Optical fiber sensors by direct laser processing: a review

The consolidation of laser micro/nano processing technologies has led to a continuous increase in the complexity of optical fiber sensors. This new avenue offers novel possibilities for advanced sensing in a wide set of application sectors and, especially in the industrial and medical fields. In this review, the most important transducing structures carried out by laser processing in optical fiber are shown. The work covers different types of fiber Bragg gratings with an emphasis in the direct-write technique and their most interesting inscription configurations. Along with gratings, cladding waveguide structures in optical fibers have reached notable importance in the development of new optical fiber transducers. That is why a detailed study is made of the different laser inscription configurations that can be adopted, as well as their current applications. Microcavities manufactured in optical fibers can be used as both optical transducer and hybrid structure to reach advanced soft-matter optical sensing approaches based on optofluidic concepts. These in-fiber cavities manufactured by femtosecond laser irradiation followed by chemical etching are promising tools for biophotonic devices. Finally, the enhanced Rayleigh backscattering fibers by femtosecond laser dots inscription are also discussed, as a consequence of the new sensing possibilities they enableThis research was funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R), the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019- 107270RB-C21), and the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain (PhD grant FPU2018/02797)

Grating devices in polymer optical fibre

This thesis presents the fabrication of fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) and long period gratings (LPGs) in polymer optical fibre (POF). Possible fabrication techniques were discussed to fabricate FBGs in polymer optical fibre including a detailed description of the phase mask inscription technique used to fabricate FBGs in both single and multi mode microstructured polymer optical fibre (mPOF). Complementing the fabrication of polymer optical fibre Bragg gratings (POFBGs), a technique has been developed to permanently splice POF to silica optical fibre with the use of an optical adhesive. This allowed for the fabricated POFBGs to be characterised away from the optical table, allowing for application specific characterisation. Furthermore Bragg gratings have been fabricated in polymer POF with a Bragg response within the 800nm spectral region. Within this spectral region, POF predominantly manufactured from PMMA experiences considerably smaller attenuation losses when compared to the attenuation losses within the 1550nm spectral region. The effect of thermally annealing fabricated POFBGs has been studied. This included demonstrating the ability to tune the Bragg wavelength of a POFBG sensor to a desired wavelength. Thermal annealing has also been used to manufacture wavelength division multiplexed sensors with the use of a single phase mask. Finally POFBGs have been fabricated in Topas Cyclic Olefin Copolymer. Fabrication of Bragg gratings within this copolymer allowed for the first demonstration of near immunity to relative humidity whilst monitoring changes in temperature of the environment the POFBG sensor was in. Bragg gratings fabricated in the Topas copolymer demonstrated sensitivity to relative humidity which was 65 times less than that of a PMMA based POFBG sensor. This decrease in sensitivity has the potential to significantly reduce the potential of cross sensitivity to relative humidity whilst being employed to monitor measurands such as temperature and axial strain

Femtosecond Laser Micromachining of Advanced Fiber Optic Sensors and Devices

Research and development in photonic micro/nano structures functioned as sensors and devices have experienced significant growth in recent years, fueled by their broad applications in the fields of physical, chemical and biological quantities. Compared with conventional sensors with bulky assemblies, recent process in femtosecond (fs) laser three-dimensional (3D) micro- and even nano-scale micromachining technique has been proven an effective and flexible way for one-step fabrication of assembly-free micro devices and structures in various transparent materials, such as fused silica and single crystal sapphire materials. When used for fabrication, fs laser has many unique characteristics, such as negligible cracks, minimal heat-affected-zone, low recast, high precision, and the capability of embedded 3D fabrication, compared with conventional long pulse lasers. The merits of this advanced manufacturing technique enable the unique opportunity to fabricate integrated sensors with improved robustness, enriched functionality, enhanced intelligence, and unprecedented performance. Recently, fiber optic sensors have been widely used for energy, defense, environmental, biomedical and industry sensing applications. In addition to the well-known advantages of miniaturized in size, high sensitivity, simple to fabricate, immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and resistance to corrosion, all-optical fiber sensors are becoming more and more desirable when designed with characteristics of assembly free and operation in the reflection configuration. In particular, all-optical fiber sensor is a good candidate to address the monitoring needs within extreme environment conditions, such as high temperature, high pressure, toxic/corrosive/erosive atmosphere, and large strain/stress. In addition, assembly-free, advanced fiber optic sensors and devices are also needed in optofluidic systems for chemical/biomedical sensing applications and polarization manipulation in optical systems. Different fs laser micromachining techniques were investigated for different purposes, such as fs laser direct ablating, fs laser irradiation with chemical etching (FLICE) and laser induced stresses. A series of high performance assembly-free, all-optical fiber sensor probes operated in a reflection configuration were proposed and fabricated. Meanwhile, several significant sensing measurements (e.g., high temperature, high pressure, refractive index variation, and molecule identification) of the proposed sensors were demonstrated in this dissertation as well. In addition to the probe based fiber optic sensors, stress induced birefringence was also created in the commercial optical fibers using fs laser induced stresses technique, resulting in several advanced polarization dependent devices, including a fiber inline quarter waveplate and a fiber inline polarizer based on the long period fiber grating (LPFG) structure

Fiber Optic Sensors for Harsh and High Radiation Environments in Aerospace Applications

In the upcoming space revolutions aiming at the implementation of automated, smart, and self-aware crewless vehicles and reusable spacecraft, sensors play a significant role in the control systems. In particular, fiber optic sensors, with their small footprint and electromagnetic immunity, represent a great opportunity in aerospace. The radiation environment and the harsh conditions in which these sensors will operate represent a challenge for the potential user in the aerospace vehicle design and the fiber optic sensor specialist. We present a review that aims to be a primer in the field of fiber optic sensors in radiation environments for aerospace. We review the main aerospace requirements and their relationship with fiber optics. We also present a brief overview of fiber optics and sensors based on them. Finally, we present different examples of applications in radiation environments for aerospace applications

Tiny structures inscribed by femtosecond lasers for optical sensing

RESUMEN: En este trabajo se establece el procesado por láseres de femtosegundo como método fiable de producir diversos tipos de sensores de fibra óptica. Para ello se ha estudiado la inscripción en fibra, dando lugar a un interferómetro tipo Mach-Zehnder y a redes de difracción tanto de Bragg como de periodo aleatorio. Igualmente, se ha estudiado la inscripción en la punta de la fibra, generando diversos patrones difractivos en numerosos tipos de fibra óptica y aplicándolos tanto al sensado extrínseco como extrínseco.ABSTRACT: In this work, femtosecond laser processing is highlighted as an effective way to produce several types of optical fiber sensors. A deep study of in-fiber laser inscription has been performed, obtaining a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and both Bragg and random gratings as a result. Attention was also focused to the fiber end-face, where several fiber diffractive configurations were studied in several types of fiber optics. These patterns were employed for both intrinsic and extrinsic measurements.The following projects and grants supported the research performed in this PhD: Optical Fiber Sensors for Safety and Protection (TEC2013-47264-C2-1-R), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Sensores fotónicos para la seguridad y protección (SENSA) (TEC2016-076021-C2-2-R), AEI/FEDER, UE. BES-2014-069736, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. EEBB-I-17-12409, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. From the participation on these projects, authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the whole Photonics Engineering Group, especially Mauro Lomer and Pablo Varona Roldán. Jesús Mirapeix Serrano, Arturo Pardo Franco, Olga Ma Conde Portilla and Antonio Quintela Incera have also supported this work by thoughtful manuscript revisions or printing and binding management. This dissertation was improved by the fruitful collaborations with the group led by Prof. Manuel López Amo, particularly Rosa Ana Pérez Herrera performed measurements and montages that supported the results obtained in this work. Besides, authors would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions that Bertrand Poumellec and Matthieu Lancry from the Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d’Orsay have performed to this work

Design, processing and characterisation of new optical fibre sensors for harsh environment.

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Development of Optical Fiber-Based Sensing Devices Using Laser Microfabrication Methods

The focus of this thesis is on the development of sensing devices based on optical fiber sensors, specifically optical Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG), using laser microfabrication methods. FBG is a type of optical fibers whose spectral response is affected by applied strain and temperature. As a result, it can be calibrated for the measurement of physical parameters manifesting themselves in the changes of strain or temperature. The unique features of optical fiber sensors such as FBGs have encouraged the widespread use of the sensor and the development of optical fiber-based sensing devices for structural measurements, failure diagnostics, thermal measurements, pressure monitoring, etc. These features include light weight, small size, long-term durability, robustness to electromagnetic disturbances, and resistance to corrosion. Despite the encouraging features, there are some limitations and challenges associated with FBGs and their applications. One of the challenges associated with FBGs is the coupling of the effects of strain and temperature in the optical response of the sensors which affects the reliability and accuracy of the measurements. Another limitation of FBGs is insensitivity to the index of refraction of their surrounding medium. In liquids, the index of refraction is a function of concentration. Making FBGs sensitive to the index of refraction and keeping their thermal sensitivity intact enable optical sensors with the capability of the simultaneous measurement of concentration and temperature in liquids. Considering the unique features of FBGs, embedding of the sensors in metal parts for in-situ load monitoring is a cutting-edge research topic. Several industries such as machining tools, aerospace, and automotive industries can benefit from this technology. The metal embedding process is a challenging task, as the thermal decay of UV-written gratings can starts at a temperature of ~200 oC and accelerates at higher temperatures. As a result, the embedding process needs to be performed at low temperatures. The objective of the current thesis is to move forward the existing research front in the area of optical fiber sensors by finding effective solutions to the aforementioned limitations. The approaches consist of modeling, design, and fabrication of new FBG-based sensing devices. State-of-the-art laser microfabrication methods are proposed and implemented for the fabrication of the devices. Two approaches are adopted for the development of the FBG-based sensing devices: the additive method and the subtractive method. In both methods, laser direct microfabrication techniques are utilized. The additive method deals with the deposition of on-fiber metal thin films, and the subtractive method is based on the selective removal of materials from the periphery of optical fibers. To design the sensing devices and analyze the performance of the sensors, an opto-mechanical model of FBGs for thermal and structural monitoring is developed. The model is derived from the photo-elastic and thermo-optic properties of optical fibers. The developed model can be applied to predict the optical responses of a FBG exposed to structural loads and temperature variations with uniform and non-uniform distributions. The model is also extended to obtain optical responses of superstructure FBGs in which a secondary periodicity is induced in the index of refraction along the optical fiber. To address the temperature-strain coupling in FBGs, Superstructure FBGs (SFBG) with on-fiber metal thin films are designed and fabricated. It is shown that SFBGs have the capability of measuring strain and temperature simultaneously. The design of the sensor with on-fiber thin films is carried out by using the developed opto-mechanical model of FBGs. The performance of the sensor in concurrent measurement of strain and temperature is investigated by using a customized test rig. A laser-based Direct Write (DW) method, called Laser-Assisted Maskless Microdeposition (LAMM), is implemented to selectively deposit silver thin films on optical fibers and fabricate the superstructure FBGs. To attain thin films with premium quality, a characterization scheme is designed to study the geometrical, mechanical, and microstructural properties of the thin films in terms of the LAMM process parameters. A FBG, capable of measuring concentration and temperature of liquids is developed, and its performance is tested. Femtosecond laser micromachining is successfully implemented as a subtractive method for the sensor fabrication. For this purpose, periodic micro-grooves are inscribed in the cladding of regular FBGs so as to increase their sensitivity to the concentration of their surrounding liquid while keeping their thermal sensitivity intact. This type of sensors has the potential for applications in biomedical research, in which the in-situ measurement of the properties of biological analytes is required. Another accomplishment of this thesis is the development of FBG sensors embedded in metal parts for structural health monitoring using low temperature embedding processes. In this regard, the opto-mechanical model is extended to predict the optical response of the embedded FBGs. The embedding process involves low temperature casting, on-fiber thin film deposition, and electroplating methods. The performance of the embedded sensors is evaluated in structural loading and thermal cycling

Integrated dye lasers for all-polymer photonic Lab-on-a-Chip systems

Basierend auf integrierten Farbstofflasern wurden zwei optische Lab-on-a-Chip Systeme entwickelt. Zur effizienten Anregung von Fluoreszenzmarkern wurden optofluidische Farbstofflaser mit verteilter Rückkopplung (DFB Laser) untersucht. Für die markerfreie Moleküldetektion wurden Mikrokelchlaser entwickelt, die auf Flüstergaleriemoden basieren. Besonderes Augenmerk lag auf einer möglichen Großserienfertigung der Chips als kostengünstige Einwegartikel und auf einer einfachen Handhabung

Glassy Materials Based Microdevices

Microtechnology has changed our world since the last century, when silicon microelectronics revolutionized sensor, control and communication areas, with applications extending from domotics to automotive, and from security to biomedicine. The present century, however, is also seeing an accelerating pace of innovation in glassy materials; as an example, glass-ceramics, which successfully combine the properties of an amorphous matrix with those of micro- or nano-crystals, offer a very high flexibility of design to chemists, physicists and engineers, who can conceive and implement advanced microdevices. In a very similar way, the synthesis of glassy polymers in a very wide range of chemical structures offers unprecedented potential of applications. The contemporary availability of microfabrication technologies, such as direct laser writing or 3D printing, which add to the most common processes (deposition, lithography and etching), facilitates the development of novel or advanced microdevices based on glassy materials. Biochemical and biomedical sensors, especially with the lab-on-a-chip target, are one of the most evident proofs of the success of this material platform. Other applications have also emerged in environment, food, and chemical industries. The present Special Issue of Micromachines aims at reviewing the current state-of-the-art and presenting perspectives of further development. Contributions related to the technologies, glassy materials, design and fabrication processes, characterization, and, eventually, applications are welcome

Ion-exchange in Glasses and Crystals: from Theory to Applications

Since its first observation in 1850, ion-exchange (IEx) has become a fundamental process in many applications involving water treatment, catalysis, chromatography, and the food and pharmaceutical industries. Starting from the early 1900s, another relevant application of IEx has been in the glass industry, with the surface tempering of glass produced by a K+–Na+ ion exchange. Nowadays, photonics has greatly exploited IEx technology: graded-index microlenses, graded-index fibers and integrated optical waveguides and devices are examples of achievements made possible by the IEx process. Moreover, ion-exchange is possible in ferroelectric crystals, too, and has been fundamental for the development of many linear and nonlinear integrated optical devices in lithium niobate and tantalate.This volume collects articles published in the corresponding Special Issue of the Applied Sciences journal. Four review articles, written by internationally renowned experts in this field, provide complementary overviews of the history, fundamental aspects, designs and fabrications of devices, and technological achievements. Three articles describe original research in the fields of diffraction grating, photo-thermo-refractive glasses, and Yb-doped lithium niobate. This volume constitutes a valuable and updated reference for all students and researchers wishing to improve their knowledge and/or make use of ion-exchange technology and its applications