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Jacob Fraden

Handbook
of Modern
Sensors
Physics, Designs, and Applications
Fifth Edition
Handbook of Modern Sensors
Jacob Fraden

Handbook of Modern
Sensors
Physics, Designs, and Applications

Fifth Edition
Jacob Fraden
Fraden Corp.
San Diego, CA, USA

ISBN 978-3-319-19302-1 ISBN 978-3-319-19303-8 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-19303-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015947779

Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2004, 2010, 2016
# American Institute of Physics 1993, 1997
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

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(www.springer.com)
Preface

Numerous computerized appliances wash clothes, prepare coffee, play music,

guard homes, and perform endless useful functions. However, no electronic device
operates without receiving external information. Even if such information comes
from another electronic device, somewhere in the chain, there is at least one
component that perceives external input signals. This component is a sensor.
Modern signal processors are the devices that manipulate binary codes generally
represented by electric impulses. As we live in an analog world that mostly is not
digital or electrical (apart from the atomic level), sensors are the interface devices
between various physical values and the electronic circuits that “understand” only
the language of moving electrical charges. In other words, sensors are eyes, ears,
and noses of the silicon chips. This book is about the man-made sensors that are
very much different from the sensing organs of living organisms.
Since the publication of the previous edition of this book, sensing technologies
have made remarkable leaps. Sensitivities of sensors have become higher, their
dimensions smaller, selectivity better, and prices lower. A new, major field of
application for sensors—mobile communication devices—has been rapidly
evolving. Even though such devices employ sensors that operate on the same
fundamental principles as other sensors, their use in mobile devices demands
specific requirements. Among these are miniature dimensions and complete inte-
gration with the signal processing and communication components. Hence, in this
new edition, we address in greater detail the mobile trend in sensing technologies.
A sensor converts input signals of a physical nature into electrical output. Thus,
we will examine in detail the principles of such conversions and other relevant laws
of physics. Arguably one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived, Leonardo da
Vinci, had his own peculiar way of praying (according to a book I read many years
ago, by Akim Volinsky, published in Russian in 1900). Loosely, it may be trans-
lated into modern English as something like, “Oh Lord, thank you for following Thy
own laws.” It is comforting indeed that the laws of Nature do not change—it is our
appreciation of the laws that is continually refined. The sections of the book that
cover these laws have not changed much since the previous editions. Yet, the
sections that describe the practical designs have been revised substantially. Recent
ideas and developments have been added, while obsolete and less interesting
designs were dropped.

v
vi Preface

In the course of my engineering work, I often wished for a book which combined
practical information on the many subjects relating to the most important physical
principles, design, and use of various sensors. Of course, I could browse the Internet
or library bookshelves in search of texts on physics, chemistry, electronics, technical,
and scientific magazines, but the information is scattered over many publications and
websites, and almost every question I was pondering required substantial research.
Little by little, I gathered practical information on everything which is in any way
related to various sensors and their applications to scientific and engineering
measurements. I also spent endless hours at a lab bench, inventing and developing
numerous devices with various sensors. Soon, I realized that the information I had
collected would be quite useful to more than one plerson. This idea prompted me to
write this book, and this fifth updated edition is the proof that I was not mistaken.
The topics included in the book reflect the author’s own preferences and
interpretations. Some may find a description of a particular sensor either too
detailed or broad or perhaps too brief. In setting my criteria for selecting various
sensors for this new edition, I attempted to keep the scope of this book as broad as
possible, opting for many different designs described briefly (without being trivial,
I hope), rather than fewer treated in greater depth. This volume attempts (immod-
estly perhaps) to cover a very broad range of sensors and detectors. Many of them
are well known, but describing them is still useful for students and for those seeking
a convenient reference.
By no means this book is a replacement for specialized texts. It gives a bird’s-eye
view at a multitude of designs and possibilities, but does not dive in depth into
any particular topic. In most cases, I have tried to strike a balance between details
and simplicity of coverage; however simplicity and clarity were the most important
requirements I set for myself. My true goal was not to pile up a collection of informa-
tion but rather to entice the reader into a creative mindset. As Plutarch said nearly two
millennia ago, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. . .”
Even though this book is for scientists and engineers, as a rule, the technical
descriptions and mathematic treatments generally do not require a background
beyond a high school curriculum. This is a reference text which could be used by
students, researchers interested in modern instrumentation (applied physicists and
engineers), sensor designers, application engineers, and technicians whose job is to
understand, select, or design sensors for practical systems.
The previous editions of this book have been used quite extensively as desktop
references and textbooks for the related college courses. Comments and suggestions
from sensor designers, application engineers, professors, and students have
prompted me to implement several changes and to correct errors. I am deeply
grateful to those who helped me to make further improvements in this new edition.
I owe a debt of gratitude and many thanks to Drs. Ephraim Suhir and David Pintsov
for assisting me in mathematical treatment of transfer functions and to Dr. Sanjay
V. Patel for his further contributions to the chapter on chemical sensors.

San Diego, CA, USA Jacob Fraden

April 12, 2015
Contents

1 Data Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Sensors, Signals, and Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Sensor Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Units of Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Transfer Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Mathematical Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.2 Functional Approximations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.3 Linear Regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.4 Polynomial Approximations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.5 Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.6 Linear Piecewise Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.7 Spline Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.8 Multidimensional Transfer Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3 Computation of Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4 Computation of a Stimulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.1 Use of Analytical Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4.2 Use of Linear Piecewise Approximation . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4.3 Iterative Computation of Stimulus
(Newton Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3 Sensor Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.1 Sensors for Mobile Communication Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.1.1 Requirements to MCD Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.1.2 Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.2 Span (Full-Scale Input) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.3 Full-Scale Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.4 Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.5 Calibration Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.6 Hysteresis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.7 Nonlinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
vii
viii Contents

3.8 Saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.9 Repeatability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.10 Dead Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.11 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.12 Special Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.13 Output Impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.14 Output Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.15 Excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.16 Dynamic Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.17 Dynamic Models of Sensor Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.17.1 Mechanical Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.17.2 Thermal Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.17.3 Electrical Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.17.4 Analogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.18 Environmental Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.19 Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.19.1 MTTF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.19.2 Extreme Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.19.3 Accelerated Life Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.20 Application Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.21 Uncertainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4 Physical Principles of Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.1 Electric Charges, Fields, and Potentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.2 Capacitance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.2.1 Capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.2.2 Dielectric Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.3 Magnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.3.1 Faraday Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.3.2 Permanent Magnets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.3.3 Coil and Solenoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.4 Induction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.4.1 Lenz Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.4.2 Eddy Currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.5 Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.5.1 Specific Resistivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.5.2 Temperature Sensitivity of a Resistor . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.5.3 Strain Sensitivity of a Resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.5.4 Moisture Sensitivity of a Resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.6 Piezoelectric Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.6.1 Ceramic Piezoelectric Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.6.2 Polymer Piezoelectric Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.7 Pyroelectric Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.8 Hall Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Contents ix

4.9 Thermoelectric Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

4.9.1 Seebeck Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.9.2 Peltier Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.10 Sound Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.11 Temperature and Thermal Properties of Materials . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.11.1 Temperature Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.11.2 Thermal Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4.11.3 Heat Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.12 Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.12.1 Thermal Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.12.2 Thermal Convection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.12.3 Thermal Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5 Optical Components of Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.1 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.1.1 Energy of Light Quanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.1.2 Light Polarization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
5.2 Light Scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
5.3 Geometrical Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5.4 Radiometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
5.5 Photometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.6 Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
5.7 Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
5.7.1 Coated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
5.7.2 Prismatic Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.8 Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.8.1 Curved Surface Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.8.2 Fresnel Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
5.8.3 Flat Nanolenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.9 Fiber Optics and Waveguides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.10 Optical Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.10.1 Lensing Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.10.2 Concentrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
5.10.3 Coatings for Thermal Absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
5.10.4 Antireflective Coating (ARC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
6 Interface Electronic Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.1 Signal Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.1.1 Input Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
6.1.2 Amplifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
6.1.3 Operational Amplifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.1.4 Voltage Follower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
x Contents

6.1.5 Charge- and Current-to-Voltage Converters . . . . . . . 201

6.1.6 Light-to-Voltage Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
6.1.7 Capacitance-to-Voltage Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
6.1.8 Closed-Loop Capacitance-to-Voltage Converters . . . 207
6.2 Sensor Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.2.1 Ratiometric Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.2.2 Differential Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
6.2.3 Wheatstone Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
6.2.4 Null-Balanced Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
6.2.5 Bridge Amplifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6.3 Excitation Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.3.1 Current Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
6.3.2 Voltage Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
6.3.3 Voltage References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
6.3.4 Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
6.4 Analog-to-Digital Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
6.4.1 Basic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
6.4.2 V/F Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
6.4.3 PWM Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
6.4.4 R/F Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
6.4.5 Successive-Approximation Converter . . . . . . . . . . . 234
6.4.6 Resolution Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
6.4.7 ADC Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.5 Integrated Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
6.5.1 Voltage Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
6.5.2 Inductance Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
6.6 Data Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
6.6.1 Two-Wire Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
6.6.2 Four-Wire Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
6.7 Noise in Sensors and Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
6.7.1 Inherent Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
6.7.2 Transmitted Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
6.7.3 Electric Shielding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
6.7.4 Bypass Capacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
6.7.5 Magnetic Shielding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
6.7.6 Mechanical Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
6.7.7 Ground Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
6.7.8 Ground Loops and Ground Isolation . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
6.7.9 Seebeck Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
6.8 Batteries for Low-Power Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
6.8.1 Primary Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
6.8.2 Secondary Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
6.8.3 Supercapacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Contents xi

6.9 Energy Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

6.9.1 Light Energy Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
6.9.2 Far-Field Energy Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
6.9.3 Near-Field Energy Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
7 Detectors of Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
7.1 Ultrasonic Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
7.2 Microwave Motion Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
7.3 Micropower Impulse Radars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
7.4 Ground Penetrating Radars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
7.5 Linear Optical Sensors (PSD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
7.6 Capacitive Occupancy Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7.7 Triboelectric Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
7.8 Optoelectronic Motion Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
7.8.1 Sensor Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
7.8.2 Multiple Detecting Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
7.8.3 Complex Sensor Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
7.8.4 Image Distortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
7.8.5 Facet Focusing Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
7.8.6 Visible and Near-IR Light Motion Detectors . . . . . . 299
7.8.7 Mid- and Far-IR Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
7.8.8 Passive Infrared (PIR) Motion Detectors . . . . . . . . . 302
7.8.9 PIR Detector Efficiency Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
7.9 Optical Presence Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
7.9.1 Photoelectric Beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
7.9.2 Light Reflection Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
7.10 Pressure-Gradient Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
7.11 2-D Pointing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
7.12 Gesture Sensing (3-D Pointing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
7.12.1 Inertial and Gyroscopic Mice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
7.12.2 Optical Gesture Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
7.12.3 Near-Field Gesture Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
7.13 Tactile Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
7.13.1 Switch Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
7.13.2 Piezoelectric Tactile Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
7.13.3 Piezoresistive Tactile Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
7.13.4 Tactile MEMS Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
7.13.5 Capacitive Touch Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
7.13.6 Optical Touch Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
7.13.7 Optical Fingerprint Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
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8 Presence, Displacement, and Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

8.1 Potentiometric Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
8.2 Piezoresistive Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
8.3 Capacitive Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
8.4 Inductive and Magnetic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
8.4.1 LVDT and RVDT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
8.4.2 Transverse Inductive Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
8.4.3 Eddy Current Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
8.4.4 Pavement Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
8.4.5 Metal Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
8.4.6 Hall-Effect Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
8.4.7 Magnetoresistive Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
8.4.8 Magnetostrictive Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
8.5 Optical Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
8.5.1 Optical Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
8.5.2 Proximity Detector with Polarized Light . . . . . . . . . 363
8.5.3 Prismatic and Reflective Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
8.5.4 Fabry-Perot Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
8.5.5 Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
8.5.6 Grating Photomodulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
8.6 Thickness and Level Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
8.6.1 Ablation Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
8.6.2 Film Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
8.6.3 Cryogenic Liquid Level Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
9 Velocity and Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
9.1 Stationary Velocity Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
9.1.1 Linear Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
9.1.2 Rotary Velocity Sensors (Tachometers) . . . . . . . . . . 384
9.2 Inertial Rotary Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
9.2.1 Rotor Gyroscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
9.2.2 Vibrating Gyroscopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
9.2.3 Optical (Laser) Gyroscopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
9.3 Inertial Linear Sensors (Accelerometers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
9.3.1 Transfer Function and Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 393
9.3.2 Inclinometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
9.3.3 Seismic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
9.3.4 Capacitive Accelerometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
9.3.5 Piezoresistive Accelerometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
9.3.6 Piezoelectric Accelerometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
9.3.7 Thermal Accelerometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
9.3.8 Closed-Loop Accelerometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
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10 Force and Strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

10.1 Basic Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
10.2 Strain Gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
10.3 Pressure-Sensitive Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
10.4 Piezoelectric Force Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
10.5 Piezoelectric Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
10.6 Optical Force Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
11 Pressure Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
11.1 Concept of Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
11.2 Units of Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
11.3 Mercury Pressure Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
11.4 Bellows, Membranes, and Thin Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
11.5 Piezoresistive Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
11.6 Capacitive Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
11.7 VRP Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
11.8 Optoelectronic Pressure Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
11.9 Indirect Pressure Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
11.10 Vacuum Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
11.10.1 Pirani Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
11.10.2 Ionization Gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
11.10.3 Gas Drag Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
12 Flow Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
12.1 Basics of Flow Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
12.2 Pressure Gradient Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
12.3 Thermal Transport Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
12.3.1 Hot-Wire Anemometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
12.3.2 Three-Part Thermoanemometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
12.3.3 Two-Part Thermoanemometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
12.3.4 Microflow Thermal Transport Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . 468
12.4 Ultrasonic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
12.5 Electromagnetic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
12.6 Breeze Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
12.7 Coriolis Mass Flow Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
12.8 Drag Force Flowmeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
12.9 Cantilever MEMS Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
12.10 Dust and Smoke Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
12.10.1 Ionization Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
12.10.2 Optical Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
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13 Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
13.1 Microphone Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
13.1.1 Output Impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
13.1.2 Balanced Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
13.1.3 Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
13.1.4 Frequency Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
13.1.5 Intrinsic Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
13.1.6 Directionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
13.1.7 Proximity Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
13.2 Resistive Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
13.3 Condenser Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
13.4 Electret Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
13.5 Optical Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
13.6 Piezoelectric Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
13.6.1 Low-Frequency Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
13.6.2 Ultrasonic Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
13.7 Dynamic Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
14 Humidity and Moisture Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
14.1 Concept of Humidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
14.2 Sensor Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
14.3 Capacitive Humidity Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
14.4 Resistive Humidity Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
14.5 Thermal Conductivity Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
14.6 Optical Hygrometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
14.6.1 Chilled Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
14.6.2 Light RH Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
14.7 Oscillating Hygrometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
14.8 Soil Moisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
15 Light Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
15.1.1 Principle of Quantum Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
15.2 Photodiode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
15.3 Phototransistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
15.4 Photoresistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
15.5 Cooled Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
15.6 Imaging Sensors for Visible Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
15.6.1 CCD Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
15.6.2 CMOS Imaging Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
15.7 UV Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
15.7.1 Materials and Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
15.7.2 Avalanche UV Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Contents xv

15.8 Thermal Radiation Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

15.8.1 General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
15.8.2 Golay Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
15.8.3 Thermopiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
15.8.4 Pyroelectric Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
15.8.5 Microbolometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
16 Detectors of Ionizing Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
16.1 Scintillating Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
16.2 Ionization Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
16.2.1 Ionization Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
16.2.2 Proportional Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
16.2.3 Geiger–Müller (GM) Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
16.2.4 Semiconductor Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
16.3 Cloud and Bubble Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
17 Temperature Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
17.1 Coupling with Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
17.1.1 Static Heat Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
17.1.2 Dynamic Heat Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
17.1.3 Sensor Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
17.1.4 Signal Processing of Sensor Response . . . . . . . . . . . 594
17.2 Temperature References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
17.3 Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
17.4 Ceramic Thermistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
17.4.1 Simple Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
17.4.2 Fraden Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
17.4.3 Steinhart and Hart Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
17.4.4 Self-Heating Effect in NTC Thermistors . . . . . . . . . 607
17.4.5 Ceramic PTC Thermistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
17.4.6 Fabrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
17.5 Silicon and Germanium Thermistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
17.6 Semiconductor pn-Junction Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
17.7 Silicon PTC Temperature Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
17.8 Thermoelectric Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
17.8.1 Thermoelectric Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
17.8.2 Thermocouple Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
17.8.3 Thermocouple Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
17.9 Optical Temperature Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
17.9.1 Fluoroptic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
17.9.2 Interferometric Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
17.9.3 Super-High Resolution Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
17.9.4 Thermochromic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
17.9.5 Fiber-Optic Temperature Sensors (FBG) . . . . . . . . . 639
xvi Contents

17.10 Acoustic Temperature Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

17.11 Piezoelectric Temperature Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
18 Chemical and Biological Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
18.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
18.1.1 Chemical Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
18.1.2 Biochemical Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
18.2 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
18.3 Chemical Sensor Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
18.3.1 Selectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
18.3.2 Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
18.4 Electrical and Electrochemical Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
18.4.1 Electrode Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
18.4.2 Potentiometric Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
18.4.3 Conductometric Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
18.4.4 Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS)
Chemical Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
18.4.5 Elastomer Chemiresistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
18.4.6 Chemicapacitive Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
18.4.7 ChemFET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668
18.5 Photoionization Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
18.6 Physical Transducers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
18.6.1 Acoustic Wave Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
18.6.2 Microcantilevers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674
18.7 Spectrometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
18.7.1 Ion Mobility Spectrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
18.7.2 Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
18.8 Thermal Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
18.8.1 Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
18.8.2 Pellister Catalytic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
18.9 Optical Transducers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
18.9.1 Infrared Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
18.9.2 Fiber-Optic Transducers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
18.9.3 Ratiometric Selectivity (Pulse Oximeter) . . . . . . . . . 683
18.9.4 Color Change Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
18.10 Multi-sensor Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
18.10.1 General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
18.10.2 Electronic Noses and Tongues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
18.11 Specific Difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693
19 Materials and Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
19.1 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
19.1.1 Silicon as Sensing Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
19.1.2 Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Contents xvii

19.1.3 Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

19.1.4 Ceramics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
19.1.5 Structural Glasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
19.1.6 Optical Glasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
19.2 Nano-materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714
19.3 Surface Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
19.3.1 Spin Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
19.3.2 Vacuum Deposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716
19.3.3 Sputtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
19.3.4 Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
19.3.5 Electroplating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719
19.4 MEMS Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721
19.4.1 Photolithography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722
19.4.2 Silicon Micromachining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723
19.4.3 Micromachining of Bridges and Cantilevers . . . . . . . 727
19.4.4 Lift-Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728
19.4.5 Wafer Bonding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
19.4.6 LIGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
About the Author

Jacob Fraden holds a Ph.D. in medical electronics and is President of Fraden Corp., a
technology company that develops sensors for consumer, medical, and industrial applications.
He has authored nearly 60 patents in the areas of sensing, medical instrumentation, security,
energy management, and others.

xix
Data Acquisition
1

“It’s as large as life, and twice as natural”

—Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking Glass”

1.1 Sensors, Signals, and Systems

A sensor is often defined as a “device that receives and responds to a signal or

stimulus”. This definition is broad. In fact, it is so broad that it covers almost
everything from a human eye to a trigger in a pistol. Consider the level-control
system shown in Fig. 1.1 [1]. The operator adjusts the level of fluid in the tank by
manipulating its valve. Variations in the inlet flow rate, temperature changes (these
would alter the fluid’s viscosity and consequently the flow rate through the valve),
and similar disturbances must be compensated for by the operator. Without
control the tank is likely to flood, or run dry. To act appropriately, the operator
must on a timely basis obtain information about the level of fluid in the tank. In this
example, the information is generated by the sensor, which consists of two main
parts: the sight tube on the tank and the operator’s eye, which produces an electric
response in the optic nerve. The sight tube by itself is not a sensor, and in this
particular control system, the eye is not a sensor either. Only the combination of
these two components makes a narrow-purpose sensor (detector) that is selectively
sensitive to the fluid level. If a sight tube is designed properly, it will very
quickly reflect variations in the level, and it is said that the sensor has a fast
speed response. If the internal diameter of the tube is too small for a given fluid
viscosity, the level in the tube may lag behind the level in the tank. Then, we have to
consider a phase characteristic of such a sensor. In some cases, the lag may be
quite acceptable, while in other situations, a better sight tube design would be
required. Hence, the sensor’s performance must be assessed only as part of a data
acquisition system.

# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 1

J. Fraden, Handbook of Modern Sensors, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-19303-8_1
2 1 Data Acquisition

Fig. 1.1 Level-Control

System. Sight tube and
operator’s eye form a
sensor—device that converts
information into electrical
signal

This world is divided into natural and man-made objects. The natural sensors, like
those found in living organisms, usually respond with signals having electrochemi-
cal character; that is, their physical nature is based on ion transport, like in the nerve
fibers (such as an optic nerve in the fluid tank operator). In man-made devices,
information is also transmitted and processed in electrical form, however, through
the transport of electrons. Sensors intended for the artificial systems must speak the
same language as the systems “speak”. This language is electrical in its nature and
the sensor shall be capable of responding with the output signals where information
is carried by displacement of electrons, rather than ions.1 Thus, it should be possible
to connect a sensor to an electronic system through electrical wires, rather than
through an electrochemical solution or a nerve fiber. Hence, in this book, we use a
somewhat narrower definition of a sensor, which may be phrased as
A sensor is a device that receives a stimulus and responds with an electrical signal.

The term stimulus is used throughout this book and needs to be clearly understood.
The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is received and converted
into electrical signal. Examples of stimuli are light intensity and wavelength, sound,
force, acceleration, distance, rate of motion, and chemical composition. When we
say “electrical,” we mean a signal which can be channeled, amplified, and modified
by electronic devices. Some texts (for instance, [2]) use a different term,
measurand, which has the same meaning as stimulus, however with the stress on
quantitative characteristic of sensing.
We may say that a sensor is a translator of a generally nonelectrical value into an
electrical value. The sensor’s output signal may be in form of voltage, current, or
charge. These may be further described in terms of amplitude, polarity, frequency,

1
There is a very exciting field of the optical computing and communications where information is
processed by a transport of photons. That field is beyond the scope of this book.
1.1 Sensors, Signals, and Systems 3

phase, or digital code. The set of output characteristics is called the output signal
format. Therefore, a sensor has input properties (of any kind) and electrical output
properties.
Any sensor is an energy converter. No matter what you try to measure, you
always deal with energy transfer between the object of measurement to the sensor.
The process of sensing is a particular case of information transfer, and any trans-
mission of information requires transmission of energy. One should not be confused
by the obvious fact that transmission of energy can flow both ways—it may be with
a positive sign as well as with a negative sign; that is, energy can flow either from
the object to the sensor or backward—from the sensor to the object. A special case
is when the net energy flow is zero, and that also carries information about existence
of that particular situation. For example, a thermopile infrared radiation sensor will
produce a positive voltage when the object is warmer than the sensor (infrared flux
is flowing to the sensor). The voltage becomes negative when the object is cooler
than the sensor (infrared flux flows from the sensor to the object). When both
the sensor and the object are at exactly the same temperature, the flux is zero and
the output voltage is zero. This carries a message that the temperatures are equal to
one another.
The terms sensor and term detector are synonyms, used interchangeably and
have the same meaning. However, detector is more often used to stress qualitative
rather than quantitative nature of measurement. For example, a PIR (passive
infrared) detector is employed to indicate just the existence of human movement
but generally cannot measure direction, speed, or acceleration.
The term sensor should be distinguished from transducer. The latter is a
converter of any one type of energy or property into another type of energy or
property, whereas the former converts it into electrical signal. An example of a
transducer is a loudspeaker which converts an electrical signal into a variable
magnetic field and, subsequently, into acoustic waves.2 This is nothing to do with
perception or sensing. Transducers may be used as actuators in various systems. An
actuator may be described as opposite to a sensor—it converts electrical signal into
generally nonelectrical energy. For example, an electric motor is an actuator—it
converts electric energy into mechanical action. Another example is a pneumatic
actuator that is enabled by an electric signal and converts air pressure into force.
Transducers may be parts of a hybrid or complex sensor (Fig. 1.2). For example,
a chemical sensor may comprise two parts: the first part converts energy of an
exothermal chemical reaction into heat (transducer) and another part, a thermopile,
converts heat into an electrical output signal. The combination of the two makes a
hybrid chemical sensor, a device which produces electrical signal in response to a
chemical reagent. Note that in the above example a chemical sensor is a complex
sensor—it is comprised of a nonelectrical transducer and a simple (direct) sensor
converting heat to electricity. This suggests that many sensors incorporate at least

2
It is interesting to note that a loudspeaker, when connected to an input of an amplifier, may
function as a microphone. In that case, it becomes an acoustical sensor.
4 1 Data Acquisition

Fig. 1.2 Sensor may incorporate several transducers. Value s1, s2, etc. represent various types of
energy. Direct sensor produces electrical output e

one direct-type sensor and possibly a number of transducers. The direct sensors are
those that employ certain physical effects to make a direct energy conversion into a
generation or modulation of an electrical signal. Examples of such physical effects
are the photoeffect and Seebeck effect. These will be described in Chap. 4.
In summary, there are two types of sensors, direct and hybrid. A direct sensor
converts a stimulus into an electrical signal or modifies an externally supplied
electrical signal, whereas a hybrid sensor (or simply—a sensor) in addition needs
one or more transducers before a direct sensor can be employed to generate an
electrical output.
A sensor does not function by itself; it is always part of a larger system that may
incorporate many other detectors, signal conditioners, processors, memory devices,
data recorders, and actuators. The sensor’s place in a device is either intrinsic or
extrinsic. It may be positioned at the input of a device to perceive the outside effects
and to inform the system about variations in the outside stimuli. Also, it may be an
internal part of a device that monitors the devices’ own state to cause the appropri-
ate performance. A sensor is always part of some kind of a data acquisition system.
In turn, such a system may be part of a larger control system that includes various
feedback mechanisms.
To illustrate the place of sensors in a larger system, Fig. 1.3 shows a block
diagram of a data acquisition and control device. An object can be anything: a car,
space ship, animal or human, liquid, or gas. Any material object may become a
subject of some kind of a measurement or control. Data are collected from an object
by a number of sensors. Some of them (2, 3, and 4) are positioned directly on or
inside the object. Sensor 1 perceives the object without a physical contact and,
therefore, is called a noncontact sensor. Examples of such a sensor is a radiation
detector and a TV camera. Even if we say “noncontact”, we remember that energy
transfer always occurs between a sensor and object.
Sensor 5 serves a different purpose. It monitors the internal conditions of the
data acquisition system itself. Some sensors (1 and 3) cannot be directly connected
to standard electronic circuits because of the inappropriate output signal
formats. They require the use of interface devices (signal conditioners) to produce
a specific output format.
Sensors 1, 2, 3, and 5 are passive. They generate electric signals without energy
consumption from the electronic circuits. Sensor 4 is active. It requires an operating
1.1 Sensors, Signals, and Systems 5

Fig. 1.3 Positions of sensors in data acquisition system. Sensor 1 is noncontact, sensors, 2 and
3 are passive, sensor 4 is active, and sensor 5 is internal to data acquisition system

signal that is provided by an excitation circuit. This signal is modified by the sensor
or modulated by the object’s stimulus. An example of an active sensor is a
thermistor that is a temperature-sensitive resistor. It needs a current source, which
is an excitation circuit. Depending on the complexity of the system, the total
number of sensors may vary from as little as one (a home thermostat) to many
thousands (a space station).
Electrical signals from the sensors are fed into a multiplexer (MUX), which is
a switch or a gate. Its function is to connect the sensors, one at a time, to an analog-
to-digital converter (A/D or ADC) if a sensor produces an analog signal, or directly
to a computer if a sensor produces signals in a digital format. The computer controls
a multiplexer and ADC for the appropriate timing. Also, it may send control signals
to an actuator that acts on the object. Examples of the actuators are an electric
motor, a solenoid, a relay, and a pneumatic valve. The system contains some
peripheral devices (for instance, a data recorder, display, alarm, etc.) and a number
of components that are not shown in the block diagram. These may be filters,
sample-and-hold circuits, amplifiers, and so forth.
To illustrate how such a system works, let us consider a simple car door
monitoring arrangement. Every door in a car is supplied with a sensor that detects
the door position (open or closed). In most cars, the sensor is a simple electric
switch. Signals from all door switches go to the car’s internal processor (no need for
an ADC as all door signals are in a digital format: ones or zeros). The processor
identifies which door is open (signal is zero) and sends an indicating message to the
peripheral devices (a dashboard display and an audible alarm). A car driver (the
actuator) gets the message and acts on the object (closes the door) and the sensor
outputs the signal “one”.
6 1 Data Acquisition

An example of a more complex device is an anesthetic vapor delivery system. It is

intended for controlling the level of anesthetic drugs delivered to a patient through
inhalation during surgical procedures. The system employs several active and
passive sensors. The vapor concentration of anesthetic agents (such as halothane,
isoflurane, or enflurane) is selectively monitored by an active piezoelectric sensor
being installed into a ventilation tube. Molecules of anesthetic vapors add mass to
the oscillating crystal in the sensor and change its natural frequency, which is a
measure of the vapor concentration. Several other sensors monitor the concentration
of CO2, to distinguish exhale from inhale, and temperature and pressure, to compen-
sate for additional variables. All these data are multiplexed, digitized, and fed into
the digital signal processor (DSP) which calculates the actual vapor concentration.
An anesthesiologist presets a desired delivery level and the processor adjusts the
actuators (valves) to maintain anesthetics at the correct concentration.
Another example of a complex combination of various sensors, actuators, and
indicating signals is shown in Fig. 1.4. It is an Advanced Safety Vehicle (ASV) that
was developed by Nissan. The system is aimed at increasing safety of a car. Among
many others, it includes a drowsiness warning system and drowsiness relieving
system. This may include the eyeball movement sensor and the driver head
inclination detector. The microwave, ultrasonic, and infrared range measuring
sensors are incorporated into the emergency braking advanced advisory system to
illuminate the break lamps even before the driver brakes hard in an emergency, thus
advising the driver of a following vehicle to take evasive action. The obstacle
warning system includes both the radar and infrared (IR) detectors. The adaptive
cruise-control system works if the driver approaches too closely to a preceding
vehicle; the speed is automatically reduced to maintain a suitable safety distance.
The pedestrian monitoring system detects and alerts the driver to the presence of
pedestrians at night as well as in vehicle blind spots. The lane-control system helps
in the event the system detects and determines that incipient lane deviation is not
the driver’s intention. It issues a warning and automatically steers the vehicle, if
necessary, to prevent it from leaving its lane.

Fig. 1.4 Multiple sensors, actuators, and warning signals are parts of the Advanced Safety
Vehicle (Courtesy of Nissan Motor Company)
1.2 Sensor Classification 7

In the following chapters we focus on sensing methods, physical principles of

sensor operations, practical designs, and interface electronic circuits. Other essen-
tial parts of the control and monitoring systems, such as actuators, displays, data
recorders, data transmitters, and others are beyond the scope of this book and
mentioned only briefly.
The sensor’s packaging design may be of a general purpose. A special packaging
and housing should be built to adapt it for a particular application. For instance, a
micromachined piezoresistive pressure sensor may be housed into a watertight
enclosure for the invasive measurement of the aortic blood pressure through a
catheter. The same sensor will be given an entirely different packaging when
intended for measuring blood pressure by a noninvasive oscillometric method
with an inflatable cuff. Some sensors are specifically designed to be very selective
in a particular range of input stimulus and be quite immune to signals outside the
desirable limits. For instance, a motion detector for a security system should
be sensitive to movement of humans and not responsive to movement of smaller
animals, like dogs and cats.

1.2 Sensor Classification

Sensor classification schemes range from very simple to the complex. Depending
on the classification purpose, different classification criteria may be selected. Here
are several practical ways to look at sensors.

1. All sensors may be of two kinds: passive and active. A passive sensor does not
need any additional energy source. It generates an electric signal in response to
an external stimulus. That is, the input stimulus energy is converted by the sensor
into the output signal. The examples are a thermocouple, a photodiode, and a
piezoelectric sensor. Many passive sensors are direct sensors as we defined them
earlier.
The active sensors require external power for their operation, which is called
an excitation signal. That signal is modified (modulated) by the sensor to
produce the output signal. The active sensors sometimes are called parametric
because their own properties change in response to an external stimulus and
these properties can be subsequently converted into electric signals. It can be
stated that a sensor’s parameter modulates the excitation signal and that modu-
lation carries information of the measured value. For example, a thermistor is a
temperature-sensitive resistor. It does not generate any electric signal, but by
passing electric current (excitation signal) through it its resistance can be
measured by detecting variations in current and/or voltage across the thermistor.
These variations (presented in ohms) directly relate to temperature through a
known transfer function. Another example of an active sensor is a resistive strain
gauge in which electrical resistance relates to strain in the material. To measure
the resistance of a sensor, electric current must be applied to it from an external
power source.
8 1 Data Acquisition

2. Depending on the selected reference, sensors can be classified into absolute and
relative. An absolute sensor detects a stimulus in reference to an absolute
physical scale that is independent on the measurement conditions, whereas a
relative sensor produces a signal that relates to some special case. An example of
an absolute sensor is a thermistor—a temperature-sensitive resistor. Its electrical
resistance directly relates to the absolute temperature scale of Kelvin. Another
very popular temperature sensor—a thermocouple—is a relative sensor. It
produces an electric voltage that is function of a temperature gradient across
the thermocouple wires. Thus, a thermocouple output signal cannot be related to
any particular temperature without referencing to a selected baseline. Another
example of the absolute and relative sensors is a pressure sensor. An absolute
pressure sensor produces signal in reference to vacuum—an absolute zero on a
pressure scale. A relative pressure sensor produces signal with respect to a
selected baseline that is not zero pressure—for example, to the atmospheric
pressure.
3. Another way to look at a sensor is to consider some of its properties that may be
of a specific interest [3]. Below are the lists of various sensor characteristics and
properties (Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5).

Table 1.1 Sensor Sensitivity Stimulus range (span)

specifications
Stability (short and long term) Resolution
Accuracy Selectivity
Speed of response Environmental conditions
Overload characteristics Linearity
Hysteresis Dead band
Operating life Output format
Cost, size, weight Other

Table 1.2 Sensing Inorganic Organic

element material
Conductor Insulator
Semiconductor Liquid gas or plasma
Biological substance Other

Table 1.3 Conversion phenomena

Physical Thermoelectric Chemical Chemical transformation
Photoelectric Physical transformation
Photomagnetic Electrochemical process
Magnetoelectric Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic Other
Thermoelastic Biological Biochemical transformation
Electroelastic Physical transformation
Thermomagnetic Effect on test organism
Thermo-optic Spectroscopy
Photoelastic Other
Other
1.2 Sensor Classification 9

Table 1.4 Field of applications

Agriculture Automotive
Civil engineering, construction Domestic, appliances
Distribution, commerce, finance Environment, meteorology, security
Energy, power Information, telecommunication
Health, medicine Marine
Manufacturing Recreation, toys
Military Space
Scientific measurement Other
Transportation (excluding automotive)

Table 1.5 Stimuli

Stimulus Stimulus
Acoustic Mechanical Position (linear, angular)
Wave amplitude, phase Acceleration
Spectrum polarization Force
Wave velocity Stress, pressure
Other Strain
Biological Mass, density
Biomass (types, concentration states) Moment, torque
Other Speed of flow, rate of
Chemical mass transport
Components (identities, concentration, states) Shape, roughness,
Other orientation
Electric Stiffness, compliance
Charge, current Viscosity
Potential, voltage Crystallinity, structural
Electric field (amplitude, phase, polarization, integrity
spectrum) Other
Conductivity Radiation Type
Permittivity Energy
Other Intensity
Magnetic Other
Magnetic field (amplitude, phase, polarization, Thermal Temperature
spectrum) Flux
Magnetic flux Specific heat
Permeability Thermal conductivity
Other Other
Optical
Wave amplitude, phase, polarization, spectrum
Wave velocity
Refractive index
Emissivity, reflectivity, absorption
Other
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
Hope renewed their strength in a wonderful way; they were indeed
less to be pitied than those who had the fearful anxiety of rescuing
them, or watching the rescue.
It was Frithiof who had first discovered them; the rest of the party,
after seeing over the lighthouse, had wandered along the cliffs
talking to an old sailor, and, Lance being seized with a desire to see
over the edge, Frithiof had set Cecil’s mind at rest by lying down
with the little fellow and holding him securely while he glanced down
the sheer descent to the sea. A little farther on, to the left, he
suddenly perceived, to his horror, the two clinging figures, and at
once recognized them. Dragging the child back, he sprang up and
seized the old sailor’s arm, interrupting a long-winded story to which
Mr. Boniface was listening.
“There are two people down there, cut off by the tide,” he said.
“What is the quickest way to reach them?”
“Good Lord!” cried the old man; “why, there’ll be nought quicker
than a boat at Britling Gap, or ropes brought from there and let
down.”
“Tell them help is coming,” said Frithiof “I will row round.”
And without another word he set off running like the wind toward
the coast-guard station. On and on he rushed over the green downs,
past the little white chalk-heaps that marked the coast-guard’s
nightly walk, past the lighthouse and down the hill to the little
sheltered cove. Though a good runner, he was sadly out of training;
his breath came now in gasps, his throat felt as though it were on
fire, and all the time a terrible dread filled his heart. Supposing he
were too late!
At Britling Gap not a soul was in sight, and he dared not waste time
in seeking help. The boat was in its usual place on the beach. He
shoved it out to sea, sprang into it, paused only to fling off his coat,
then with desperate energy pulled toward the place where Roy and
Sigrid awaited their rescuer with fast-failing strength.
And yet in all Frithiof’s anxiety there came to him a strange sense of
satisfaction, an excitement which banished from his mind all the
specters of the past, a consciousness of power that in itself was
invigorating. Danger seemed to be his native element, daring his
strongest characteristic, and while straining every nerve and making
the little boat bound through the water, he was more at rest than he
had been for months, just because everything personal had faded
into entire insignificance before the absorbing need of those whom
he loved.
How his pulses throbbed when at length he caught sight of Sigrid’s
figure! and with what skill he guided his boat toward the cliff,
shouting out encouragement and warning! The two were both so
stiff and exhausted that it was no easy task to get them down into
the boat, but he managed it somehow, and a glad cheer from above
showed that the watchers were following their every movement with
eager sympathy.
“Let us walk back quickly,” said Mr. Boniface, “that we may be ready
to meet them,” and with an intensity of relief they hurried back to
Britling Gap, arriving just in time to greet the three as they walked
up the beach. Sigrid, though rather pale and exhausted, seemed
little the worse for the adventure, and a glad color flooded her
cheeks when Mr. Boniface turned to Frithiof and grasping his hand,
thanked him warmly for what he had done. Cecil said scarcely
anything; she could hardly trust herself to speak, but her heart beat
fast as, glancing at Frithiof, she saw on his face the bright look
which made him once more like the Frithiof she had met long ago at
Bergen.
 CHAPTER XXIV.

Mr. Boniface insisted on keeping them all till the following day, when
once more they enjoyed the delights of coaching, getting back to
London in the cool of the evening, laden with wild roses, hawthorn,
and field flowers, which gladdened more than one of their neighbors’
rooms in the model lodgings.
It was not till Wednesday in Whitsun-week that Frithiof found
himself in his old place behind the counter, and it took several days
before they all got into working order again, for though the holiday
had done them good, yet it was not very easy to get back into the
routine of business. But by Monday everything was in clockwork
order again, and even Mr. Horner, though ready enough at all times
to grumble, could find nothing to make a fuss about. It happened
that day that Mr. Horner was more in the shop than usual, for Roy
had unexpectedly been obliged to go to Paris on business, and it
chanced, much to his satisfaction, that, while Mr. Boniface was
dining, Sardoni the tenor called to speak about a song. There was
nothing that he enjoyed so much as interviewing any well-known
singer; he seemed to gain a sort of reflected glory in the process,
and Frithiof could hardly help smiling when at the close of the
interview they passed through the shop, so comical was the
obsequious manner of the little man toward the tall, jolly-looking
singer, and so curious the contrast between the excessive politeness
of his tone to the visitor, and his curt command, “Open the door,
Falck.”
Frithiof opened the door promptly, but the tenor, whose mischievous
eyes evidently took in everything that savored of fun, saw plainly
enough that the Norseman, with his dignity of manner and nobility
of bearing, deemed Mr. Horner as a man beneath contempt.
“Oh, by the way, Mr. Horner,” he exclaimed suddenly, turning back
just as he had left the shop; “I quite forgot to ask if you could oblige
me with change for a five-pound note. I have tried to get it twice
this morning, but change seems to be short.”
“With the greatest pleasure,” said Mr. Horner deferentially.
And pushing past Frithiof, he himself deposited the note in the till
and counted out five sovereigns, which he handed with a bow to
Sardoni.
Then, with a friendly “good-day,” the singer went out, and Mr.
Horner, rubbing his hands with an air of great satisfaction, retired to
Mr. Boniface’s room. The afternoon passed on just as hundreds of
afternoons had passed before it, with the usual succession of
customers, the usual round of monotonous work; there was nothing
to mark it in any way, and no sense of coming evil made itself felt.
In the most prosaic manner possible, Frithiof went out for the few
minutes’ stroll in the streets which he called tea-time. He was in
good spirits, and as he walked along he thought of the days by the
sea, and of the boating which he had so much enjoyed, living it all
over again in this hot, dusty London, where June was far from
delightful. Still, it was something to be out in the open air, to get a
few moments of leisure and to stretch one’s legs. He walked along
pretty briskly, managing to get some little enjoyment out of his short
respite, and this was well; for it was long before he could enjoy
anything again in that unconcerned, free-hearted way. Yet nothing
warned him of this; quite carelessly he pushed open the double
swing-doors and re-entered the shop, glancing with surprise but with
no special concern at the little group behind the counter. Mr. Horner
was finding fault about something, but that was a very ordinary
occurrence. A thin, grave-looking man stood listening attentively,
and Mr. Boniface listened too with an expression of great trouble on
his face. Looking up, he perceived Frithiof, and with an exclamation
of relief came toward him.
“Here is Mr. Falck!” he said; “who no doubt will be able to explain
everything satisfactorily. A five-pound note has somehow
disappeared from your till this afternoon, Frithiof; do you know
anything about it?”
“It was certainly in the till when I last opened it,” said Frithiof; “and
that was only a few minutes before I went out.”
“Very possibly,” said Mr. Horner. “The question is whether it was
there when you shut it again.”
The tone even more than the words made Frithiof’s blood boil.
“Sir,” he said furiously, “do you dare to insinuate that I—”
But Mr. Boniface laid a hand on his arm and interrupted him.
“Frithiof,” he said, “you know quite well that I should as soon
suspect my own son as you. But this note has disappeared in a very
extraordinary way, while only you and Darnell were in the shop, and
we must do our best to trace it out. I am sure you will help me in
this disagreeable business by going through the ordinary form
quietly.”
Then, turning to the private detective who had been hastily called in
by Mr. Horner, he suggested that they should come to his own room.
Mr. Horner shut the door with an air of satisfaction. From the first he
had detested the Norwegian, and now was delighted to feel that his
dislike was justified. Mr. Boniface, looking utterly miserable, sat
down in his arm-chair to await the result of the inquiry, and the two
men who lay under suspicion stood before the detective, who with
his practiced eye glanced now at one, now at the other, willing if
possible to spare the innocent man the indignity of being searched.
Darnell was a rather handsome fellow, with a short dark beard and
heavy moustache: he looked a trifle paler than usual, but was quite
quiet and collected, perhaps a little upset at the unusual disturbance
in the shop where for so long he had worked, yet without the
faintest sign of personal uneasiness about him. Beside him stood the
tall Norwegian, his fair skin showing all too plainly the burning color
that had rushed to his face the instant he knew that he lay actually
under suspicion of thieving. Mr. Horner’s words still made him tingle
from head to foot, and he could gladly have taken the man by the
throat and shaken the breath out of him. For the suspicion, hard
enough for any man to bear, was doubly hard to him on account of
his nationality. That a Norwegian should be otherwise than strictly
honorable was to Frithiof a monstrous idea. He knew well that he
and his countrymen in general had plenty of faults, but scrupulous
honesty was so ingrained in his Norse nature, that to have the
slightest doubt cast upon his honor was to him an intolerable insult.
The detective could not, of course, understand this. He was a clever
and a conscientious man, but his experience was, after all, limited.
He had not traveled in Norway, or studied the character of its
people; he did not know that you may leave all your luggage outside
an inn in the public highway without the least fear that in the night
any one will meddle with it: he did not know that if you give a Norse
child a coin equal to sixpence in return for a great bowl of milk, it
will refuse with real distress to keep it, because the milk was worth a
little less; he had not heard the story of the lost chest of plate,
which by good chance was washed up on the Norwegian coast, how
the experts examined the crest on the spoons, and after infinite
labor and pains succeeded in restoring it to its rightful owner in a
far-away southern island. It was, after all, quite natural that he
should suspect the man who had colored so deeply, who protested
so indignantly against the mere suspicion of guilt, who clearly shrank
from the idea of being searched.
“I will examine you first,” said the detective; and Frithiof, seeing that
there was no help for it, submitted with haughty composure to the
indignity. For an instant even Mr. Horner was shaken in his opinion,
there was such an evident consciousness of innocence in the
Norwegian’s whole manner and bearing now that the ordeal had
actually come.
In solemn silence two pockets were turned inside out. The right-
hand waistcoat pocket was apparently empty, but the careful
detective turned that inside out too. Suddenly Mr. Boniface started
forward with an ejaculation of astonishment.
“I told you so,” cried Mr. Horner vehemently.
And Frithiof, roused to take notice, which before he had not
condescended to do, looked down and saw a sight that made his
heart stand still.
Carefully pinned to the inside of the pocket was a clean, fresh, five-
pound note. He did not speak a word, but just stared at the thing in
blank amazement. There was a painful silence. Surely it could be
nothing but a bad dream!
He looked at the unconcerned detective, and at Mr. Horner’s excited
face, and at Mr. Boniface’s expression of grief and perplexity. It was
no dream; it was a most horrible reality—a reality which he was
utterly incapable of explaining. With an instinct that there was yet
one man present who trusted him, in spite of appearances, he made
a step or two toward Mr. Boniface.
“Sir,” he said, in great agitation, “I swear to you that I knew nothing
of this. It has astounded me as much as it has surprised you. How it
came there I can’t say, but certainly I didn’t put it there.”
Mr. Boniface was silent, and glancing back Frithiof saw on the thin
lips of the detective a very expressive smile. The sight almost
maddened him. In the shock of the discovery he had turned very
pale, now the violence of his wrath made him flush to the roots of
his hair.
“If you didn’t put it there, who did?” said Mr. Horner indignantly.
“Don’t add to your sin, young man, by falsehood.”
“I have never spoken a falsehood in my life; it is you who lie when
you say that I put the note there,” said Frithiof hotly.
“My poor fellow,” said Mr. Boniface, “I am heartily sorry for you, but
you must own that appearances are against you.”
“What! you too, sir!” cried Frithiof, his indignation giving place to
heartbroken wonder.
The tone went to Mr. Boniface’s heart.
“I think you did it quite unconsciously,” he said. “I am sure you never
could have taken it had you known what you were about. You did it
in absence of mind—in a fit of temporary aberration. It is, perhaps, a
mere result of your illness last summer, and no one would hold you
responsible for it.”
A horrible wave of doubt passed over Frithiof. Could this indeed be
the explanation? But it was only for a moment. He could not really
believe it; he knew that there was no truth in this suggestion of
brain disturbance.
“No one in absence of mind could deliberately have pinned the note
in,” he said. “Besides my head was perfectly clear, not even aching
or tired.”
“Quite so; I am glad that so far you own the truth,” said Mr. Horner.
“Make a free confession at once and we will not press the
prosecution. You yielded to a sudden temptation, and, as we all
know, have special reasons for needing money. Come, confess!”
“You are not bound to incriminate yourself,” said the detective, who,
as acting in a private capacity, was not bound to urge the
prosecution. “Still, what the gentleman suggests is by far the best
course for you to take. There’s not a jury in the land that would not
give a verdict against you.”
“I shall certainly not tell a lie to save open disgrace,” said Frithiof.
“The jury may say what it likes. God knows I am innocent.”
The tone in which he said the last words made Mr. Boniface look at
him more closely. Strangely enough it was in that moment of
supreme bitterness, when he fully realized the hopelessness of his
position, when one of his employers deemed him a madman and the
other a thief, then, when disgrace and ruin and utter misery stared
him in the face, that the faint glimpses of the Unseen, which, from
time to time, had dawned for him, broadened into full sunlight. For
the first time in his life he stood in close personal relationship with
the Power in whom he had always vaguely believed, the higher
Presence became to him much more real than men surrounding him
with their pity and indignation and contempt.
But Mr. Horner was not the sort of man to read faces, much less to
read hearts; the very emphasis with which Frithiof had spoken made
him more angry.
“Now I know that you are lying!” he cried: “don’t add blasphemy to
your crime. You are the most irreligious fellow I ever came across—a
man who, to my certain knowledge, never attends any place of
public worship, and do you dare to call God to witness for you?”
Nothing but the strong consciousness of this new Presence kept
Frithiof from making a sharp retort. But a great calmness had come
over him, and his tone might have convinced even Mr. Horner had
he not been so full of prejudice. “God knows I am innocent,” he
repeated; “and only He can tell how the note got here; I can’t.”
“One word with you, if you please, Mr. Harris,” said Robert Boniface,
suddenly pushing back his chair and rising to his feet, as though he
could no longer tolerate the discussion.
He led the way back to the shop, where, in low tones, he briefly
gave the detective his own opinion of the case. He was sure that
Frithiof firmly believed he was telling the truth, but, unable to doubt
the evidence of his own senses, he was obliged to take up the
plausible theory of temporary aberration. The detective shrugged his
shoulders a little, and said it might possibly be so, but the young
man seemed to him remarkably clear-headed. However, he accepted
his fee and went off, and Mr. Boniface returned sadly enough to his
room.
“You can go back to the shop, Darnell,” he said.
The man bowed and withdrew, leaving Frithiof still standing half-
bewildered where the detective had left him, the cause of all his
misery lying on the writing-table before him, just as fresh and crisp-
looking as when it had issued from the Bank of England.
“This has been a sad business, Frithiof,” said Mr. Boniface, leaning
his elbow on the mantel-piece, and looking with his clear, kindly eyes
at the young Norwegian. “But I am convinced that you had no idea
what you were doing, and I should not dream of prosecuting you, or
discharging you.”
Poor Frithiof was far too much stunned to be able to feel any
gratitude for this. Mr. Horner, however, left him no time to reply.
“I think you have taken leave of your senses, Boniface,” he said
vehemently. “Save yourself the annoyance of prosecuting, if you like;
but it is grossly unfair to the rest of your employees to keep a thief
in your house. Not only that, but it is altogether immoral; it is
showing special favor to vice; it is admitting a principle which, if
allowed, would ruin all business life. If there is one thing noticeable
in all successful concerns it is that uncompromising severity is shown
to even trifling errors—even to carelessness.”
“My business has hitherto been successful,” said Mr. Boniface quietly,
“and I have never gone on that principle, and never will. Why are we
to have a law of mercy and rigidly to exclude it from every-day life?
But that is the way of the world. It manages, while calling itself
Christian, to shirk most of Christ’s commands.”
“I tell you,” said Mr. Horner, who was now in a towering passion,
“that it is utterly against the very rules of religion. The fellow is not
repentant; he persists in sticking to a lie, and yet you weakly forgive
him.”
“If,” said Mr. Boniface quietly, “you knew a little more of Frithiof Falck
you would know that it is quite impossible that he could consciously
have taken the money. When he took it he was not himself. If he
had wanted to hide it—to steal it—why did he actually return to the
shop with it in his possession? He might easily have disposed of it
while he was out.”
“If that is your ground, then I object to having a man on my
premises who is afflicted with kleptomania. But it is not so. The
fellow is as long-headed and quick-witted as any one I know; he has
managed to hoodwink you, but from the first I saw through him, and
knew him to be a designing—”
“Sir,” broke in Frithiof, turning to Mr. Boniface—his bewildered
consternation changing now to passionate earnestness—“this is
more than I can endure. For God’s sake call back the detective,
examine further into this mystery; there must be some explanation!”
“How can any man examine further?” said Mr. Boniface sadly. “The
note is missed, and is actually found upon you. The only possible
explanation is that you were not yourself when you took it.”
“Then the least you can do is to dismiss him,” resumed Mr. Horner.
But Mr. Boniface interrupted him very sharply.
“You will please remember, James, that you are in no way concerned
with the engagement or dismissal of those employed in this house.
That is entirely my affair, as is set forth in our deed of partnership.”
“Which partnership will need renewing in another six months,” said
Mr. Horner, growing red with anger. “And I give you fair warning
that, if this dishonest fellow is kept on, I shall then withdraw my
capital and retire from the business.”
With this Parthian shot he went out, banging the door behind him.
Frithiof had borne in silence all the taunts and insults showered on
him; but when he found himself alone with the man to whom he
owed so much, he very nearly broke down altogether. “Sir,” he said,
trying in vain to govern his voice, “you have been very good to me;
but it will be best that I should go.”
“I would not have you leave for the world,” said Mr. Boniface.
“Remember that your sisters are dependent on you. You must think
first of them.”
“No,” said Frithiof firmly; “I must first think of what I owe to you. It
would be intolerable to me to feel that I had brought any loss on you
through Mr. Horner’s anger. I must go.”
“Nonsense,” said Mr. Boniface. “I cannot hear of such a thing. Why,
how do you think you would get another situation with this mystery
still hanging over you? I, who know you so well, am convinced of
your perfect freedom from blame. But strangers could not possibly
be convinced of it.”
Frithiof was silent; he thought of Sigrid and Swanhild suffering
through his trouble, he remembered his terrible search for work
when he first came to London, and he realized that it was chiefly his
own pride that prompted him never to return to the shop. After all,
what a prospect it was! With one partner deeming him a thief and
the other forced to say that he must be subject to a form of insanity;
with the men employed in the shop all ready to deem him a
dishonest foreigner! How was he to bear such a terrible position? Yet
bear it he must; nay, he must be thankful for the chance of being
allowed to bear it.
“If you are indeed willing that I should stay,” he said, at length,
“then I will stay. But your theory—the theory that makes you willing
still to trust me—is mistaken. I know that there is not a minute in
this day when my head has not been perfectly clear.”
“My dear fellow, you must allow me to keep what theory I please.
There is no other explanation than this, and you would be wisest if
you accepted it yourself.”
“That is impossible,” said Frithiof sadly.
“It is equally impossible that I can doubt the evidence of my own
senses. The note was there, and you can’t possibly explain its
presence. How is it possible that Darnell could have crossed over to
your till, taken out the note and pinned it in your pocket? Besides,
what motive could he have for doing such a thing?”
“I don’t know,” said Frithiof; “yet I shall swear to my dying day that I
never did it myself.”
“Well, there is no use in arguing the point,” said Robert Boniface
wearily. “It is enough for me that I can account to myself for what
must otherwise be an extraordinary mystery. You had better go back
to your work now, and do not worry over the affair. Remember that I
do not hold you responsible for what has happened.”
After this of course nothing more could be said. Frithiof left the room
feeling years older than when he had entered it, and with a heavy
heart took that first miserable plunge into the outer world—the
world where he must now expect to meet with suspicious looks and
cold dislike.
 CHAPTER XXV.

As he walked down the sort of avenue of pianos and harmoniums in

the inner shop, there came to his mind, why, he could not have told,
words spoken to him long before by that customer who had left on
his mind so lasting an impression, “Courage! the worst will pass.”
Though he could not exactly believe the words, yet he clung to them
with a sort of desperation. Also he happened to notice the clock, and
practically adopted Sydney Smith’s wise maxim, “Take short views.”
There were exactly two hours and a quarter before closing time; he
could at any rate endure as long as that, and of the future he would
not think. There were no customers in the shop, but he could hear
voices in eager discussion, and he knew quite well what was the
subject of their talk. Of course the instant he came into sight a dead
silence ensued, and the little group, consisting of Foster, Darnell, one
of the tuners, and the boy who made himself generally useful,
dispersed at once, while in the ominous quiet Frithiof went to his
usual place. The first few minutes were terrible; he sat down at his
desk, took up his pen, and opened the order-book, making a feint of
being actually employed, but conscious only of the dreadful silence
and of the eyes that glanced curiously at him; again a burning flush
passed over his face, just from the horror and shame of even being
suspected of dishonesty. It was a relief to him when a customer
entered, a man entirely ignorant of all that had passed, and only
bent on securing the best seats to be had for Mr. Boniface’s concert
on the following day. Carlo Donati, the celebrated baritone, was to
sing, and as he had only appeared once before that season, except
in opera, there was a great demand for tickets, which kept them
pretty busy until at length the longed-for closing came; the other
men lingered a little to discuss afresh the great event of the day, but
Frithiof, who had been watching the hands of the clock with longing
eyes, felt as if he could not have borne the atmosphere of the shop
for another minute, and snatching up his hat made for the door.
None of them said good-night to him; they were not intentionally
unkind, but they were awkward, and they felt that the strange affair
of the afternoon had made a great gulf between them and the
culprit. However, Frithiof was past caring much for trifles, for after
the first moment of intense relief, as he felt the cool evening air
blowing on him, the sense of another trouble to be met had
overpowered all else. He had got somehow to tell Sigrid of his
disgrace, to bring the cloud which shadowed him into the peaceful
home that had become so dear to him. Very slowly he walked
through the noisy streets, very reluctantly crossed the great
courtyard, and mounted flight after flight of stairs. At the threshold
he hesitated, wondering whether it would be possible to shield them
from the knowledge. He could hear Sigrid singing in the kitchen as
she prepared the supper, and something told him that it would be
impossible to conceal his trouble from her. With a sigh he opened
the door into the sitting-room; it looked very bright and cheerful;
Swanhild stood at the open window watering the flowers in the
window-box, red and white geraniums and southernwood, grown
from cuttings given by Cecil. She gave him her usual merry greeting.
“Come and look at my garden, Frithiof,” she said. “Doesn’t it look
lovely?”
“Why, you are late,” said Sigrid, coming in with the cocoa, her face a
little flushed with the fire, which was trying on that summer-day.
Then, glancing at him, “How tired you look! Come, sit down and eat.
I have got a German sausage that even Herr Sivertsen would not
grumble at. The heat has tired you, and you will feel better after you
have had something.”
He ate obediently, though the food almost choked him; Swanhild,
fancying that he had one of his bad headaches, grew quiet, and
afterwards was not surprised to find that he did not as usual get out
his writing materials, but asked Sigrid to go out with him for a turn.
“You are too tired to try the translating?” she asked.
“Yes, I’ll try it later,” he said; “but let us have half an hour’s walk
together now.”
She consented at once and went to put on her hat, well knowing
that Frithiof never shirked his work without good reason; then
leaving strict orders with Swanhild not to sit up after nine, they left
her absorbed in English history, and went down into the cool, clear
twilight. Some children were playing quietly in the courtyard; Sigrid
stopped for a minute to speak to one of them.
“Is your father better this evening?” she asked.
“Yes, miss, and he’s a-goin’ back to work to-morrow,” replied the
child, lifting a beaming face up to the friendly Norwegian lady, who
had become a general favorite among her neighbors.
“That is one of the little Hallifields,” explained Sigrid, as they passed
on. “The father, you know, is a tram-car conductor, and the work is
just killing him by inches; some day you really must have a talk with
him and just hear what terrible hours he has to keep. It makes me
sick to think of it. How I wish you were in Parliament, Frithiof, and
could do something to put down all the grievances that we are
forever coming across!”
“There was once a time when at home we used to dream that I
might even be a king’s minister,” said Frithiof.
Something in his voice made her sorry for her last speech; she knew
that one of his fits of depression had seized him.
“So we did, and perhaps after all you may be. It was always, you
know, through something very disagreeable that in the old stories
the highest wish was attained. Remember the ‘Wild Swans.’ And
even ‘Cinderella’ has that thought running through it. We are taught
the same thing from our nursery days upward. And, you know,
though there are some drawbacks, I think living like this, right
among the people, is a splendid training. One can understand their
troubles so much better.”
“I should have thought you had troubles enough of your own,” he
said moodily, “without bothering yourself with other people’s.”
“But since our own troubles I have somehow cared more about
them; I don’t feel afraid as I used to do of sick people, and people
who have lost those belonging to them. I want always to get nearer
to them.”
“Sigrid,” he said desperately, “can you bear a fresh trouble for
yourself? I have bad news for you to-night.”
Her heart seemed to stop beating.
“Roy?” she asked breathlessly, her mind instinctively turning first to
fears for his safety.
At any other time Frithiof would have guessed the truth through that
tremulous, unguarded question, which had escaped her involuntarily.
But he was too miserable to notice it then.
“Oh, no, Roy is still at Paris. They heard to-day that he could not be
back in time for the concert. It is I who have brought this trouble on
you. Though how it came about God only knows. Listen, and I’ll tell
you exactly how everything happened.”
By this time they had reached one of the parks, and they sat down
on a bench under the shade of a great elm-tree. Frithiof could not
bear to look at Sigrid, could not endure to watch the effect of his
words; he fixed his eyes on the smutty sheep that were feeding on
the grass opposite him. Then very quietly and minutely he told
exactly what had passed that afternoon.
“I am glad,” she exclaimed when he paused, “that Mr. Boniface was
so kind. And yet, how can he think that of you?”
“You do not think it, then?” he asked, looking her full in the face.
“What! think that you took it in absence of mind? Think that it would
be possible for you deliberately to take it out of the till and pin it in
your own pocket! Why, of course not! In actual delirium, I suppose,
a man might do anything, but you are as strong and well as any one
else. Of course, you had nothing whatever to do with it, either
consciously or unconsciously.”
“Yet the thing was somehow there, and the logical inference is, that
I must have put it there,” he said, scanning her face with keen
attention.
“I don’t care a fig for logical inference,” she cried, with a little
vehement motion of her foot. “All I know is that you had nothing
whatever to do with it. If I had to die for maintaining that, I would
say it with my last breath.”
He caught her hand in his and held it fast.
“If you still believe in me, the worst is over,” he said. “With the rest
of the world, of course, my character is gone, but there is no help
for that.”
“But there must be help,” said Sigrid. “Some one else must be guilty.
The other man in the shop must certainly have put it there.”
“For what purpose?” said Frithiof sadly. “Besides, how could he have
done it without my knowledge?”
“I don’t know,” said Sigrid, beginning to perceive the difficulties of
the case. “What sort of a man is he?”
“I used to dislike him at first, and he naturally disliked me because I
was a foreigner. But latterly we have got on well enough. He is a
very decent sort of fellow, and I don’t for a moment believe that he
would steal.”
“One of you must have done it,” said Sigrid. “And as I certainly never
could believe that you did it, I am forced to think the other man
guilty.”
Frithiof was silent. If he did not agree with her, was he not bound to
accept Mr. Boniface’s theory? The horrible mystery of the affair was
almost more than he could endure; his past had been miserable
enough, but he had never known anything equal to the misery of
being innocent yet absolutely unable to prove this innocence. Sigrid,
glancing at him anxiously, could see even in the dim twilight what a
heavy look of trouble clouded his face, and resolutely turning from
the puzzling question of how the mystery could be explained, she
set herself to make as light of the whole affair as was possible.
“Look, Frithiof,” she said; “why should we waste time and strength in
worrying over this? After all, what difference does it make to us in
ourselves? Business hours must, of course, be disagreeable enough
to you, but at home you must forget the disagreeables; at home you
are my hero, unjustly accused and bearing the penalty of another’s
crime.”
He smiled a little, touched by her eagerness of tone, and cheered, in
spite of himself, by her perfect faith in him. Yet all through the night
he tossed to and fro in sleepless misery, trying to find some possible
explanation of the afternoon’s mystery, racking his brain to think of
all that he had done or said since that unlucky hour when Sardoni
had asked for change.
The next morning, as a natural consequence, he began the day with
a dull, miserable headache; at breakfast he hardly spoke, and he set
off for business looking so ill that Sigrid wondered whether he could
possibly get through his work. It was certainly strange, she could not
help thinking, that fate seemed so utterly against him, and that
when at last his life was beginning to look brighter, he should again
be the victim of another’s fault. And then, with a sort of comfort,
there flashed into her mind an idea which almost reconciled her to
his lot. What if these obstacles so hard to be surmounted, these
difficulties that hemmed him in so persistently, were after all only
the equivalent to the physical dangers and difficulties of the life of
the old Vikings? Did it not, in truth, need greater courage and
endurance for the nineteenth-century Frithiof to curb all his natural
desires and instincts and toil at uncongenial work in order to pay off
his father’s debts, than for the Frithiof of olden times to face all the
dangers of the sea, and of foes spiritual and temporal who beset him
when he went to win back the lost tribute money? It was, after all, a
keen pleasure to the old Frithiof to fight with winds and waves; but
it was a hard struggle to the modern Frithiof to stand behind a
counter day after day. And then again, was it not less bitter for the
Frithiof of the Saga to be suspected of sacrilege, than for Frithiof
Falck to be suspected of the most petty and contemptible act of
dishonesty?
She was right. Anything, however painful and difficult, would have
been gladly encountered by poor Frithiof if it could have spared him
that miserable return to his old place in Mr. Boniface’s shop. And that
day’s prosaic work needed greater moral courage than any previous
day of his life.
About half-past nine there arrived a telegram which did not mend
matters. Mr. Boniface was seriously unwell, would not be in town
that day, and could not be at St. James’s Hall that evening for the
concert. Mr. Horner would take his place. Frithiof’s heart sank at this
news; and when presently the fussy, bumptious, little man entered
the shop the climax of his misery was reached. Mr. Horner read the
telegram with a disturbed air.
“Dear! dear! seriously ill, I’m afraid, or he would at least make an
effort to come to-night. But after all the annoyance of yesterday I
am not surprised—no, not at all. Such a thing has never happened in
his business before, ay, Mr. Foster?”
“Oh, no, sir,” said the foreman in a low voice, sorry in his heart for
the young Norwegian, who could not avoid hearing every word.
“It was quite enough to make him ill. Such a disgraceful affair in a
house of this class. For his own sake he does well to hush it up,
though I intend to see that all proper precautions are taken; upon
that, at any rate, I insist. If I had my own way there should have
been none of this misplaced leniency. Here, William!” and he
beckoned to the boy, who was irreverently flicking the bust of Mozart
with a duster.
“Yes, sir,” said William, who, being out of the trouble himself, secretly
rather enjoyed the commotion it had caused.
“Go at once to Smith, the ironmonger, and order him to send some
one round to fix a spring bell on a till. Do you understand?”
“Quite, sir,” replied William, unable to resist glancing across the
counter.
Frithiof went on arranging some music that had just arrived, but he
flushed deeply, and Mr. Horner, glad to have found a vulnerable point
of attack, did not scruple to make the most of his opportunity. Never,
surely, did ironmonger do his work so slowly! Never, surely, did an
employer give so much of his valuable time to directing exactly what
was to be done, and superintending an affair about which he knew
nothing. But the fixing of that detestable bell gave Mr. Horner a
capitol excuse for being in the shop at Frithiof’s elbow, and every
word and look conveyed such insulting suspicion of the Norwegian
that honest old Foster began to feel angry.
“Why should I mind this vulgar brute?” thought Frithiof, as he forced
himself to go on with his work with the air of quiet determination
which Mr. Horner detested. But all the same he did care, and it was
the very vulgarity of the attack that made him inwardly wince. His
headache grew worse and worse, while in maddening monotony
came the sounds of piano tuning from the inner shop, hammering
and bell-ringing at the till close by, and covert insults and
innuendoes from the grating voice of James Horner. How much an
employer can do for those in his shop, how close and cordial the
relation may be, he had learnt from his intercourse with Mr.
Boniface. He now learnt the opposite truth, that no position affords
such constant opportunities for petty tyranny if the head of the firm
happens to be mean or prejudiced. The miserable hours dragged on
somehow, and at last, late in the afternoon, Foster came up to him
with a message.
“Mr. Horner wishes to speak to you,” he said; “I will take your place
here.” Then, lowering his voice cautiously, “It’s my opinion, Mr. Falck,
that he is trying to goad you into resigning, or into an impertinent
answer which would be sufficient to cause your dismissal.”
“Thank you for the warning,” said Frithiof gratefully, and a little
encouraged by the mere fact that the foreman cared enough for him
to speak in such a way, he went to the private room, determined to
be on his guard and not to let pride or anger get the better of his
dignity.
Mr. Horner replied to his knock, but did not glance round as he
entered the room.
“You wished to speak to me, sir?” asked Frithiof.
“Yes, when I have finished this letter. You can wait,” said Mr. Horner
ungraciously.
He waited quietly, thinking to himself how different was the manner
both of Mr. Boniface and of his son, who were always as courteous
to their employees as to their customers, and would have thought
themselves as little justified in using such a tone to one of the men
as of employing the slave-whip.
Mr. Horner, flattering himself that he was producing an impression
and emphasizing the difference between their respective positions,
finished his letter, signed his name with a flourish characteristic of
his opinion of himself, then swung round his chair and glanced at
Frithiof.
“Mr. Boniface left no instructions as to whether you were to attend
as usual at St. James’s Hall to-night,” he began. “But since no one
else is used to the work I suppose there is no help for it.”
He paused, apparently expecting some rejoinder, but Frithiof merely
stood there politely attentive.
“Since you know the work, and are used to it, you had better attend
as usual, for I should be vexed if any hitch should occur in the
arrangements. But understand, pray, that I strongly disapprove of
your remaining in our employ at all, and that it is only out of
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