Event: 1st of 3=Broadband Wireless Sensing of Radioactive Chemicals Utilizing

Christine Eun, Graduate Student, Univ. of Michigan
ABSTRACT: (Eun) This paper reports a wireless sensing scheme that exploits gas discharges in microstructures and discharge-based sensors such as micromachined Geiger counters. Experiments are conducted on devices that have a glass-Si-glass stack of 8x8mm2 footprint, with discharge gaps in the range of 300-550?m. Electrical discharges triggered by exceeding the breakdown voltage and by ionization due to beta particles provide an RF spectrum spanning a bandwidth greater than 1.2GHz, which extends into the ultra-wideband (UWB) range of communication. These are broadband signals that can be detected by AM and FM radios at distances greater than 50cm from the sensor. Measurements of electric field strength and audio recordings from radio receivers are reported.
BIO: Christine Eun was born in Ann Arbor, MI in 1982. She graduated with a BS degree in engineering, summa cum laude, with a concentration in Electrical Engineering from The University of Michigan in 2004. In Fall 2004, she began to pursue her PhD in Electrical Engineering with a focus on micromachined radiation detectors. She expects to receive her PhD in May 2008.