Nanoporous polymeric transmission gratings for high-speed humidity sensing

Abstract

Nanoporous polymeric transmission gratings are demonstrated to be an excellent platform for high-speed optical humidity sensing. The grating structures were fabricated with a modified holographic, polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) system. The sensing mechanism was based on changes in the relative transmission associated with the adsorption and desorption of water vapour by nanopores. The spectral changes due to varying humidity levels were measured by a spectrometer and compared with the calculated results based on the coupled wave theory. When the relative humidity (RH) changed from 40% to 95%, the relative transmission at 475 nm increased from 6.3% to 46.6% and that at 702 nm increased from 4% to 64%; these results indicate the sensor's high sensitivity. In addition, the sensor demonstrated excellent reversibility and reproducibility over a large RH range (from 20% to 100% RH). Moreover, the response time of the sensor was measured to be less than 350 ms, making it suitable for many high-speed humidity-sensing applications.