We propose a novel approach to measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR ) in the form of photosynthetic photon flux density with an inexpensive, small multi-channel spectrometer sensor, with integrated optical filters and analog-to-digital converter. Our experiments prove that the combination of eight spectral channels with different optical sensitivities, such as the sensorchip in use (AS7341, ams), derive the PAR with an accuracy of 14/$\mathrm{m}$${}^2$/$\mathrm{s}$. Enabled by the sensor architecture, additional information about the light quality can be retrieved which is expressed in the RLQI. A calibration method is proposed, and exemplary measurements are performed. Moreover, the integration in a solar-powered wireless sensor node is outlined, which enables long-term field experiments with high sensor densities and may be used to obtain important indexes, such as the GPP.

We review fabrication and optics of polymeric high-Q whispering gallery mode resonators. They are employed as bio-sensors featuring selective parallel functionalization of arrays and integration into lab-on-a-chip systems. Liquid crystalline elastomers enable wide tunability of resonances. Elastomer substrates allow photonic molecules with tunable coupling gap.

An electrostatic membrane actuator with an elastomer membrane as movable part and silver nanowires (AgNWs) as flexible electrode material is built and characterized. A layered and modular actuator design facilitates simple and fast modification of actuator properties for characterization purposes. The tested actuators allow a membrane center deflection in the range of over 50 μm with applied voltages lower than 1 kV. The observable membrane center deflection exhibits a viscoelastic creep behavior. With the aim to achieve a more stable membrane deflection, a simple correction function was applied to the constant electrode voltage thus compensating the linear creep rate. With this method, the creep rate was changed from +0.27 μm/s to −0.08 μm/s. This method already improves the stability of the actuator deflection to a high degree.