Efficient large-scale multiplexing of fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Perot sensors for structural health monitoring applications

Fiber Bragg gratings have been demonstrated as a versatile sensor for structural health monitoring. We present an efficient and cost effective multiplexing method for fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Perot sensors based on a broadband mode-locked fiber laser source and interferometric interrogation. The broadband, pulsed laser source permits time and wavelength division multiplexing to be employed to achieve very high sensor counts. Interferometric interrogation also permits high strain resolutions over large frequency ranges to be achieved. The proposed system has the capability to interrogate several hundred fiber Bragg gratings or fiber Fabry-Perot sensors on a single fiber, whilst achieving sub-microstrain resolution over bandwidths greater than 100 kHz. Strain resolutions of 30n epsilon/Hz(1/2) and 2 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) are demonstrated with the fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Perot sensor respectively. The fiber Fabry-Perot sensor provides an increase in the strain resolution over the fiber Bragg grating sensor of greater than a factor of 10. The fiber Bragg gratings are low reflectivity and could be fabricated during the fiber draw process providing a cost effective method for array fabrication. This system would find applications in several health monitoring applications where large sensor counts are necessary, in particular acoustic emission

Efficient fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Pe'rot sensor multiplexing scheme using a broadband pulsed mode-locked laser

A pulsed broadband mode-locked laser (MLL) combined with interferometric interrogation is shown to yield an efficient means of multiplexing a large number of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) or fiber Fabry-Perot (FFP) strain sensors with high performance. System configurations utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM) permit high resolution, accuracy, and bandwidth strain measurements along with high sensor densities. Strain resolutions of 23-60 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) at frequencies up to 800 Hz (expandable to 139 kHz) and a differential strain-measurement accuracy of +/- 1 mu epsilon are demonstrated. Interrogation of a low-finesse FFP sensor is also demonstrated, from which a strain resolution of 2 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) and strain-measurement accuracy of +/- 31 n epsilon are achieved. The system has the capability of interrogating well in excess of 50 sensors per fiber depending on crosstalk requirements. A discussion on sensor spacing, bandwidth, dynamic range, and measurement accuracy is also given

Large-scale remotely interrogated arrays of fibre-optic interferometric sensors and fibre lasers

Abstract unavailable please refer to PD

Ultracompact microinterferometer-based fiber Bragg grating interrogator on a silicon chip

We report an interferometer-based multiplexed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogator using silicon photonic technology. The photonic-integrated system includes the grating coupler, active and passive interferometers, interferometers, a 12-channel wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) filter, and Ge photodiodes, all integrated on a 6x8 mm2 silicon chip. The system also includes optical and electric interfaces to a printed board, which is connected to a real-time electronic board that actively performs the phase demodulation processing using a multitone mixing (MTM) technique. The device with active demodulation, which uses thermally-based phase shifters, features a noise figure of σ  =  0.13 pm at a bandwidth of 700 Hz, which corresponds to a dynamic spectral resolution of 4.9 fm/Hz1/2. On the other hand, the passive version of the system, based on a 90º-hybrid coupler, features a noise figure of σ  =  2.55 pm at a bandwidth of 10 kHz, also showing successful detection of a 42 kHz signal when setting the bandwidth to 50 kHz. These results demonstrate the advantage of integrated photonics, which allows the integration of several systems with different demodulation schemes in the same chip and guarantees easy scalability to a higher number of ports without increasing the dimensions or the cost

Distributed Fiber Ultrasonic Sensor and Pattern Recognition Analytics

Ultrasound interrogation and structural health monitoring technologies have found a wide array of applications in the health care, aerospace, automobile, and energy sectors. To achieve high spatial resolution, large array electrical transducers have been used in these applications to harness sufficient data for both monitoring and diagnoses. Electronic-based sensors have been the standard technology for ultrasonic detection, which are often expensive and cumbersome for use in large scale deployments. Fiber optical sensors have advantageous characteristics of smaller cross-sectional area, humidity-resistance, immunity to electromagnetic interference, as well as compatibility with telemetry and telecommunications applications, which make them attractive alternatives for use as ultrasonic sensors. A unique trait of fiber sensors is its ability to perform distributed acoustic measurements to achieve high spatial resolution detection using a single fiber. Using ultrafast laser direct-writing techniques, nano-reflectors can be induced inside fiber cores to drastically improve the signal-to-noise ratio of distributed fiber sensors. This dissertation explores the applications of laser-fabricated nano-reflectors in optical fiber cores for both multi-point intrinsic Fabry–Perot (FP) interferometer sensors and a distributed phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (φ-OTDR) to be used in ultrasound detection. Multi-point intrinsic FP interferometer was based on swept-frequency interferometry with optoelectronic phase-locked loop that interrogated cascaded FP cavities to obtain ultrasound patterns. The ultrasound was demodulated through reassigned short time Fourier transform incorporating with maximum-energy ridges tracking. With tens of centimeters cavity length, this approach achieved 20kHz ultrasound detection that was finesse-insensitive, noise-free, high-sensitivity and multiplex-scalability. The use of φ-OTDR with enhanced Rayleigh backscattering compensated the deficiencies of low inherent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The dynamic strain between two adjacent nano-reflectors was extracted by using 3×3 coupler demodulation within Michelson interferometer. With an improvement of over 35 dB SNR, this was adequate for the recognition of the subtle differences in signals, such as footstep of human locomotion and abnormal acoustic echoes from pipeline corrosion. With the help of artificial intelligence in pattern recognition, high accuracy of events’ identification can be achieved in perimeter security and structural health monitoring, with further potential that can be harnessed using unsurprised learning

Fiber-Optic Sensing for High-Temperature and Energy Applications

Fiber-optic sensors act as important roles in many of today's industrial sectors. It provides vital information for a large number of applications such as process controls, fossil fuel and nuclear electrical power generation, transportation, and environment monitoring. Compared with their electronic counterparts, fiber-optic sensors truly stand out where extreme operation environments leave almost all the electronic sensors unusable. Derived from the superior properties of optical fibers such as high-temperature stability, immunity to electromagnetic interference and strong resistance to most chemicals, fiber-optic sensors can be engineered to deliver sensing performance under various adverse conditions. Recently numerous research efforts have been put to leverage those merits of optical fibers to achieve sensing capabilities under high-temperature environments (> 600 deg C). In this thesis, five fiber-optic sensing schemes are demonstrated to explore and validate the potential of fiber-optic sensors for high-temperature and energy applications. The first scheme manifests itself as a high-temperature-stable distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fiber laser which intrinsically is able to operate and measure ambient temperatures up to 750 deg C. The second scheme is based on self-heated high-attenuation fibers (HAFs). Thanks to HAFs and regenerated fiber Bragg gratings, a hot-wire flow meter with ambient temperature compensation was realized with all-optical fiber construction with maximum operational temperature at 800 deg C. In the third sensing scheme, the other kind of fiber grating laser, the distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser as strain sensor is presented to monitor acoustic emissions for a lab-induced hydraulic fracturing process. The fourth scheme covers a 3D strain field imaging technique for hydraulic fracturing study, enabled by Rayleigh backscatter based optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR). In the fifth scheme, we are aiming at increasing the measurement accuracy of the OFDR system by reducing the system measurement noise level. Via cavity ring down method, the system noise is demonstrated to reduce by over 52%. All these technologies and devices offer reliable and flexible sensing solutions for high-temperature and energy industrials, which were not previously possible

Development and Characterisation of a high performance Distributed Feedback Fibre Laser Hydrophone

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Modulação e conversão de formatos óticos avançados

Doutoramento em Engenharia ElectrotécnicaOver the years, the increased search and exchange of information lead to an increase of traffic intensity in todays optical communication networks. Coherent communications, using the amplitude and phase of the signal, reappears as one of the transmission techniques to increase the spectral efficiency and throughput of optical channels. In this context, this work present a study on format conversion of modulated signals using MZI-SOAs, based exclusively on all- optical techniques through wavelength conversion. This approach, when applied in interconnection nodes between optical networks with different bit rates and modulation formats, allow a better efficiency and scalability of the network. We start with an experimental characterization of the static and dynamic properties of the MZI-SOA. Then, we propose a semi-analytical model to describe the evolution of phase and amplitude at the output of the MZI-SOA. The model’s coefficients are obtained using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. We validate the model experimentally, by exploring the dependency of the optical signal with the operational parameters of the MZI-SOA. We also propose an all-optical technique for the conversion of amplitude modulation signals to a continuous phase modulation format. Finally, we study the potential of MZI-SOAs for the conversion of amplitude signals to QPSK and QAM signals. We show the dependency of the conversion process with the operational parameters deviation from the optimal values. The technique is experimentally validated for QPSK modulation.Nos últimos anos, a crescente procura e troca de informação tem levado ao aumento de tráfego nas redes de comunicação óticas atuais. As comunicações coerentes, com recurso à amplitude e fase do sinal, ressurgem como uma das técnicas de transmissão capazes de aumentar a eficiência espectral e o rendimento dos canais óticos. Nesse âmbito, este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a conversão de formatos de modulação de sinais, usando técnicas exclusivamente no domínio ótico, através de conversão de comprimento de onda, com base no MZI-SOA. Esta técnica, aplicada em nós óticos que interligam redes óticas com débitos binários distintos, permite uma maior escalabilidade e eficiência da rede. A tese começa por apresentar uma caracterização experimental detalhada das propriedades estáticas e dinâmicas do MZI-SOA. É depois proposto um modelo semi-analítico que descreve a evolução da amplitude e fase do sinal ótico à saída do MZI-SOA. Os coeficientes do modelo são obtidos recorrendo a um algoritmo genético multiobjectivo. O modelo é validado experimentalmente, explorando a dependência do sinal ótico com os parâmetros operacionais do MZI- SOA. Segue-se a proposta de uma técnica de conversão de formato de modulação de amplitude para modulação de fase contínua. Finalmente, é feito um estudo das potencialidades do MZI-SOA para conversão de formato de modulação de amplitude para modulação QPSK e QAM. Mostra-se a dependência da constelação do sinal com o desvio dos parâmetros operacionais, em torno do valor ótimo. A técnica é validada experimentalmente para modulação QPSK

Advanced optical modulation and format conversion

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Eletrotécnica apresentada à Universidade de Aveiro.Nos últimos anos, a crescente procura e troca de informação tem levado ao aumento de tráfego nas redes de comunicação óticas actuais. As comunicações coerentes, com recurso à amplitude e fase do sinal, ressurgem como uma das técnicas de transmissão capazes de aumentar a eficiência espectral e o rendimento dos canais óticos. Nesse âmbito, este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a conversão de formatos de modulação de sinais, usando técnicas exclusivamente no domínio ótico, através de conversão de comprimento de onda, com base no MZI-SOA. Esta técnica, aplicada em nós óticos que interligam redes óticas com débitos binàrios distintos, permite uma maior escalabilidade e eficiência da rede. A tese começa por apresentar uma caracterização experimental detalhada das propriedades estáticas e dinámicas do MZI-SOA. É depois proposto um modelo semi-analítico que descreve a evolução da amplitude e fase do sinal ótico à saída do MZI-SOA. Os coeficientes do modelo são obtidos recorrendo a um algoritmo genético multiobjectivo. O modelo é validado experimentalmente, explorando a dependência do sinal ótico com os parâmetros operacionais do MZISOA. Segue-se a proposta de uma técnica de conversão de formato de modulação de amplitude para modulação de fase contínua. Finalmente, é feito um estudo das potencialidades do MZI-SOA para conversão de formato de modulação de amplitude para modulação QPSK e QAM. Mostra-se a depedência da constelação do sinal com o desvio dos parâmetros operacionais, em torno do valor ótimo. A técnica é validada experimentalmente para modulação QPSK.ABSTRACT: Over the years, the increased search and exchange of information lead to an increase of traffic intensity in todays optical communication networks. Coherent communications, using the amplitude and phase of the signal, reappears as one of the transmission techniques to increase the spectral efficiency and throughput of optical channels. In this context, this work present a study on format conversion of modulated signals using MZI-SOAs, based exclusively on alloptical techniques through wavelength conversion. This approach, when applied in interconnection nodes between optical networks with different bit rates and modulation formats, allow a better efficiency and scalability of the network. We start with an experimental characterization of the static and dynamic properties of the MZI-SOA. Then, we propose a semi-analytical model to describe the evolution of phase and amplitude at the output of the MZI-SOA. The model’s coefficients are obtained using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. We validate the model experimentally, by exploring the dependency of the optical signal with the operational parameters of the MZI-SOA. We also propose an all-optical technique for the conversion of amplitude modulation signals to a continuous phase modulation format. Finally, we study the potential of MZI-SOAs for the conversion of amplitude signals to QPSK and QAM signals. We show the dependency of the conversion process with the operational parameters deviation from the optimal values. The technique is experimentally validated for QPSK modulation.Apoio financeiro da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia — FCT através da bolsa SFRH / PROTEC / 50015 / 2009

A Fibre Optical Strain Sensor

Strain-sensing elements, fabricated in standard communications-grade single mode optical fibre, are increasingly being considered for application in structural health monitoring. The reason for this is the numerous advantages demonstrated by these devices compared with traditional indicators. This thesis describes work carried out on optical sensors at the University of Plymouth. The aim of this work was to achieve an optical fibre strain sensing system capable of measuring absolute strain with good resolution and having wide dynamic range, without bulky optical equipment and not susceptible to misalignment due to handling. Earlier work was devoted to study on an intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensor and an optical phase-shift detection technique. The sensing element investigated relied on the end face of an optical fibre as one mirror and the second mirror being a layer of Titanium Dioxide (TO2). Although some results are included, it was soon realised that this sensor had a number of problems, particularly with fabrication. As no simple solution presented itself, consideration was given to a sensor that made use of the change in reflectance of an intra-core fibre Bragg grating when the grating was subjected to strain. The bulk of work described in this thesis is concerned with this type of sensing element. The grating structure is inherently flexible and a number of structural formats were studied and investigated. The first and simplest grating considered was two linearly chirped Bragg gratings used in a Fabry-Perot configuration (a grating resonator). The sensor was tested using the sensing detection system and although the fabrication problems were overcome absolute strain measurement was unattainable. To achieve this end, a theoretical study of a number of grating structures was carried out using the T-matrix Formalism. Confidence in using this approach was gained by comparing the spectral behaviour of a proposed grating with results, which were given by another theoretical model for the same proposed grating. The outcome of this study was that two structures in particular showed promise with regard to absolutism (the measure of true strain) and linearity. Discussions held with the department of Applied Physics at Aston University about fabrication resulted in one of the proposed designs being abandoned due to difficulties of fabrication. The second structure showed more promise and fabrication attempts were put in hand. This grating is linearly-chirped with a Top-hat function and a sinusoidal perturbation as a taper function of the refractive index modulation. Experiments were performed, data were acquired and system performance for this sensor is presented. The thesis concludes that using such a fibre Bragg grating as the sensing element of a strain sensing system enables it to measure absolute strain without using bulky optical equipment. At present, the resolution of strain is limited by the quality of the grating being fabricated (anomalies on profile), this should improve once the fabrication technique is refined.British Aerospace System and Equipment, BASE and Department of Electronic Engineering and Applied Physics, Aston Universit