Patent Application
20230280273
The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0026529, filed Mar. 2, 2022, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.
The present disclosure relates to an electronic device provided with a bacteria detection element and a bacteria detection sensor, and a method of detecting bacteria by using the same and, more particularly to an electronic device provided with a bacteria detection element and a bacteria detection sensor, and a method of detecting bacteria by using the same, the bacteria detection element including a light absorption layer formed as a multi-layer, allowing material composition ratios of the respective layers formed as the multi-layer to be different from each other so that various substances are accurately detectable, having an inclined surface formed with an area that becomes narrower from a first semiconductor layer to a second semiconductor layer, and covering the inclined surface to be exposed with an oxide.
In general, as an element for converting light energy into electrical energy, a bacteria detection element has advantages of high sensitivity of operating wavelengths, fast response speed, and minimum noise, so the bacteria detection element is widely used as an element for detecting light signals in various fields.
Meanwhile, in the atmosphere, there are substances suspended in the air, the substances including fine dust, wood chip dust, fungus, and aerosols composed of biological particles such as materials due to bioterrorism using artificially generated toxins and pollutants, thereby resulting in a detrimental effect on the health of humans, animals, and plants. In order to detect harmful substances suspended in the air, laser-induced fluorescence technology, photo multiplier tube (PMT) technology, and technology using UV-enhanced Si have been proposed. However, there are problems in that these technologies may have to be implemented with expensive equipment, may allow detection only at a laboratory level due to an issue such as responding to visible light, or may take a significant time for analysis, thereby being unable to be used universally in daily life.
An objective of the present disclosure is to solve the above-described problems and provide an electronic device provided with a bacteria detection element and a bacteria detection sensor, and a method of detecting bacteria by using the same, wherein harmful substances attached to a test object may be quickly and accurately detected, and the electronic device is usable in daily life at a relatively low price.
Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic device provided with a bacteria detection element and a bacteria detection sensor, and a method of detecting bacteria by using the same, the bacteria detection element including nitride-based semiconductor with a PIN structure capable of efficiently detecting fluorescence signals in a wavelength band of 340 to 350 nm.
Yet another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic device provided with a bacteria detection sensor, and a method of detecting bacteria by using the same, wherein the bacteria detection sensor is implemented as an AlGaN-based semiconductor capable of replacing a conventional PMT, and is able to provide both bacteria detection and bacteria sterilization functions.
The above objectives of the present disclosure may be achieved by a bacteria detection element, including: a substrate; a first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer configured to be arranged on the substrate and made of a nitride-based material; and a light absorption layer configured to be arranged between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer and made of the nitride-based material, so as to absorb light of multiple wavelengths, wherein the light absorption layer includes: a first light absorption layer configured to absorb light of a first wavelength; a second light absorption layer configured to absorb light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength; and a third light absorption layer configured to absorb light of a third wavelength different from the first and second wavelengths, the first to third light absorption layers are configured to be formed of a single component of AlGaN, be arranged between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, and respectively have Al composition ratios increasing in an order of the first light absorption layer, the third light absorption layer, and the second light absorption layer, so as to absorb the light of the first to third wavelengths incident on the first semiconductor layer or the second semiconductor layer separately from each other, the first semiconductor layer, the light absorption layer, and the second semiconductor layer are respectively provided with inclined surfaces in a mesa structure, and the inclined surfaces are passivated with an oxide.
Still another objective of the present disclosure is achievable through the bacteria detection sensor configured to include a plurality of bacteria detection elements formed on a same substrate by a same semiconductor process. It is natural that each of the plurality of bacteria detection elements constituting the bacteria monitoring sensor may have a light absorption layer formed in a different size or in a different composition ratio of materials forming the light absorption layer.
Still another objective of the present disclosure is achievable through an electronic device provided with a bacteria detection sensor, the electronic device including a casing provided with a window on one side thereof, and including, in the casing: the bacteria detection sensor including a bacteria detection element; a UVA power controller configured to control power supplied to the bacteria detection element on or off; an excitation light emission part configured to illuminate with a UVC light source; a UVC power controller configured to control power supplied to the excitation light emission part on or off; an amplifier configured to amplify a signal output from the bacteria detection sensor; an AD converter configured to convert the signal amplified by the amplifier into a digital signal; and a system controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling the UVA power controller, the UVC power controller, and the AD converter, and output the digital signal output from the AD converter to outside.
Still another objective of the present disclosure is achievable through a method of detecting whether bacteria are attached on a test object, the method having the test object and the bacteria provided with a characteristic of expressing a fluorescence wavelength in a same range when being illuminated with a UVC light source, and including: a first step of calculating a first difference value (δ1) by subtracting an intensity value of a fluorescence wavelength measured at time t1 after illumination with the UVC light source from a highest value of a fluorescence wavelength expressed by illuminating the bacteria with the UVC light source, and calculating a second difference value (δ2) by subtracting the intensity value of the fluorescence wavelength measured at time t1 after the illumination with the UVC light source from a highest value of a fluorescence wavelength expressed by illuminating the test object to which the bacteria are not attached with the UVC light source; a second step of calculating a third difference value (δ3) by subtracting the intensity value of the fluorescence wavelength measured at time t1 after the illumination with the UVC light source from a highest value of the fluorescence wavelength expressed by illuminating the test object, whose attachment of the bacteria is not confirmed, with the UVC light source; and a third step of determining whether the bacteria are attached to the test object in the third step by using the first difference value, the second difference value, and the third difference value.
Conventionally, in a commercialized bacteria detection sensor composed of a semiconductor element, a method of simultaneously detecting light within a certain wavelength range is adopted, instead of detecting only a particular wavelength expressed by bacteria. In a case of bacteria, a fluorescence wavelength that is emitted while receiving excitation light and resonating has different characteristics for each bacteria. Since the conventional bacteria detection sensor concurrently receives wavelengths within the certain wavelength range, there is a problem that detection accuracy is deteriorated due to the weak intensity of fluorescence signals.
In contrast, in the electronic device provided with the bacteria detection element and the bacteria detection sensor, and the method of detecting the bacteria by using the same, since it is possible for a light absorption layer to be produced to detect only a fluorescence expression frequency of specific bacteria by controlling composition ratios of a plurality of substances, the detection accuracy may be increased. In addition, the bacteria detection sensor according to the present disclosure is formed to have the inclined surface in a mesa structure, and is configured such that an active layer to be exposed is passivated with an oxide so as to reduce the leakage current, whereby the measurement sensitivity may be increased.
The electronic device provided with the bacteria detection sensor according to the present disclosure provides functions capable of not only detecting bacteria but also sterilizing the detected bacteria. In particular, by mounting a UVC light source and a UVA light source on a single printed circuit board, the electronic device may be produced in a small size, thereby reducing the production cost.
When the bacteria detection method provided in the present disclosure is applied, whether or not bacteria are attached to a corresponding test object may be detected even in a case of the test object and bacteria that respectively express the same fluorescence wavelengths in UVC.
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise”, “include”, “have”, etc. when used in the present specification, specify the presence of features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or combinations thereof stated in the specification, but do not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or combinations thereof.
In addition, in the present specification, “on or on top of” means to be positioned on an upper side or a lower side of a target part and this means that it is not necessarily positioned on the upper side with respect to the direction of gravity. That is, the term “on or on top of” referred to in the present specification includes not only a case of being positioned above or below the target part, but also a case of being positioned in front or behind the target part.
In addition, in a case where it is said that a part of a region, plate, etc. is positioned “on or on top of” another part, the case includes not only a case of being positioned in contact with or spaced “on or on top of” another part but also a case of being positioned in the middle or in between.
In addition, in the present specification, when one component is referred to as “connected to”, “in contact with” the other component, or the like, the one component may be directly connected to or directly in contact with the other component, but it should be understood that, unless specifically stated to the contrary, the one component may be connected to or in contact with the other component through another component in the middle therebetween.
In addition, in the present specification, it will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component.
First, the terms will be defined. In the present disclosure, the terms called a bacteria detection element and a bacteria detection sensor are used. The bacteria detection element refers to a semiconductor element in which a first semiconductor layer, a light absorption layer, and a second semiconductor layer are sequentially stacked vertically on a substrate, and the bacteria detection sensor refers to a sensor provided as a semiconductor chip provided in an integrated package including one or more bacteria detection elements. It is natural that the bacteria detection element is provided with a first electrode for applying electricity to a first semiconductor layer and a second electrode for applying electricity to a second semiconductor layer. When describing the bacteria detection element and the bacteria detection sensor in terms of circuit elements, the bacteria detection element may be described as a circuit element configured to output a current according to the amount of light received by the light absorption layer, and the bacteria detection sensor may be described as a circuit element in which a resistor having a predetermined size is installed between PN terminals of the bacteria detection element and the bacteria detection element outputting a voltage applied to both terminals of the corresponding resistor and the resistor are packaged.
Hereinafter, preferred exemplary embodiments, advantages and features of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The substrate 110 is a substrate suitable for growing a semiconductor single crystal, and may be formed by using, for example, a light-transmitting material including sapphire (Al2O3). The substrate 110 may be formed of at least one of Si, GaAs, Si, GaP, InP, Ge, Ga203, ZnO, GaN, SiC, and AlN, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the substrate 110 may use materials capable of improving thermal stability by facilitating heat dissipation.
The first semiconductor layer 120 may be arranged on the substrate 110. When being implemented as an n-type semiconductor layer, for example, the first semiconductor layer 120 may be made of a semiconductor material selected from, for example, GaN, AlN, AlGaN, InGaN, InNInAlGaN, AlInN, and the like, the semiconductor material having a composition formula of InAlyGa1−x−yN (0=x≤1, 0≤y≤1, 0≤x+y≤1), and may be doped with an n-type dopant such as Si, Ge, Sn, Se, and Te.
In this case, an undoped semiconductor layer (not shown) that is not doped with a dopant may be arranged between the first semiconductor layer 120 and the substrate 110. The undoped semiconductor layer is a layer formed to improve the crystallinity of the first semiconductor layer 120, and may be the same as the first semiconductor layer 120, except that the n-type dopant is not doped and thus has lower electrical conductivity than that of the first semiconductor layer 120, but is not limited thereto.
The light absorption layer 130 may be arranged between the first semiconductor layer 120 and the second semiconductor layer 140. First, the light absorption layer 130 is a layer that forms an electron-hole pair by absorbing light incident from outside, and may be an intrinsic semiconductor layer or a semiconductor layer in which an n-type impurity is added at a lower concentration than that of the first semiconductor layer 120.
The light absorption layer 130 may be made of a semiconductor material selected from, for example, GaN, AlN, AlGaN, InGaN, InN, InAlGaN, AlInN, and the like, the semiconductor material having a composition formula of InxAlyGa1−x−yN (0=x≤1, 0≤y≤1, 0≤x+y≤1), as an example. In the exemplary embodiment, the light absorption layer 130 will be described as being formed of GaN or AlGaN. Here, the light absorption layer 130 may include first to third light absorption layers 132, 134, and 136.
An example in which the light absorption layer 130 is formed of aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) will be described.
The first light absorption layer 132 may be arranged adjacent to the first semiconductor layer 120. In this case, the first light absorption layer 132 may absorb light of a first wavelength longer than those of the second and third light absorption layers 134 and 136. For example, the first light absorption layer 132 has a composition formula of AlyGa1−yN (y≈0), and the Al composition ratio (y) may be close to “0”.
In addition, the second light absorption layer 134 may be arranged adjacent to the second semiconductor layer 140. In this case, the second light absorption layer 134 may absorb light of a second wavelength shorter than those of the first and third light absorption layers 132 and 136. For example, the second light absorption layer 134 has a composition formula of AlyGa1−yN (y≈1), and the Al composition ratio (y) may be close to “1”.
Finally, the third light absorption layer 136 may be arranged between the first and second light absorption layers 132 and 134. In this case, the third light absorption layer 136 may have an Al composition ratio in a range between the Al composition ratios of the first and second light absorption layers 132 and 134.
As a result, the Al composition ratio (y) may be determined such that the first light absorption layer 132 has the lowest value, the second light absorption layer 134 has the highest value, and the third light absorption layer 136 has the values in the range between the Al composition ratios of the first and second light absorption layers 132 and 134. Accordingly, the first light absorption layer 132 may absorb the light of the first wavelength that has passed through the second and third light absorption layers 134 and 136, the third light absorption layer 136 may absorb the light of the third wavelength that has passed the second light absorption layer 134, and the second light absorption layer 134 may absorb the light of the second wavelength while allowing the light of the first and third wavelengths to pass therethrough.
The second semiconductor layer 140 may be arranged on the light absorption layer 130. In this case, the second semiconductor layer 140 may be implemented as a p-type semiconductor layer. When being implemented as the p-type semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer 140 may be made of a semiconductor material selected from, for example, GaN, AlN, AlGaN, InGaN, InN, InAlGaN, AlInN, and the like, the semiconductor material having a composition formula of InxAlyGa1−x−yN (0=x≤1, 0≤y≤1, 0≤x+y≤1), and may be doped with a p-type dopant such as Mg, Zn, Ca, Sr, and Ba.
Electrodes (not shown) for applying power may be arranged on the first semiconductor layer 120 and the second semiconductor layer 140, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
In a sensor structure for detecting 340 nm fluorescence signals, GaN has an energy bandgap of Eg=3.45 eV and has a wavelength of about 365 nm. When a GaN thin film is used in the sensor structure, the GaN thin film absorbs a 340 nm wavelength, so that light reception efficiency may be reduced. Accordingly, AlGaN and AlN thin films should be used, but it is difficult to obtain high quality AlN and AlGaN thin films due to a lattice constant difference between a sapphire substrate and an AlN layer, and due to pre-reaction between Al and NH3.
In the present disclosure, a first AlN layer is grown on the sapphire substrate, and in order to grow a high-temperature second AlN thin film thereon, the first AlN growth temperature is firstly changed up to 800° C. to 1,100° C., and then the second AlN thin film is grown and formed at 1,250° C. (first AlN growth pressure 50 torr, Al=13 sccm, NH3=100 sccm, and second AlN growth pressure 40 torr, Al=20 sccm, NH3=135 sccm).
It is confirmed that using the GaN substrate rather than the sapphire substrate is more advantageous for detecting 340 nm fluorescence signals.
The second semiconductor layer 140 is formed of p-AlGaN, and is formed next to the light absorption layer 130. The incident UV light is absorbed into an l-GaN layer through a p-GaN layer positioned on a top side of a GaN-based photosensor structure, and affects the reactivity and quantum efficiency characteristics of a light-receiving element according to the doping concentration and thickness of the p-GaN layer.
As a result of simulating punch-through characteristics according to the p-GaN doping concentration, assuming that the maximum magnitude of an electric field is 3 MV/cm, it may be confirmed that the lower the doping concentration, the more punch-through phenomena occur at a very low voltage. Accordingly, it is confirmed that an increase in the thickness of the p-GaN layer or the doping concentration of 1×1018 cm−3 or more should be obtained in order to avoid the punch-through phenomena.
In the present disclosure, a GaN buffer layer with a thickness of 25 nm is grown at 520° C. on a sapphire substrate by using an MOCVD growth method, and then the temperature is raised to 1,040° C. Thereafter, an undoped GaN thin film with a thickness of 0.3 μm is grown. In addition, first, a u-GaN thin film having a thickness change from 10 nm to 18 nm is grown on 0.3 μm thick u-GaN in order to grow a Mg delta doped p-GaN thin film. Next, nitridation is performed for 30 seconds in order to stabilize a GaN surface. Then, the Mg delta doped p-GaN thin film is grown while changing the time, required to flow only an Mg source that affects hole concentration, to 16.5 seconds, 33 seconds, and 48 seconds. The Mg delta doped p-GaN thin film is grown by using the 70-loop, and the total thickness of the p-GaN thin film grown according to the time change of the Mg delta doping is 0.3 to 0.6 μm. The sample with the Mg delta doping provides a hole concentration of 2.782×1017 cm−3 and resistance of 1.52 Ω·cm, compared to a hole concentration of 2.17×1017 cm−3 and resistance of 2.15 Ω·cm for samples without the Mg delta doping. Accordingly, compared to a bulk p-GaN surface, it is confirmed that the hole concentration, resistance, and surface roughness of the p-GaN thin film with the Mg delta doped layer are improved.
Conventionally, when the second semiconductor layer 140 and the light absorption layer 130 are formed, the second semiconductor layer 140 and the light absorption layer 130 are grown by using a one-step temperature condition, but in the present disclosure, temperature changes such as low-high-low temperature are performed so that impurity content is minimized during epitaxial growth.
In addition, in order to reduce the leakage current and secure uniform electric field distribution even at high voltage, the bacteria detection element according to the present disclosure is formed in a PIN structure based on AlGaN in a mesa-structure having bevel angled side walls. The mesa structure refers to an LED structure having an etched surface. A mesa is a table-shaped terrain with a flat top and a steep slope around the terrain. In the LED structure, an active layer is exposed on a mesa surface, and in the present disclosure, the active layer is passivated with an oxide (e.g., silicon oxide (SiO2) 150). A PIN junction refers to a junction in which a rather wide intrinsic semiconductor layer is provided between pn junctions.
In the present disclosure, in the case of AlGaN, high-temperature growth is advantageous in order to increase a migration length of Al on the surface of the sapphire substrate. In addition, optimum conditions are established through controlling growth pressure, a V/III ratio, and a flow rate of total source gas, in order to grow a high-quality AlGaN thin film in a direction of maximally increasing the migration length by controlling the pressure of a reactor or controlling the flow rate of the source gas and the V/III ratio.
An epitaxial structure of an absorption layer having a multi-AlGaN/AlGaN-layer structure for controlling 17% or more strain in the absorption layer is developed, and the epitaxial structure having multiple AlGaN/AlGaN absorption layers for improving light-receiving efficiency is designed and developed by optimizing conditions such as Al composition ratios, thicknesses, and the number of cycles of AlGaN well and AlGaN barrier.
Light signals of various wavelengths may be detected by forming the light absorption layer 130 as the multi-layer. In order to detect the light signals in an ultraviolet region of 200 to 400 nm, the light absorption layer 130 is implemented by using the group III-V compound materials including AlN (energy band gap Eg=6.0 eV), GaN (Eg=3.45 eV), and InN (Eg=0.75 eV). In particular, in a photosensor having the PIN structure, AlxGa1−xN material is used for the light absorption layer 130, and the photosensor is implemented so that light absorption wavelengths are controllable according to an Al composition ratio X.
In order to optimize the epitaxial structure for producing the 340 nm light-receiving element shown in
It is confirmed that a PL result of a peak wavelength of each sample having an Al composition ratio is shown as follows: (a) in case of the Al composition ratio of 7.2%, the peak wavelength is about 350 nm, (b) in case of 12.3%, the peak wavelength is 342 nm, (c) in case of 15.14%, the peak wavelength is 340 nm, and (d) in case of 17%, the peak wavelength is about 338 nm. In the Al composition ratios of the AlGaN thin film, there is a slight difference between a numeric value obtained by calculation and a numeric value obtained by XRD and PL, and in such a result, the difference is generated due to the fact that strain occurs at an interface between (Al)GaN and GaN/sapphire in an actually grown thin film. Meanwhile, it is confirmed that there is no problem to grow the element structure by using an AlGaN thin film having an Al composition ratio in a range of 12 to 15% lower than the Al composition ratio of 17% calculated in
As described so far, the bacteria detection sensor may be configured in various forms by using the bacteria detection element provided with the light absorption layer formed by the multi-layer, and provided with the mesa structure of the PIN junction. A bacteria detection sensor with the simplest structure is formed by packaging a single bacteria detection element. However, when a small amount of harmful substances contained in the atmosphere is detected by the bacteria detection sensor composed of only one bacteria detection element, the detection accuracy may be reduced. Unlike ordinary particles, bacteria and fungi, which are microbes causing food poisoning, express fluorescence wavelengths when excitation light is incident from outside, so whether or not the bacteria and fungi are present may be determined by detecting the fluorescence wavelengths. However, since the intensity of the fluorescence wavelengths is weak, there is a problem in that it is difficult to detect the fluorescence wavelengths with the currently commercialized bacteria detection element (i.e., a photodiode, PD). Therefore, the present disclosure proposes various types of bacteria detection sensors in order to increase the detection accuracy.
In the bacteria detection element, even when the light absorption layer is formed of the same material, the light-receiving efficiency and dark current vary depending on differences between light-receiving areas. The larger the light-receiving area of the bacteria detection element, the greater the frequency detection power, but conversely, the dark current (i.e., noise) also increases, so it is not easy to secure the optimal detection power with a bacteria detection sensor equipped with a single-size sensor.
Two different size bacteria detection elements are arranged in the 2×2 array structure, and are arranged so that positive (+) power is supplied through a common electrode, and negative (−) power is supplied to each of the bacteria detection elements arranged in the left and right columns. In the case of the exemplary embodiment shown in
Furthermore, when at least two kinds of bacteria detection elements respectively having light absorption layers of various sizes and various material composition ratios are arranged in an array such as a 2×2 array, a 3×3 array, a 4×4 array, etc. on the sapphire substrate, there are advantages that a large area may be detectable while reducing errors and simultaneously monitoring various bacteria.
When light of wavelengths of 230 to 280 nm (belonging to UVC wavelengths) is emitted to protein (containing tryptophan) with E. coli, fluorescence wavelengths in a range of 340 to 360 nm (belonging to UVA wavelength) are simultaneously expressed. For reference, UVA light has a wavelength range of 320 to 400 nm, and UVC light has a wavelength range of 100 to 280 nm. It may be confirmed that as shown in
The principle of detecting E. coli contained in the protein in the present disclosure will be briefly described.
In the graphs of
δ1=It1−Ib1,
δ2=It2−Ib2,
δ3=It3−Ib3,
δ1>δ3>δ2 [Equation 1]
That is, when test objects are illuminated with a UVC light source, as shown in
In a case where only E. coli is present, when sophisticated values for 61, 62 and 63 are established by means of artificial intelligence (AI) by preparing bulk samples for a chunk of meat not containing E. coli and a chunk of meat containing E. coli and conducting the learning, the intensity of the UVA light source expressed therefrom after illuminating the test objects only once is measured, whereby whether or not E. coli is attached to the chunk of meat may be confirmed. 15
In the case of E. coli only, the intensity of the wavelength detected by the second time UVC emission is very small, unlike the first time UVC emission (in
It is natural that the principle described with reference to
E. coli attached to a chunk of meat is usually attached to the surfaces of the chunk of meat in many cases. In contrast, tryptophan contained in a chunk of meat is contained inside the chunk of meat unlike the case of E. coli. Due to this positional difference, when illuminating the chunk of meat, to which E. coli is attached, with UVC light source, the fluorescence wavelength expressed by the resonance of E. coli tends to appear earlier than the fluorescence wavelength expressed by tryptophan. E. coli may also be detected by using this expression time difference. Unfortunately, the graphs of
The excitation light emission part 313 is a light source module for emitting UVC light, and in the present disclosure, the excitation light emission part 313 is mounted on a single printed circuit board 315 together with the bacteria detection sensor 200. A DC-DC converter 305 is a circuit part that converts a voltage of externally supplied power into a driving voltage for driving various circuit elements constituting the electronic device 300. The DC-DC converter 305 supplies power to various circuit elements constituting the electronic device 300. A system controller 303 is a module that provides control signals for controlling various circuit elements constituting the electronic device 300. A UVC power controller 301 is a module for controlling turning on/off of power supplied to the excitation light emission part 313, and a UVA power controller 307 is a module for controlling turning on/off of power supplied to the bacteria detection sensor 200. An amplifier 311 is a circuit element that amplifies a voltage output from the bacteria detection sensor 200, and an AD converter 309 is a circuit element that converts the amplified voltage into a digital value. In the present disclosure, the voltage amplified by the amplifier 311 is designed to be output as a value between 0 V to 3 V, and the AD converter 309 is designed to digitize an analog voltage output from the amplifier 311 into 12 sections for providing the voltage.
The system controller 303 may provide the UVC power controller 301 with a first UVC control signal for driving the excitation light emission part 313 with a first intensity and a second UVC control signal for driving the excitation light emission part 313 with a second intensity (having a value greater than that of the first intensity). It is designed such that the first intensity is intensity at which bacteria resonate, and the second intensity is intensity at which the bacteria of which the cell walls are destroyed are killed while resonating, so that both bacteria detection and bacterial removal may be performed.
The electronic device provided with the bacteria detection sensor shown in
In a case of expressing the wavelengths in the same range in response to UVC light as in the case of protein and E. coli, time t11 (the UVC emission section) and time t21 (the bacteria sensing section) may be repeatedly performed once more.
As described above, the preferred exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described and illustrated by using specific terminology, but such terminology is only for the purpose of clearly describing the present disclosure, and thus it is apparent that various modification and changes may be made to the exemplary embodiments and the described terms of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims. Such modified exemplary embodiments should not be individually understood from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, but should be considered to fall within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2022-0026529 | Mar 2022 | KR | national |
