Oxygen detection system consisting of a millimeter wave Fabry-Pérot resonator and an integrated SiGe front-end

Oxygen shows significant absorption lines in the millimeter wave spectrum. Resonators are widely used to achieve a strong absorption even with a short absorption paths length for concentration measurements. A sensor system based on a Fabry-Perot resonator for oxygen measurements at ambient pressure is presented here. The Fabry-Perot resonator consists of two metal mirrors with a diameter of 50 mm. For purpose of oxygen detection the resonator covers a frequency range between 55 GHz and 65 GHz with a resonant peak density between 1 GHz and 1.5 GHz, depending on the mirror distance, and a quality factor of approximately 7000. To achieve a compact sensor system the concept envisages two integrated transceiver circuits directly coupling to coaxial ports in the metal mirrors of the resonator. The integrated SiGe front-end addresses a frequency band from 50 GHz to 75 GHz. They are realized as heterodyne structures with integrated directional couplers, thus it is possible to measure scattering parameters. For first oxygen concentration measurements, the resonator sample was coupled to a commercially available Vector Network Analyzer. The cavity was filled with oxygen concentrations of 0% vol. and 20% vol. at ambient pressure and temperature resulting in a significant change of the quality factor for frequencies close to the oxygen absorption line at 60.6 GHz. The sensor does not contain hot components. This is an advantage compared to other oxygen sensors, like electrochemical or metal-oxide sensors.