New laser power sensor using diamagnetic levitation.

This paper presents a preliminary study of an elementary device consisting of a small plate made from pyrolytic carbon levitated above a magnet array which is sensitive to any irradiating laser power. This device might provide an interesting alternative to power meters based on thermal measurement techniques via the Stefan-Boltzmann law or the photon-electron interaction. We show that the photo-response of a pyrolytic carbon plate in terms of levitation height versus irradiation power in the range of 20 mW to 1 W is sufficiently linear, sensitive, and reproducible to be used as a laser power sensor. The elevation height change as a function of irradiance time appears to be a suitable measurement parameter for establishing a relation with the irradiating laser power. The influence of some quantities affecting the measurement results has been highlighted. The study demonstrates that such a device should prove useful for applications in metrology, industry, or emerging technologies.

Thermal desorption mass spectrometer for mass metrology.

This article presents a device for the study of physisorbed elements on polished surfaces (diameter ⩽56 mm) of the kind used in mass metrology. The technique is based on mass spectrometry of molecules desorbed after heating under vacuum of the analyzed surface. We describe a first application of the device to study current and future mass standards in order to understand how their surface reactivity depends on storage conditions, cleaning processes, and polishing methods. Surface contamination analysis by thermal desorption mass spectrometry to examine the effect of cleaning on pure iridium is given as an example.

Apparatus to measure adsorption of condensable solvents on technical surfaces by photothermal deflection.

This article describes an instrument for the measurement of the mirage effect as a tool to determine the molar adsorption per unit surface area Y(1) of condensable solvents in the presence of a non-condensable carrier gas. The present apparatus is a much improved version of previous prototypes developed in our laboratory and elsewhere with a higher surface bake-out temperature (150 °C rather than 40 °C), lower residual vacuum (3 Pa versus 100 Pa), greater sample surface (40 mm diameter instead of 10 mm), more powerful optical pump beam (150 W cf. 50 W), and larger saturated vapour preparation volume (4 L instead of 1 L). The new set-up also includes the in situ monitoring of the surface via a reflected HeNe laser beam for the real-time detection of the onset of condensation. Here, we give a detailed description of the various components, outline the experimental procedure, show typical results, and suggest some straightforward improvements.