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Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors
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Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 10927

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hongqiang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
Interests: optical fiber sensors; photonic intergration; wearable optical interrogator

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Optical fiber is characterized as being lightweight, flexible, lightning resistant, long-lasting, and explosion proof. It is mainly used for optical communications; however, when used as a sensor, the distribution of temperature, strain, and vibration can be measured over the entire length of a long optical fiber. The general principle of such devices is that light from a laser or a superluminescent source is sent through an optical fiber, experiences subtle changes to its parameters either in the fiber or in one or several fiber Bragg gratings, and then reaches a detector arrangement that measures these changes. Compared with other types of sensors, optical fiber sensors exhibit a number of advantages. Even after a substantial number of years of development, optical fiber sensors have still not become very widespread since it is difficult to replace well-established technologies, even if they exhibit certain limitations. For some application areas, however, optical fiber sensors are increasingly recognized as a technology with very interesting capabilities. This is particularly true for harsh environments, such as sensing in high-voltage and high-power machinery or in microwave ovens. Bragg grating sensors can also be used to monitor conditions, e.g., within the wings of airplanes, in wind turbines, bridges, large dams, oil wells, and pipelines. Placing optical fiber sensors inside the human body can also help researchers and physicians to understand and treat a variety of medical conditions.

Prof. Dr. Hongqiang Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • optical fiber sensors
  • fiber bragg gratings
  • fiber measurements
  • microstructured optical fiber sensors
  • fiber optics components
  • fiber optics imaging

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 3396 KiB  
Article
Experimental Validation of High Spatial Resolution of Two-Color Optical Fiber Pyrometer
by Sahar Safarloo, Alberto Tapetado and Carmen Vázquez
Sensors 2023, 23(9), 4320; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23094320 - 27 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1147
Abstract
Taking non-contact temperature measurements in narrow areas or confined spaces of non-uniform surfaces requires high spatial resolution and independence of emissivity uncertainties that conventional cameras can hardly provide. Two-color optical fiber (OF) pyrometers based on standard single-mode (SMF) and multi-mode optical fibers (MMF) [...] Read more.
Taking non-contact temperature measurements in narrow areas or confined spaces of non-uniform surfaces requires high spatial resolution and independence of emissivity uncertainties that conventional cameras can hardly provide. Two-color optical fiber (OF) pyrometers based on standard single-mode (SMF) and multi-mode optical fibers (MMF) with a small core diameter and low numerical aperture in combination with associated commercially available components can provide a spatial resolution in the micrometer range, independent of the material’s emissivity. Our experiment involved using a patterned microheater to generate temperatures of approximately 340 °C on objects with a diameter of 0.25 mm. We measured these temperatures using two-color optical fiber pyrometers at a 1 kHz sampling rate, which were linearized in the range of 250 to 500 °C. We compared the results with those obtained using an industrial infrared camera. The tests show the potential of our technique for quickly measuring temperature gradients in small areas, independent of emissivity, such as in microthermography. We also report simulations and experiments, showing that the optical power gathered via each channel of the SMF and MMF pyrometers from hot objects of 250 µm is independent of distance until the OF light spot becomes larger than the diameter of the object at 0.9 mm and 0.4 mm, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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15 pages, 7428 KiB  
Article
A Fiber-Based Chromatic Dispersion Probe for Simultaneous Measurement of X-Axis and Z-Axis Displacements with Nanometric Resolutions
by Ran Zhao, Chong Chen, Xin Xiong, Yuan-Liu Chen and Bing-Feng Ju
Sensors 2023, 23(1), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23010051 - 21 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1508
Abstract
In this paper, a fiber-based chromatic dispersion probe for simultaneous measurement of X-axis and Z-axis displacements with nanometric resolutions by using the full width at half maxima (FWHM) of the detected spectral signal has been proposed and demonstrated. For X-axis, [...] Read more.
In this paper, a fiber-based chromatic dispersion probe for simultaneous measurement of X-axis and Z-axis displacements with nanometric resolutions by using the full width at half maxima (FWHM) of the detected spectral signal has been proposed and demonstrated. For X-axis, FWHM is employed for indicating the X-axis displacement based on the fact that the FWHM remains almost constant with the varying Z-axis displacement of the fiber detector and shows a linear relationship with the X-axis displacement within a specific Z-axis displacement range. For the Z-axis, the linear relationship between the centroid wavelength λ of the detected spectral signal and the Z-axis displacement is employed for indicating the Z-axis displacement based on the fact that the sensitivity (slope of the λ-Z curve) is also linear with X-axis displacement within a certain X-axis displacement range. Theoretical and experimental investigations have verified the feasibility of the proposed chromatic dispersion probe, which yields X- and Z-axis measurement ranges of 2.3 μm and 15 μm and X- and Z-axis measurement resolutions of better than 25 nm and 50 nm, respectively. Experiments were further performed to evaluate the basic performance of the prototype probe and the maximum measurement errors were less than 10 nm and 60 nm for X- and Z-axis displacements, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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22 pages, 9970 KiB  
Article
A Fiber-Based Chromatic Dispersion Probe for Simultaneous Measurement of Dual-Axis Absolute and Relative Displacement
by Ran Zhao, Chong Chen, Xin Xiong, Yuan-Liu Chen and Bing-Feng Ju
Sensors 2022, 22(24), 9906; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22249906 - 16 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1049
Abstract
This paper presents a fiber-based chromatic dispersion probe for the simultaneous measurement of dual-axis absolute and relative displacement with nanometric resolutions. The proposed chromatic dispersion probe is based on optical dispersion. In the probe, the employed light beam is split into two sub-beams, [...] Read more.
This paper presents a fiber-based chromatic dispersion probe for the simultaneous measurement of dual-axis absolute and relative displacement with nanometric resolutions. The proposed chromatic dispersion probe is based on optical dispersion. In the probe, the employed light beam is split into two sub-beams, and then the two sub-beams are made to pass through two optical paths with different optical settings where two identical single-mode fiber detectors are located at different defocused positions of the respective dispersive lenses. In this way, two spectral signals can be obtained to indicate the absolute displacement of each of the dual-axes. A signal processing algorithm is proposed to generate a normalized output wavelength that indicates the relative displacement of the dual-axis. With the proposed chromatic dispersion probe, the absolute and relative displacement measurements of the dual-axis can be realized simultaneously. Theoretical and experimental investigations reveal that the developed chromatic dispersion probe realizes an absolute measurement range and a measurement resolution of approximately 180 μm and 50 nm, respectively, for each axis. Moreover, a relative displacement measurement range and a measurement resolution of about 240 μm and 100 nm, respectively, are achieved for the dual-axis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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10 pages, 1688 KiB  
Article
Demonstration of Coherent Interference between Acoustic Waves Using a Fiber Ring Resonator
by Jee Myung Kim, Junghyun Wee and Kara Peters
Sensors 2022, 22(11), 4163; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22114163 - 30 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1643
Abstract
Optical fibers were previously demonstrated to propagate and detect acoustic modes that were converted from Lamb waves for structural health-monitoring applications; typically, a fiber Bragg grating sensor in the optical fiber is used to detect acoustic modes. Acoustic modes can transfer from one [...] Read more.
Optical fibers were previously demonstrated to propagate and detect acoustic modes that were converted from Lamb waves for structural health-monitoring applications; typically, a fiber Bragg grating sensor in the optical fiber is used to detect acoustic modes. Acoustic modes can transfer from one fiber to another through a simple adhesive bond coupler, preserving the waveform of the acoustic mode. This paper experimentally investigates the coherence of acoustic waves through the adhesive coupler, using a fiber ring resonator (FRR) configuration. This configuration was chosen because the wave coupled to the second fiber interferes with the original wave after it encircles the fiber ring. We performed this experiment using different geometries of optical fibers in the ring, including a standard single-mode optical fiber, a hollow silica capillary tube, and a large-diameter multi-mode fiber. The results demonstrate that the acoustic wave, when transferring through an adhesive coupler, interferes coherently even when the main and ring fibers are of different types. Finally, we demonstrate that the FRR can be applied for sensing applications by measuring the mode attenuations in the ring due to a changing external environment (water-level sensing) and measuring the optical-path length change in the ring (temperature sensing). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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8 pages, 1198 KiB  
Article
Composed Multicore Fiber Structure for Extended Sensor Multiplexing with Fiber Bragg Gratings
by Ravil Idrisov, Adrian Lorenz, Manfred Rothhardt and Hartmut Bartelt
Sensors 2022, 22(10), 3837; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22103837 - 19 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1508
Abstract
A novel multicore optical waveguide component based on a fiber design optimized towards selective grating inscription for multiplexed sensing applications is presented. Such a fiber design enables the increase in the optical sensor capacity as well as extending the sensing length with a [...] Read more.
A novel multicore optical waveguide component based on a fiber design optimized towards selective grating inscription for multiplexed sensing applications is presented. Such a fiber design enables the increase in the optical sensor capacity as well as extending the sensing length with a single optical fiber while preserving the spatial sensing resolution. The method uses a multicore fiber with differently doped fiber cores and, therefore, enables a selective grating inscription. The concept can be applied in a draw tower inscription process for an efficient production of sensing networks. Along with the general concept, the paper discusses the specific preparation of the fiber-based sensing component and provides experimental results showing the feasibility of such a sensing system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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Review

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19 pages, 8043 KiB  
Review
A Novel Approach to Realize Plasmonic Sensors via Multimode Optical Waveguides: A Review
by Francesco Arcadio, Domenico Del Prete, Luigi Zeni and Nunzio Cennamo
Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5662; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125662 - 17 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 950
Abstract
In recent decades, the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) phenomenon has been utilized as an underlying technique in a broad range of application fields. Herein, a new measuring strategy which harnesses the SPR technique in a way that is different from the classical methodology [...] Read more.
In recent decades, the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) phenomenon has been utilized as an underlying technique in a broad range of application fields. Herein, a new measuring strategy which harnesses the SPR technique in a way that is different from the classical methodology was explored by taking advantage of the characteristics of multimode waveguides, such as plastic optical fibers (POFs) or hetero-core fibers. The sensor systems based on this innovative sensing approach were designed, fabricated, and investigated to assess their ability to measure various physical features, such as magnetic field, temperature, force, and volume, and to realize chemical sensors. In more detail, a sensitive patch of fiber was used in series with a multimodal waveguide where the SPR took place, to alter the mode profile of the light at the input of the waveguide itself. In fact, when the changes of the physical feature of interest acted on the sensitive patch, a variation of the incident angles of the light launched in the multimodal waveguide occurred, and, as a consequence, a shift in resonance wavelength took place. The proposed approach permitted the separation of the measurand interaction zone and the SPR zone. This meant that the SPR zone could be realized only with a buffer layer and a metallic film, thus optimizing the total thickness of the layers for the best sensitivity, regardless of the measurand type. The proposed review aims to summarize the capabilities of this innovative sensing approach to realize several types of sensors for different application fields, showing the high performances obtained by exploiting a simple production process and an easy experimental setup. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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13 pages, 2555 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Forward Brillouin Scattering: Sensor Applications
by Luis A. Sánchez, Antonio Díez, José Luis Cruz and Miguel V. Andrés
Sensors 2023, 23(1), 318; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23010318 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2005
Abstract
In-fiber opto-mechanics based on forward Brillouin scattering has received increasing attention because it enables sensing the surrounding of the optical fiber. Optical fiber transverse acoustic resonances are sensitive to both the inner properties of the optical fiber and the external medium. A particularly [...] Read more.
In-fiber opto-mechanics based on forward Brillouin scattering has received increasing attention because it enables sensing the surrounding of the optical fiber. Optical fiber transverse acoustic resonances are sensitive to both the inner properties of the optical fiber and the external medium. A particularly efficient pump and probe technique—assisted by a fiber grating—can be exploited for the development of point sensors of only a few centimeters in length. When measuring the acoustic resonances, this technique provides the narrowest reported linewidths and a signal-to-noise ratio better than 40 dB. The longitudinal and transverse acoustic velocities—normalized with the fiber radius—can be determined with a relative error lower than 10−4, exploiting the derivation of accurate asymptotic expressions for the resonant frequencies. Using this technique, the Poisson’s ratio of an optical fiber and its temperature dependence have been measured, reducing the relative error by a factor of 100 with respect to previously reported values. Using a single-point sensor, discriminative measurements of strain and temperature can be performed, achieving detection limits of ±25 με and ±0.2 °C. These results show the potential of this approach for the development of point sensors, which can be easily wavelength-multiplexed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in the Development of Optical Fiber Sensors)
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