Research Progress and Development of Sapphire Fiber Sensor 1

Abstract: Sapphire fiber thermometers have become a new potential option in the field of high-temperature measurements. Recent research progress of sapphire fiber sensors is summarized; operational principles, advantages, disadvantages, and applications of sapphire fiber sensors are introduced. Research has shown that sapphire fiber sensors can be used to accurately measure very high temperatures in harsh environments and has been widely applied in fields such as aviation, metallurgy, the chemical industry, energy, and other high temperature measurement areas. Sapphire optical fiber temperature measurement technology will move toward miniaturization, intelligence following the advances in materials, micro-fabrication and communication technologies. Copyright © 2014 IFSA Publishing, S. L

Development of Photonic Crystal Fiber Based Gas/ Chemical Sensors

The development of highly-sensitive and miniaturized sensors that capable of real-time analytes detection is highly desirable. Nowadays, toxic or colorless gas detection, air pollution monitoring, harmful chemical, pressure, strain, humidity, and temperature sensors based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) are increasing rapidly due to its compact structure, fast response and efficient light controlling capabilities. The propagating light through the PCF can be controlled by varying the structural parameters and core-cladding materials, as a result, evanescent field can be enhanced significantly which is the main component of the PCF based gas/chemical sensors. The aim of this chapter is to (1) describe the principle operation of PCF based gas/ chemical sensors, (2) discuss the important PCF properties for optical sensors, (3) extensively discuss the different types of microstructured optical fiber based gas/ chemical sensors, (4) study the effects of different core-cladding shapes, and fiber background materials on sensing performance, and (5) highlight the main challenges of PCF based gas/ chemical sensors and possible solutions

Sensors for biomedical applications

This paper considers the impact during the last decade of modern IC technology, microelectronics, thin- and thick-film technology, fibre optic technology, etc. on the development of sensors for biomedical applications

Observing biogeochemical cycles at global scales with profiling floats and gliders: prospects for a global array

Chemical and biological sensor technologies have advanced rapidly in the past five years. Sensors that require low power and operate for multiple years are now available for oxygen, nitrate, and a variety of bio-optical properties that serve as proxies for important components of the carbon cycle (e.g., particulate organic carbon). These sensors have all been deployed successfully for long periods, in some cases more than three years, on platforms such as profiling floats or gliders. Technologies for pH, pCO2, and particulate inorganic carbon are maturing rapidly as well. These sensors could serve as the enabling technology for a global biogeochemical observing system that might operate on a scale comparable to the current Argo array. Here, we review the scientific motivation and the prospects for a global observing system for ocean biogeochemistry

Implementation of a high resolution optical feedback interferometer for microfluidics applications

Recent progress of interferometric sensors based on the optical feedback in a laser diode have demonstrated possibility for measurement of flow rates and flow-profiles at the micro-scale. That type of compact and embedded sensors is very promising for a research and industrial field –microfluidics – that is a growing domain of activities, at the frontiers of the physics, the chemical science, the biology and the biomedical. However, the acquisition of flow rate or local velocity at high resolution remains a very challenging issue, and the sensors that have been proposed so far did not have been giving sufficient information on the nature of the particles flowing. The present thesis is driven to the implementation, validation and evaluation of the sensing performances of the optical feedback interferometry technology in both chemical and biomedical fields of applications. The elaboration of a new generation of sensors that will provide both a high spatial resolution for 2D Doppler imaging is presented, as well as a methodology that gives further information on the flowing particles concentration and/or dimensions. Then, a new embedded optical feedback interferometry imager for flowmetry has been realized using a 2-axis beamsteering mirror mounted on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) thus taking the full advantage of the compactness offered by the optical feedback interferometry sensing scheme. While previous works on optical feedback interferometry flowmetry have been limited to high particle densities fluids in single or multiple scattering regimes, we present also a sensing technique based on the optical feedback interferometry scheme in a laser diode that enables single particle detection at micro and nanoscales through the Doppler-Fizeau effect. Thanks to the proposed signal processing, this sensing technique can detect the presence of single spherical polystyrene micro/nanospheres seeded in watery suspensions, and measure their flow velocity, even when their diameter is below half the laser wavelength. It discriminates particle by their diameter up to a ratio of 5 between large and small ones while most of the technologies for particle characterization is bulk and requires manipulation of the fluid with small volume handling, precise flow and concentration control. Altogether, the results presented in this thesis realize a major improvement for the use of optical feedback interferometry in the chemical engineering or biomedical applications involving micro-scale flows