Dual-channel fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance sensor with cascaded coaxial dual-waveguide D-type structure and microsphere structure

To address the restriction of fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance(SPR) sensors in the field of multi-sample detection, a novel dual-channel fiber-optic SPR sensor based on the cascade of coaxial dual-waveguide D-type structure and microsphere structure is proposed in this paper. The fiber sidepolishing technique converts the coaxial dual-waveguide fiber into a D-type one, and the evanescent wave in the ring core leaks, generating a D-type sensing region;the fiber optic fused ball push technology converts the coaxial dual waveguides into microspheres, and the stimulated cladding mode evanescent wave leaks, producing the microsphere sensing region. By injecting light into the coaxial dual-waveguide middle core alone, the sensor can realize single-stage sensing in the microsphere sensing area;it can also realize dual-channel sensing in the D-type sensing area and microsphere sensing area by injecting light into the ring core. The refractive index measurement ranges for the two channels are 1.333–1.365 and 1.375–1.405, respectively, with detection sensitivities of 981.56 nm/RIU and 4138 nm/RIU. The sensor combines wavelength division multiplexing and space division multiplexing technologies, presenting a novel research concept for multi-channel fiber SPR sensors.

Ultrasonic sensitivity-improved fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer using a beam collimator and its application for ultrasonic imaging of seismic physical models

An ultrasonic sensitivity-improved fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer （FPI） is proposed and employed for ultra- sonic imaging of seismic physical models （SPMs）. The FPI comprises a flexible ultra-thin gold film and the end face of a graded-index multimode fiber （MMF）, both of which are enclosed in a ceramic tube. The MMF in a specified length can collimate the diverged light beam and compensate for the light loss inside the air cavity, leading to an increased spectral fringe visibility and thus a steeper spectral slope. By using the spectral sideband filtering technique, the collimated FP1 shows an improved ultrasonic response. Moreover, two-dimensional images of two SPMs are achieved in air by recon- structing the pulse-echo signals through using the time-of-flight approach. The proposed sensor with easy fabrication and compact size can be a good candidate for high-sensitivity and high-precision nondestructive testing of SPMs.

Experimental Measurements of the Sensitivity of Fiber-optic Bragg Grating Sensors with a Soft Polymeric Coating under Mechanical Loading,Thermal and Magnetic under Cryogenic Conditions

The strain and temperature sensing performance of fiber-optic Bragg gratings （FBGs） with soft polymeric coating, which can be used to sense internal strain in superconducting coils, are evaluated under variable cryogenic field and magnetic field. The response to a temperature and strain change of coated-soft polymeric FBGs is tested by comparing with those of coated-metal FBGs. The results indicate that the coated-soft polymeric FBGs can freely detect temperature and thermal strain, their At variable magnetic field, the tested results indicate accuracy and repeatability are also discussed in detail. that the cross-coupling effects of FBGs with different matrixes are not negligible to measure electromagnetic strain during fast excitation. The present results are expected to be able to provide basis measurements on the strain of pulsed superconducting magnet/cable （cable- around-conduit conductors, cable-in-conduit conductors）, independently or utilized together with other strain measurement methods.

Inspection of Complex Internal Surface Shape with Fiber-optic Sensor II: for Specular Tilted Surface Measurement

Complex surface shape measurement has been a focus topic in the CAD/CAM field. A popular method for measuring dimensional information is using a 3D coordinate measuring machine (CMM)with a touch trigger probe. The measurement set up with CMM, however, is a time consuming task and the accuracy of the measurement deteriorates as the speed of measurement increase. Non-contact measurement is favored since high speed measurement can be achieved and problems with vibration and friction can be eliminated. Although much research has been conducted in non-contact measurement using image capturing and processing schemes, accuracy is poor and measurement is limited. Some optical technologies developed provide a good accuracy but the dynamic range and versatility is very limited. A novel fiber-optic sensor used for the inspection of complex internal contours is presented in this paper, which is able to measure a surface shape in a non-contact manner with high accuracy and high speed, and is compact and flexible to be incorporated into a CMM. Modulation functions for tilted surface shape measurement, based on the Gaussian distribution of the emitting beam from single-mode fiber (SMF), were derived for specular reflection. The feasibility of the proposed measurement principle was verified by simulations.

Highly Sensitive Fiber-Optic Faraday-Effect Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Yttrium Iron Garnet

The principle and performance of a fiber-optic Faraday-effect magnetic-field sensor based on an yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and two flux concentrations are described. A single polarization-maintaining optical fiber links the sensor head to the source and detection system, in which the technique of phase shift cancellation is used to cancel the phase shift that accumulatein the optical fiber. Flux concentrators were exploited to enhance the YIG crystal magneto-optic sensitivity .The sensor system exhibited a noise-equivalent field of 8 pT/√Hz and a 3 dB bandwidth of ～10 MHz.

Measurement of Gamma-Rays Induced Luminescence Generated in a Sapphire Based Fiber-Optic Radiation Sensor

In this study, we fabricated a sapphire based fiber-optic radiation sensor. To evaluate the fiber- optic radiation sensor, we measured the spectrum and intensity of the luminescence generated from the fiber-optic radiation sensor according to the thickness of the PMMA block by irradiation of gamma rays emitted from a Co-60 source. And the result was compared with the value calculated from the formula of Lambert-Beer.

Miniaturized Fiber-Optic Fabry-Perot Interferometer for Highly Sensitive Refractive Index Measurement

This paper presents a novel miniaturized fiber-optic Fabry-Peort interferometer （FPI） for highly sensitive refractive index measurement. This device was tested for the refractive indices of various liquids including acetone and ethanol at room temperature. The sensitivity for measurement of refractive index change of ethanol is 1138 nm/RIU at the wavelength of 1550 nm. In addition, the sensor fabrication is simple including only cleaving, splicing, and etching. The signal is stable with high visibility. Therefore, it provides a valuable tool in biological and chemical applications.

Using Brillouin fiber-optic ring laser to provide base station with uplink optical carrier in a 10 GHz radio over fiber system

In this paper, a 10 GHz radio over fiber system is analyzed. The Brillouin fiber-optic ring laser is used in the center station （CS） to suppress the optical carrier for the modulation depth enhancement. Simultaneously, the Stockes wave induced by the Brillouin amplification injects and locks the Fabry-Perot （FP） laser to output a signal-mode optical source, which works as the uplink optical carrier.

Review of Fiber-optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing Technology

A distributed optical-fiber acoustic sensor is an acoustic sensor that uses the optical fiber itself as a photosensitive medium,and is based on Rayleigh backscattering in an optical fiber.The sensor is widely used in the safety monitoring of oil and gas pipelines,the classification of weak acoustic signals,defense,seismic prospecting,and other fields.In the field of seismic prospecting,distributed optical-fiber acoustic sensing(DAS)will gradually replace the use of the traditional geophone.The present paper mainly expounds the recent application of DAS,and summarizes recent research achievements of DAS in resource exploration,intrusion monitoring,pattern recognition,and other fields and various DAS system structures.It is found that the high-sensitivity and long-distance sensing capabilities of DAS play a role in the extensive monitoring applications of DAS in engineering.The future application and development of DAS technology are examined,with the hope of promoting the wider application of the DAS technology,which benefits engineering and society.

Laboratory investigations of the thermal strain of frozen soils,using fiber-optic strain gauges based on Bragg gratings

Measurements of the thermal deformations of frozen soil samples were performed in the cold laboratory in temperature range from 0°C to-12°C.Fiber Bragg Gratings strain and temperature sensors were used to measure the deformation and temperature inside the samples.A number of tests with the samples prepared from Kaolin and Cambrian clay saturated with fresh water,and prepared from fine and silt sand saturated with fresh or saline water,are performed.Thermal deformations of the samples are analyzed depending on the cyclic changes of their temperature.

Sputter Deposited Carbon Material based Fabry-Perot Sensor and Downhole Application

To prevent hydrogen-induced loss and achieve long-term effective parameters monitoring in harsh downhole environment,we proposed a Fabry-Perot sensor with vacuum sputter deposited carbon coating film,in which we employed a deposition technology with a higher particle kinetic energy,closer substrate adhesion,and denser films,to deposit the coating film on the surface of the quartz capillary glass tube to protect the sensor from corrosion.The sensitivity and accuracy of the Fabry-Perot sensor with carbon film deposition can reach 369 nm/MPa and 0.02%FS,respectively.Meanwhile,the sensor has less hysteresis error and good pressure linearity of more than 0.99999 for repeatable pressure measurement.The downhole practice monitoring data indicated that this fiber-optic sensor exhibited excellent performance and the sputter deposited carbon coating can effectively decrease hydrogen loss.

Reflective Ladder Topology Network Based on White Light Fiber-Optic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

In order to improve the multiplexing capability of the optical sensors based on the lower interferential optic fiber sensing technology and the white light fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer,reflective ladder topology network ( RLT) with tailored formula was proposed. The topology network consists of 6 rungs sensing elements linked by 5 couplers. Two cases with different choices of couplers were contrasted: one is equal coupling ratio,and the other is tailored coupling ratio. Through the simulation of these two cases,the detailed multiplexing capability was analyzed,and accordingly the experiments were also carried out. The simulation results showed that,the tailored formula enhances the multiplexing capability of the structure. In the first case, the maximum number of sensors which can be multiplexed is 8,and in the other case is 12 fiber optic sensors. The experimental results have a good agreement with numerical simulation results. Thus,it is considered expedient to incorporate RLT into large-scale building,grounds,bridges,dams,tunnels,highways and perimeter security.

Mesa Diaphragm-Based Fabry-Perot Optical MEMS Pressure Sensor

An optical micro electron mechanical system （MEMS） pressure sensor with a mesa membrane is presented. The operating principle of the MEMS pressure sensor is expatiated by the Fabry-Perot （F-P） interference and the relation between deflection and pressure is analyzed. Both the mechanical model of the mesa structure diaphragm and the signal averaging effect is validated by simulation, which declares that the mesa structure diaphragm is superior to the planar one on the parallelism and can reduce the signal averaging effect. Experimental results demonstrate that the mesa structure sensor has a reasonable linearity and sensitivity.

Pressure Sensor Based on the Fiber-Optic Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer

Pressure sensors based on fiber-optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer(EFPI)have been extensively applied in various industrial and biomedical fields.In this paper,some key improvements of EFPI-based pressure sensors such as the controlled thermal bonding technique,diaphragm-based EFPI sensors,and white light interference technology have been reviewed.Recent progress on signal demodulation method and applications of EFPI-based pressure sensors has been introduced.Signal demodulation algorithms based on the cross correlation and mean square error(MSE)estimation have been proposed for retrieving the cavity length of EFPI.Absolute measurement with a resolution of 0.08 nm over large dynamic range has been carried out.For downhole monitoring,an EFPI and a fiber Bragg grating(FBG)cascade multiplexing fiber-optic sensor system has been developed,which can operate in temperature 300℃with a good long-term stability and extremely low temperature cross-sensitivity.Diaphragm-based EFPI pressure sensors have been successfully used for low pressure and acoustic wave detection.Experimental results show that a sensitivity of 31 mV/Pa in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 12.7 kHz for aeroacoustic wave detection has been obtained.

Characterization of Miniature Fiber-Optic Fabry-Perot Interferometric Sensors Based on Hollow Silica Tube

A miniature fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer （MOFPI） fabricated by splicing a hollow silica tube （HST） with inner diameter of 4 μm to the end of a single-mode fiber is investigated and experimentally demonstrated. The theoretical relationship between the free spectrum range and the length of HST is verified by fabricating several MOFPIs with different lengths. We characterize the MOFPIs for temperature, liquid refractive index, and strain. Experimental results show that the sensitivities of the temperature, liquid refractive index, and strain are 16.42μm/℃, -118.56dB/RIU, and 1.21 pm/με, respectively.

Dark Variants of Luminous Bacteria Whole Cell Bioluminescent Optical Fiber Sensor to Genotoxicants

A stable dark variant separated from photobacterium phosphoreum (A2) was fixed in agar-gel membrane and immobilized onto an exposed end of a fiber-optic linked with bioluminometer. The variant could emit a luminescent signal in the presence of genotoxic agents, such as Mitomycin C (MC). The performance of this whole-cell optical fiber sensor system was examined as a function of several parameters, including gel probe thickness, bacterial cell density, and diameter of the fiber-optic core and working temperature. An optimal response to a model genotoxicant, Mitomycin C, was achieved with agar-bacterial gel membrane: the thickness of gel membrane was about 5 mm; the cell density of bacteria in gel membrane was about 2.0×107 /ml; the diameter of fiber-optic core was 5.0 mm; the working temperature was 25 ℃. Under these optimized conditions, the response time was less than 10 h to Mitomycin C, with a lower detection threshold of 0.1 mg/L.

Ultrasonic signal detection based on Fabry–Perot cavity sensor

Acoustic/ultrasonic sensors are devices that can convert mechanical energy into electrical signals.The Fabry–Perot cavity is processed on the end face of the double-clad fiber by a two-photon three-dimensional lithography machine.In this study,the outer diameter of the core cladding was 250μm,the diameter of the core was 9μm,and the microcavity sensing unit was only 30μm.It could measure ultrasonic signals with high precision.The characteristics of the proposed ultrasonic sensor were investigated,and its feasibility was proven through experiments.Its design has a small size and can replace a larger ultrasonic detector device for photoacoustic signal detection.The sensor is applicable to the field of biomedical information technology,including medical diagnosis,photoacoustic endoscopy,and photoacoustic imaging.

A twist sensor based on polarization-maintaining fibers with different cladding diameters

A fiber twist sensor using a Sagnac interferometer incorporating a tapered polarization-maintaining fiber(PMF)is proposed.The transmission properties of the sensor are investigated both theoretically and experimentally.Given the optoelastic effect,which depends on fiber geometry,the modal and group birefringences of the PMF can be controlled by applying different twist angles.The spectral wavelength shifts,free spectral ranges,and transmission losses of the original,microtapered,and etched PMFs were compared.Notably,the interference dips for the etched PMF move in opposite directions.As a result,the proposed PMF-based sensor could have multiparameter sensing applications.

An Arc Tangent Function Demodulation Method of Fiber-Optic Fabry-Perot High-Temperature Pressure Sensor

A new demodulation algorithm of the fiber-optic Fabry-Perot cavity length based on the phase generated carrier （PGC） is proposed in this paper, which can be applied in the high-temperature pressure sensor. This new algorithm based on arc tangent function outputs two orthogonal signals by utilizing an optical system, which is designed based on the field-programmable gate array （FPGA） to overcome the range limit of the original PGC arc tangent function demodulation algorithm. The simulation and analysis are also carried on. According to the analysis of demodulation speed and precision, the simulation of different numbers of sampling points, and measurement results of the pressure sensor, the arc tangent function demodulation method has good demodulation results： 1 MHz processing speed of single data and less than 1% error showing practical feasibility in the fiber-optic Fabry-Perot cavity length demodulation of the Fabry-Perot high-temperature pressure sensor.

Utilization of Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometers with Spectral Interferometric Interrogation for Microdisplacement Measurement

The paper presents a number of signal processing approaches for the spectral interferometric interrogation of extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometers(EFPIs). The analysis of attainable microdisplacement resolution is performed and the analytical equations describing the dependence of resolution on parameters of the interrogation setup are derived. The efficiency of the proposed signal processing approaches and the validity of analytical derivations are supported by experiments. The proposed approaches allow the interrogation of up to four multiplexed sensors with attained resolution between 30 pm and 80 pm, up to three times improvement of microdisplacement resolution of a single sensor by means of using the reference interferometer and noisecompensating approach, and ability to register signals with frequencies up to 1 kHz in the case of 1 Hz spectrum acquisition rate. The proposed approaches can be used for various applications, including biomedical, industrial inspection, and others, amongst the microdisplacement measurement.