A new dual-zone position sensitive detector for roll angle Measurement: Design and validation

• Published in: Measurement : journal of the International Measurement Confederation Vol. 242; p. 115802
• Main Authors: Meng, Xiangxu, Yan, Xuetao, Sun, Siwei, Liu, Fengman, Wang, Qidong, Cao, Liqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2025
• Subjects: Dual-spot detection; Position sensitive detector; Roll angle measurement; Dual-spot detection; Roll angle measurement; Position sensitive detector
• ISSN: 0263-2241
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2024.115802

•A new dual-zone position sensitive detector is proposed and constructed with two centrally coincident photosensitive areas, separated by a specially designed quasi-invisible ring.•The proposed device exhibits superior performance in two-spot synchronized detection, includes good linearity of 0.90 %, fast response of 5.8 μs, and high resolution of 0.75 μm.•The practicability of the proposed device is demonstrated by measuring the roll angle. The angular accuracy and resolution are 0.2° and 0.018° in the measurement range of 360°.•The proposed device could be easily incorporated into the 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) pose measurement systems. The measurement of roll angle is widely acknowledged as the most challenging task in 6-degree-of-freedom pose measurement. Until now, a photodetector dedicated to roll angle measurement has not been developed. Here, we present a new dual-zone position sensitive detector, which enables straightforward roll angle measurement based on the relative positions of two spots. In the proposed device, two photosensitive areas share the same coordinate origin and are separated by a quasi-invisible ring. The quasi-invisible ring serves as photocurrent isolation and ensures the normal photocurrent distribution. For spot position measurement, the device shows an excellent spatial resolution of 0.75 μm, low nonlinearities of 0.90 %, and a fast response of 5.8 μs. For roll angle measurement, the device exhibits high accuracy of 0.2° and high resolution of 0.018° in the measurement range of 360°. This work offers an innovative solution for high-performance roll angle measurement in 6-DOF pose measurement systems.