A multi-purpose reflective fiber optic sensor

Fiber optic sensors, including reflective ones, have widespread applications in sensing technology. In this study, we first formulated the gain of a general reflective fiber optic sensor in terms of five major sensor parameters, and for two patterns of input intensity: namely uniform and Gaussian. By using these formulae, we have analyzed and plotted the variations of gain versus one or two of these parameters. The results obtained have exact compatibility for the two patterns of input intensity, although they have been obtained by different methods. The results can be suitably used in the optimum design of a wide variety of reflective fiber optic sensors.     

Superimposed long period fiber grating-based refractive index sensor

A superimposed long period fiber grating design proposed for refractive index sensing is shown to be superior to conventional dual resonance and turnaround point gratings and can operate at any chosen wavelength region by appropriate design. Numerical simulations carried out on standard single mode fibers show that such sensors can operate over a wide refractive index range (1.33–1.42) exhibiting a high sensitivity of ～500–1545?nm/RIU, yielding ～10^?6–10^?7 refractive index change corresponding to the resonance relative shift of 1?pm with potential applications to chemical and biological industries. The proposed scheme can also discriminate between refractive index and temperature changes.     

A dual modality optical fiber sensor

We propose and demonstrate a fibre optic system based on bi-tapered silica fibre that can simultaneously measure strain and fibre curvature. Both modalities on the signal can be extracted with no measurable crosstalk between them. The experimental signal has a pure phase modulation when strain is applied to the tapered fibre optic section of the sensor and the signal shows only intensity modulation when an un-tapered fibre section is bent. High sensitivity is achieved from the experimental results for strain and bending losses and the estimation of measurement errors is 0.2 and 0.1%, respectively. This system offers low-cost, compactness and it can be adapted for structural health monitoring.     

Embedded optical fiber sensors for materials evaluation

Optical fiber waveguides embedded within materials have been applied to the measurement of chemical changes, strain, and temperature inside materials. This paper reviews some of the research that has been performed in this area over the past 10 years and cites the theoretical and demonstrated performance of such sensors for material evaluation during its manufacturing, in service lifetime and degradation periods.     

调频连续波激光干涉光纤温度传感器

本文提出了一种调频连续波激光干涉非本征型法珀腔光纤温度传感器。使用具有较高热膨胀系数的不锈钢圆管封装法珀腔制成温度传感探头。不锈钢圆管作为法珀腔腔体的同时也是温度敏感元件。通过调频连续波干涉测量技术测量法珀腔因受热膨胀所产生的腔长变化量,实现对温度的传感。实验结果表明,该光纤温度传感器测温分辨率达到了0.0002 ℃,温度测量灵敏度可达3022 nm/℃。此温度传感器不仅具有较高的灵敏度与分辨率,且结构简单稳定,具有良好的应用前景。     

Study of a fiber optic humidity sensor based on agarose gel

An optical fiber humidity sensor was fabricated using a hydrophilic gel (agarose) deposited on the tapered plastic optical fiber (POF). The sensing element, agarose, can absorb and exude moisture from/to the ambience, thereby altering its refractive index and changing its ability to modulate the intensity of light that propagates through the fiber. Thus, the operating principle of the sensor is based on the intensity modulation technique, which utilizes a tapered POF probe coated with agarose that is sensitive to humidity. The POF, which was fabricated using an etching method, has a waist diameter of 0.45 mm and tapering length of 10 mm. As the relative humidity varies from 50% to 80%, the output voltage of the sensor with agarose gel of 0.5% weight content decreases linearly from 2.24 mV to 1.55 mV. The agarose-based sensor produces a sensitivity of 0.0228 mV/%, with a slope linearity of more than 98.36%. The tapered fiber with agarose gel of 1% weight content produces a sensitivity of 0.0103 mV/% with a slope linearity of more than 94.95% and a limit of detection of 2.635%, while the tapered fiber with agarose gel of 1.5% weight content produces a sensitivity of 0.0079 mV/% with a slope linearity of more than 98.53% and a limit of detection of 6.853%. The fiber with agarose gel of 0.5% weight content shows higher sensitivity compared to that of 1% and 1.5% due to the effect of pore size, which changes with concentration. The results demonstrate that agarose-based optical fiber sensors are both sensitive and efficient for economical and flexible measurements of humidity.     

光纤非本征法布里-玻罗传感器兰姆波检测灵敏度分析

基于兰姆波的结构工况检测技术在评估复合材料和金属结构的安全性和耐久性方面发挥着重要的作用。作为对传统的压电换能器（PZT）的一种很好的替代,光纤传感器在传感方面的应用正被广泛地挖掘出来,包括兰姆波检测。本文从理论上建立了超声兰姆波作用下光纤非本征法布里．玻罗（EFPI）传感器参数与其输出性能之间的关系。数值结果显示了传感器的性能与其相对于声源的方向角以及传感器的计量长度与超声波长的比值相关。所得出的结论对于EFPI传感器精确地探测兰姆波提供了理论依据。     

荧光光纤传感器测量系统实现

光纤是20世纪的重要发明之一，它与激光器、半导体探测器等一起构成了新的光学技术。本文阐述了作为现代测量技术中利用荧光光纤传感器进行测量的技术，并着重介绍了荧光光纤传感器测量系统的结构、功能及实际的应用。     

膜片式光纤动态压力传感器的研制

为了更好地满足动态压力的测量需求,研究了一种基于法布里-珀罗（Fabry-Perot,F-P）干涉原理的膜片式光纤动态压力传感器。从理论上分析了多个反射面对F-P腔光谱的影响,提出了得到单一F-P腔的方法。进而采用机械研磨的方式对传感器膜片外表面进行粗化加工,有效解决了由多个反射面带来的光谱复杂问题。对传感器进行静态压力和动态压力标定试验,结果表明：传感器性能良好,在0~200 kPa（表压）范围内的静态压力测量误差小于等于0.5 %FS;在20~2500 Hz范围内,传感器的幅值灵敏度相对误差优于±10%。     

Polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber based quarter waveplate for temperature stability improvement of fiber optic current sensor

Fiber optic quarter waveplate (QWP) is widely used in all kinds of optical fiber systems such as fiber sensing systems. Specifically, in fiber optic current sensor (FOCS) system, which is now applied in power grids to measure current and monitor operation, fiber optic QWP is a key device and has serious impact on temperature stability and accuracy of the system. We fabricated a QWP using polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM PCF), and studied its impact on the temperature characteristic of a home-made FOCS system. We also made a QWP with conventional polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) for comparison purposes. The measured system error of the FOCS prototype using a QWP made of PM PCF between ?40°C and 70°C was 8.45‰, which is five times smaller than with a QWP made of conventional PMF.     

Planar waveguide photonic crystals as an alternative for refractive index optical sensors design: theoretical evaluation

In this paper, the possibilities of designing refraction index optical sensors in planar waveguide photonic crystals are demonstrated for the first time. Photonic crystals obtained by connecting in cascade planar optical waveguides with high index contrast are analyzed. Photonic band gaps (PBGs) and photonic windows (PWs) were obtained. If a local defect is introduced in the PBG structure, the optical path length is modified and on states can be created in the gap. Besides, the on states wavelengths can be tuned if the optical path of the defect is modified: changing the physical length and/or the refraction index of the defect. In this way, planar waveguide photonic crystals could be used for sensing applications when a specimen modifies the refraction index lattice site. Sensing properties of planar waveguide photonic crystals, with one, two and three sensing channels, are demonstrated.     

光纤与电子传感器负压波信号对比实验

负压波技术是管道泄漏监测的有效手段。为获取更精确的负压波拐点信息,提高信噪比,采用102.8 m管道实验平台,根据不同环境下传感器监测负压波信号,对光纤传感器与传统电子压力传感器在响应时间、静态稳定性、抗电磁干扰等方面进行了对比实验分析。实验结果表明,在同等的管道工况下,光纤传感器从泄漏负压波信号的获取到压力信号的重新恢复稳定约需30 ms,远优于电子传感器500 ms的响应时间。在静态稳定性实验中,光纤传感器压力信号输出稳定,压力波动范围±0.001 MPa,远小于电子传感器压力输出变化±0.006 MPa。综合评价分析表明,光纤传感器具有良好的稳定性及抗电磁干扰性能,在管道泄漏监测及能源、化工等领域有着广阔的应用前景。     

A digital optical sensor for the remote monitoring of temperature

A method for the continuous monitoring of the change in temperature of remote physical objects based on waveguide ring microwave resonators, and also its diagramatic representation, is proposed. The results of calculations, which enable the range of accuracy of temperature measurements to be optimized using a digital optical sensor, are presented. The short response time and the small dimensions and mass of the proposed sensor enable continuous remote monitoring of the temperature to be achieved in locations that are difficult to access. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 3, pp. 54–57, March, 2007.     

SQL server的分布式光纤温度传感器校准数据采集方法

利用Lab VIEW数据采集系统平台,提出了一种采用SQL server技术访问InterBase数据库的数据采集方法.该方法先将分布式光纤温度传感器自带的GDB格式数据,以数据表的形式存入SQL Server特定数据库中,然后通过Lab VIEW数据采集系统以数组形式显示,最后将数组数据保存在Excel文件中,以便数据分析处理.运行调试结果表明,该方法对被校分布式光纤温度传感器的校准数据采集保存快速,操作分析方便,可视化效果好.     

远程分布式光纤温度传感系统的设计和制造

为了测量长距离大范围空间分布温度场,设计制造出30km远程光纤温度传感器。基于光纤放大的反斯托克斯背向拉曼自发散射测温原理,对系统进行了优化设计。用1550nm掺铒光纤激光器作为抽运源,采用高速瞬态波形采样技术,累加平均等信号处理技术,解决了远处背向反斯托克斯弱信号的检测问题。采用了智能化恒温技术,使主要元器件在恒温条件下工作,解决了工程应用中环境的适应性。远程分布光纤拉曼温度传感器系统已达到的主要技术指标如下:光纤长度31km,测温范围0-100℃(可扩展),温度测量不确定度为±2℃,温度分辨力为0.1℃,测量时间为432s,空间分辨力为4m。     

Ice structure monitoring with an optical fiber sensing system

Ice has been used as an effective and economical material for constructions of roads and platforms in cold regions. However, the practical applications of this brittle material are limited by the fact that ice structures can suddenly crack due to low tensile strength, be crushed due to excessive compression, melt and become soften as temperature elevates. In this paper, an early warning system is proposed to monitor the strain state and damage characteristic of ice structures. Firstly, both fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and Brillouin optical time domain analysis/reflectometry (BOTDA/R) sensors were installed in an ice block and an ice beam to understand their axial and flexural behaviors under a concentrated load. Secondly, the solution for strain state and damage process of ice structures was derived analytically under test conditions. Finally, an outdoor ice road test bed was built and continuously monitored for 34 h to validate the early warning system and understand the early stage behavior of ice structures. The experimental results agreed well with their corresponding theoretical predictions. The early warning system with optical sensors is effective and practical for long-term monitoring for ice structures.     

A miniaturized sensor consisting of concentric metallic nanorings on the end facet of an optical fiber

A polarization-independent optical sensor is created by fabricating a concentric gold ring grating with a period of 900 nm on the end facet of an optical fiber. The sensing function of this miniaturized device is realized by sending white light as a probe to the gold rings and collecting the response signal in the back-reflection through the optical fiber. A pronounced peak due to the Rayleigh anomaly of the gold ring grating is observed in the reflection spectrum, the center wavelength of which is sensitive to the change in the environmental refractive index of the fiber end facet. Theoretical analysis not only shows excellent agreement with the experimental results, but also gives insights into the mechanisms of this kind of sensor. Using the center position of the Rayleigh peak as the response signal, a high sensitivity dλ/dn of 900 nm per unity refractive index is realized for this sensor and a resolution of Δn/n ≈ 1% is demonstrated in preliminary experiments. The sensitivity is solely determined by the period of the grating.     

光纤出射光强分布研究

对多模光纤出射光束的光强分布用横向位移法进行了理论分析和实验研究,并用数值计算的方法分析实验测量数据.结果表明,高斯光束可以很好地描述光纤出射光强的分布,光纤出射光束光强分布参数主要与光纤芯径和出纤光功率等有关,为强度调制型光纤传感器的优化研制提供了必要的实验依据.     

氢与光纤的物化反应对井下永久性测量的影响

用于井下永久性测量的光纤传感器,由于在高温高压等恶劣环境下会与井下物质发生各种反应从而引起光纤吸收损耗的增加.为了掌握井下永久性测量用光纤吸收损耗的增加情况,本文针对影响光纤吸收损耗的重要因素-氢与光纤的物理及化学反应进行了研究,分析了其影响机理,讨论了其对光纤测量性能及使用寿命的影响,仿真计算了氢与光纤发生的各种反应所导致的光纤吸收损耗的增加情况,得到了化学反应引起的吸收损耗增加是影响永久测量性能的主要因素的结论,并由此给出了有效减少氢对光纤井下永久测量影响的预防措施.     

聚合物光纤梯度折射率测定方法和误差分析

研究了测量聚合物光纤径向折射率分布的相移干涉法,建立了数学模型,并采用数字模拟法进行了误差定量分析.