Curvature sensing using a hybrid polycarbonate-silica multicore fiber

We report on the development of a novel hybrid glass-polymer multicore fiber integrating three 80 µm polyimide-coated silica fibers inside a 750 µm polycarbonate cladding. By inscribing an array of distributed FBGs along each segment of silica fiber prior to the hybrid fiber drawing, we demonstrate a curvature sensor with an unprecedented precision of 296 pm/m−1 around 1550 nm, about 7 times more sensitive than sensors based on standard 125 µm multicore fibers. As predicted by theory, we show experimentally that the measured curvature is insensitive to temperature and strain. Also, a more precise equation to describe the curvature on a simple bending setup is presented. This new hybrid multicore fiber technology has the potential to be extended over several kilometers and can find high-end applications in 3D shape sensing and structural health monitoring

Flexible trans-jacket inscription of fiber Bragg gratings for directional distributed sensing

An array of 18 FBGs spectrally distributed over 70 nm was written in a polyimide-coated fiber, with a single uniform phase-mask, by applying strain on the fiber prior to exposition. This flexible method will be used to develop directional sensor for distributed sensing based on a hybrid glasspolymer multicore fiber

Tunable distributed sensing performance in Ca-based nanoparticle-doped optical fibers

Rayleigh scattering enhanced nanoparticle-doped optical fibers is a technology very promising for distributed sensing applications, however, it remains largely unexplored. This work demonstrates for the first time the possibility of tuning Rayleigh scattering and optical losses in Ca-based nanoparticle-doped silica optical fibers by controlling the kinetics of the re-nucleation process that nanoparticles undergo during fiber drawing by controlling preform feed, drawing speed and temperature. A 3D study by SEM, FIB-SEM and optical backscatter reflectometry (OBR) reveals an early-time kinetics at 1870 °C, with tunable Rayleigh scattering enhancement 43.2–47.4 dB, regarding a long-haul single mode fiber, SMF-28, and associated sensing lengths of 3–5.5 m. At 2065 °C, kinetics is slower and nanoparticle dissolution is favored. Consequently, enhanced scattering values of 24.9–26.9 dB/m and sensing lengths of 135–250 m are attained. Finally, thermal stability above 500 °C and tunable distributed temperature sensitivity are proved, from 18.6 pm/°C to 23.9 pm/°C, ∼1.9–2.4 times larger than in a SMF-28. These results show the promising future of Rayleigh scattering enhanced nanoparticle-doped optical fibers for distributed sensing

The EcoChip : a wireless multi-sensor platform for comprehensive environmental monitoring

This paper presents the EcoChip, a new system based on state-of-the-art electro-chemical impedance (EIS) technologies allowing the growth of single strain organisms isolated from northern habitats. This portable system is a complete and autonomous wireless platform designed to monitor and cultivate microorganisms directly sampled from their natural environment, particularly from harsh northern environments. Using 96-well plates, the EcoChip can be used in the field for realtime monitoring of bacterial growth. Manufactured with highquality electronic components, this new EIS monitoring system is designed to function at a low excitation voltage signal to avoid damaging the cultured cells. The high-precision calibration network leads to high-precision results, even in the most limiting contexts. Luminosity, humidity and temperature can also be monitored with the addition of appropriate sensors. Access to robust data storage systems and power supplies is an obvious limitation for northern research. That is why the EcoChip is equipped with a flash memory that can store data over long periods of time. To resolve the power issue, a low-power microcontroller and a power management unit control and supply all electronic building blocks. Data stored in the EcoChip’s flash memory can be transmitted through a transceiver whenever a receiver is located within the functional transmission range. In this paper, we present the measured performance of the system, along with results from laboratory tests in-vitro and from two field tests. The EcoChip has been utilized to collect bio-environemental data in the field from the northern soils and ecosystems of Kuujjuarapik and Puvirnituq, during two expeditions, in 2017 and 2018, respectively. We show that the EcoChip can effectively carry out EIS analyses over an excitation frequency ranging from 750 Hz to 10 kHz with an accuracy of 2.35%. The overall power consumption of the system was 140.4 mW in normal operating mode and 81 µW in sleep mode. The proper development of the isolated bacteria was confirmed through DNA sequencing, indicating that bacteria thrive in the EcoChip’s culture wells while the growing conditions are successfully gathered and stored

Integrated cladding-pumped multicore few-mode erbium-doped fibre amplifier for space-division-multiplexed communications

Space-division multiplexing (SDM), whereby multiple spatial channels in multimode1 and multicore2 optical fibres are used to increase the total transmission capacity per fibre, is being investigated to avert a data capacity crunch3,4 and reduce the cost per transmitted bit. With the number of channels employed in SDM transmission experiments continuing to rise, there is a requirement for integrated SDM components that are scalable. Here, we demonstrate a cladding-pumped SDM erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) that consists of six uncoupled multimode erbium-doped cores. Each core supports three spatial modes, which enables the EDFA to amplify a total of 18 spatial channels (six cores × three modes) simultaneously with a single pump diode and a complexity similar to a single-mode EDFA. The amplifier delivers >20 dBm total output power per core and <7 dB noise figure over the C-band. This cladding-pumped EDFA enables combined space-division and wavelength-division multiplexed transmission over multiple multimode fibre spans

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer Book 2018

(Abridged) This is the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer 2018 book. It is intended as a concise reference guide to all aspects of the scientific and technical design of MSE, for the international astronomy and engineering communities, and related agencies. The current version is a status report of MSE's science goals and their practical implementation, following the System Conceptual Design Review, held in January 2018. MSE is a planned 10-m class, wide-field, optical and near-infrared facility, designed to enable transformative science, while filling a critical missing gap in the emerging international network of large-scale astronomical facilities. MSE is completely dedicated to multi-object spectroscopy of samples of between thousands and millions of astrophysical objects. It will lead the world in this arena, due to its unique design capabilities: it will boast a large (11.25 m) aperture and wide (1.52 sq. degree) field of view; it will have the capabilities to observe at a wide range of spectral resolutions, from R2500 to R40,000, with massive multiplexing (4332 spectra per exposure, with all spectral resolutions available at all times), and an on-target observing efficiency of more than 80%. MSE will unveil the composition and dynamics of the faint Universe and is designed to excel at precision studies of faint astrophysical phenomena. It will also provide critical follow-up for multi-wavelength imaging surveys, such as those of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Gaia, Euclid, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Next Generation Very Large Array.Comment: 5 chapters, 160 pages, 107 figure

Ultrafast cleaning of methylene blue contaminated water accelarating photocatalytic reaction rate of the BiVO4 nanoflakes under highly intense sunlight irradiation

The sustainable rapid wastewater treatment process is the greatest challenge in the 21st century as the demand of fresh and clean water is increasing with growing population worldwide. Herein, an emergent technique to clean dye contaminated wastewater using sunlight is reported. The highly efficient sunlight driven photocatalyst BiVO4 nanoflakes with optical band gap of 2.63 eV have been prepared by cost-effective hydrothermal method and the photocatalytic methylene blue (MB) degradation activity of BiVO4 nanoflakes has been enhanced accelarating the photocatalytic reaction rate. The BiVO4 nanoflakes can degrade 88.86 % of methylene blue within 60 minutes for 300 mW/cm2 sunlight irradiation, whereas only 32.30 % degradation occurs for ordinary sunlight (74 mW/cm2) irradiation. The MB degradation occurs faster due to increase of photocatalytic reaction rate to 0.033 min−1 from 0.006 min−1 for tuning sunlight irradiation intensity to 300 mW/cm2 from 74 mW/cm2. This technique will open new technological opportunity for ultrafast cleaning of dye contaminated wastewater using sunlight