCHEMICAL SENSORS
• Potentiometric electrochemical sensors yield an electric potential
in response to a concentration change in a chemical sample.
• Amperometric sensors use an applied voltage to yield an electric current in
response to a concentration change in a chemical sample.
• Ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) are potentiometric sensors based on the
voltage generated in the interface between phases having different
concentrations. This is the same principle for voltaic cells.
• Assume that there is only one ion species whose concentration
changes from one phase to another, or that there are more ions but a
selective membrane allows only one specific ion to go through it.
• Then the tendency for that ion to diffuse from the high concentration
region to the low-concentration region is opposed by an electric
potential difference due to the ion electric charge.

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• When we have equilibrium between both forces (diffusion and
electric potential), the difference in potential is given by the Nernst
equation

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• where Ci is the concentration for species i, and f i is the activity coefficient,
which describes the extent to which the behavior of species i diverges
from the ideal, which assumes that each ion is independent of the others.
This is not true at high concentrations and f i < 1. For very diluted
concentrations, f
i=1.

• This measurement principle is applied by using a two electrode arrangement

(Figure). One electrode includes the membrane that is selective to the ion
of interest, and it contains a solution having a known concentration for
ion species i. The other electrode is a reference, and all ions present in the
sample to be measured can freely diffuse through its membrane. This
arrangement involves several interfaces, but only one of them generates a
variable potential: the one across the ion-selective membrane

• where ai is now the activity for the ionic species of interest in the sample,
and E0 and k are constants.

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A potentiometric oxygen sensor generates a potential difference between
electrodes on opposite sides of a stabilized zirconia membrane at high
temperature.

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 SIGNAL CONDITIONING FOR
SELF-GENERATING
•
SENSORS
Self-generating sensors offer a voltage or a current whose amplitude,
frequency, and output impedance determine the characteristics required
for the signal conditioner.
• When the range of the sensor output voltage or current is smaller than
the input range of the ADC (or other signal receiver), amplification is
required. The amplification may be different from that described in
preceding chapters because signals from self-generating sensors are not
the output of a bridge circuit or voltage divider.

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 CHOPPER AND LOW-DRIFT
AMPLIFIERS
Offset and Drifts in Op Amps
• In an ideal op amp the output voltage is zero when both input voltages are
zero. The input currents are then also zero. In a real op amp, neither of
these conditions holds.
• In addition to being different from zero when the input voltage is zero,
the input currents are not equal to each other. Their difference is called
offset current.
• This is due to the imbalance between input transistors [bipolar or field-
effect transistors (FETs)]. This imbalance also requires an offset voltage
between the input terminals for the output voltage to be zero.

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The output voltage is

The actual sign for Vio is unknown and that of I n and I p depends on the
transistor type ( p-n-p, n-p-n) at the op amp input stage. Usually a worst-case
condition is assumed and the contribution of offset voltage and current is
added.

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 Offset voltage and input currents in an op-amp-based inverting ampli®er.

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 • Equation (2) shows that offset voltage and input currents introduce
an output zero error,

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 • This shows that the IZE increases for high input impedance and
high gain (R1 and R2=R1 large). If all resistors are reduced by the
same factor, the error due to Vio does not change while that due to Iio
decreases. Hence, we must use resistors having a value as small as
possible

Offset voltage nulling and bias current compensation in (a) an

inverting amplifier and (b) a noninverting amplifier.

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• Figure . shows how to combine amplification and level shifting in a single
stage. In order to keep a balanced input, in Figure (a) we must select

• In Figure b, where it has been assumed that Rs is not adjustable (e.g., it may
be determined by the signal source), R3 must be where R’1= R1+100 Ω.

• Four-terminal trimming potentiometers that include a center tap, which may

be grounded, offer better stability and reduce drifts from Vr+ and Vr-. For
better stability, these voltages must come from voltage reference ICs.

• The equivalent input ripple when power supplies change by ΔVs+. and ΔVs-
is

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• Whatever the case, offset nulling or level shifting when the circuit input is
held at the reference voltage must be done after the amplifier has reached its
operating temperature. Furthermore, temperature gradients in active
components must be avoided, and passive components should have a low
temperature coefficient. Power supplies must be well-regulated; otherwise
their fluctuations would show up at the circuit output.
• where PSRR stands for power supply rejection ratio. Some data sheets
specify the power supply fluctuation to input voltage error ratio in
decibels, whereas others specify the input voltage error to power supply
fluctuation ratio in microvolts/volt, but in both cases only for slow voltage
fluctuations

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 Offsets and Drifts in Instrumentation
• Amplifiers
Offset and drift specifications for integrated instrumentation amplifiers
are somewhat different from those for op amps. An IA consists of an
input section, usually with a selectable gain G, and an output section
with fixed gain.
• Some manufacturers specify errors from the input section as ``input
errors'' and errors from the output section as ``output errors.'' The total
error referred to the input (RTI) is then

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 ELECTROMETER AMPLIFIERS
• Signals coming from current sources or from high output impedance
voltage sources -for example, semiconductor-junction-based nuclear
radiation detectors (e.g., in CT scanners), photoelectric cells,
photomultiplier tubes, ionization cells (e.g., for vacuum measurement),
photodiodes, ISEs, and piezoelectric sensors require a measurement system
featuring a low input current.
• When low-frequency signals are of interest, then a voltage amplifier or a
current-to voltage converter (trans impedance amplifier) based on a low-drift
op amp is required.
• Otherwise, as in piezoelectric sensors that do not have dc response or in
radiation detectors detecting incoming pulses, either an electrometer or
a charge amplifier can be used

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 • An electrometer is a measuring system having an input resistance
larger than 1 TW and an input current lower than about 1 pA. There
are instruments with 100 TΩ and 50 aA.
• Electrometer op amps and instrumentation amplifiers also offer
high input impedance and low input current. Voltage amplifiers with
very large input impedance are useful to interface sensors that give an
output voltage with a large series impedance, either resistive (pH
electrodes, ISEs) or capacitive (piezoelectric and pyroelectric sensors).

Methods for measuring small currents using an electrometer amplifier.

(a) Detecting the drop in voltage across a resistor. (b) Converting current to voltage.

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• Small currents can be measured with an electrometer amplifier by two
different methods: by directly measuring the drop in voltage across a high-
value resistor (Figure a) or by a current-to-voltage conversion based on a
transimpedance amplifier (Figure b) or on a current integrator .
• In the first method, when R has a high value it is not possible to measure
high-frequency phenomena because the capacitance of the sensor together
with that of the cable and amplifier input limit the maximal response.
Caution while designing
• High-impedance circuits require us to pay attention to resistors,
insulation (dielectrics), and cabling. High-value resistors are from carbon
or metal oxide film with ceramic substrate. Glass encapsulation prevents
humidity from entering in contact with the resistive element, hence
reducing its resistance
• High-quality dielectrics in electrometer circuits are needed because a mere
10 V, such as the op amp voltage supply, induces through a 1 TW insulation
a 10 pA current in the amplifier input, which may be larger than the current
to be measured.

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• Guard rings consist of conductive zones encircling the terminal to be
protected
• and connected to a voltage close to that of the terminal, as shown
in
• Figure 7.13. Thus for an inverting ampli®er the guard encircles the
negative
• terminal and connects to the reference (common) voltage (Figure
7.13b),
• whereas in a noninverting ampli®er it encircles the positive terminal
and connects
• to a voltage divider (Figure 7.13c). The connection to pin 8 shown in
these
• three ®gures allows the guard potential to drive the ampli®er metallic
can internally
• connected to that pin.
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Use of guards to reduce parasitic input currents. (a) Arrangement on both sides of a
printed circuit. (b) Guard connection for a current-to-voltage converter. (c) Guard
connection for a noninverting amplifier.

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 • Guard rings consist of conductive zones encircling the terminal to
be protected and connected to a voltage close to that of the
terminal, as shown in Figure .
• Thus for an inverting amplifier the guard encircles the negative
terminal and connects to the reference (common) voltage (Figure b),
whereas in a non inverting amplifier it encircles the positive terminal
and connects to a voltage divider (Figure c).
• The connection to pin 8 shown in these three figures allows the
guard potential to drive the amplifier metallic can internally
connected to that pin.

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 Charge
Amplifiers
• A charge amplifier is a circuit whose equivalent input impedance is a
capacitance that provides a very high value of impedance at low frequencies.
Thus contrary to what its name may suggest, a charge amplifier does not
amplify the electric charge present at its input. Its function is actually to
obtain a voltage proportional to that charge and yield a low output
impedance. Hence, it is a charge-to-voltage converter
• Considering the circuit for measuring the signal of a high output
impedance sensor (e.g., a piezoelectric accelerometer), namely a voltage
amplifier based on an electrometer amplifier (Figure b). If the
accelerometer has charge sensitivity Sq (C/g) the voltage amplifier yields

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 • From Equation we deduce that the sensor sensitivity undergoes a
reduction that depends on the length of the connecting cable, and
that the frequency response is high pass with a corner frequency that
depends both on cable length and insulation. This may change with
temperature and ambient humidity for some models.

(a) Idealized charge amplifier. (b) Electrometer amplifier connected to a

piezoelectric sensor.

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• The charge amplifier in Figure a is usually a better solution. It is based on a
charge transfer from the sensor (in parallel with the cable and amplifier
input) to a fixed capacitor, C0, and then measuring the voltage across it with
an amplifier such as an electrometer. If the open loop gain for the amplifier
is Ad,then we have

• where the final approximation assumes Ad>>1, which is true only at low
frequencies. Now the sensitivity does not depend on the cable, except at
high frequency, where Ad decreases. Cable capacitance may be important
when C0 is small to have a high sensitivity. Gain accuracy depends on C0,
which consequently must have high stability and low leakage. Stray
capacitance must be reduced by shielding if necessary

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 Sources of zero error
in a real charge
amplifier

Equivalent circuit for a

piezoelectric sensor
connected to a charge
amplifier.

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 NOISE IN
• AMPLIFIERS
Noise Fundamentals
• Noise Sources
• Noise Bandwidth
• Noise in Op Amps

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 Noise Fundamentals
Noise Description
• Noise is a random signal, meaning that we cannot know its actual amplitude
at a given moment. However, we can infer some
• Figure -In-place calibration of a charge amplifier without exciting the
sensor information about it from its statistical description. The mean-
square value, or intensity, of a signal x(t) is the average of the
squares of the instantaneous values of the signal,

• This value indicates the power of the signal and can be separated into a time
invariant part - the signal average or mean value μx and a dynamic part or
signal variance, which is defined as the mean-square value of x(t) about its
mean value. Because electronic noise has zero average, we have

Hence, Ψx=σx and the noise variance equals the noise power. is the standard deviation.

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Noise Sources
• The main noise sources in electronic circuits are thermal noise, shot
noise, and 1/ f or low-frequency noise. Thermal noise arises in any
medium that dissipates energy, such as conductors. It is also called
Johnson noise and Nyquist noise
• The thermal noise power Et2( Et2 = Ψ2=σ2 ) available from a conductor with
resistance R is

• where k= 1.38 x 10-23J/K is Boltzmann's constant, T is the absolute

temperature (kelvins), and B is the noise bandwidth. Et is the thermal noise
voltage (rms value). A 1 kW resistance at room temperature yields 4 nV in
a 1 Hz bandwidth. The equivalent noise current is

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Noise Bandwidth
A random signal x(t) applied to the input of a system whose power gain
is H(f) yields a random output y(t) whose PSD is

Noise in Op Amps
• Op amp noise can be modeled with a circuit as shown in Figure. The stars
inside noise voltage and current generators indicate that the corresponding
signals are random

The usual noise model for op amps includes a voltage noise generator and
two current noise generators added to the ideal op amp.

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