A humidity fiber optic sensor based on phase-shifted (PS) fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) is demonstrated in this paper. The sensor (PS-FBG) is coated with a moisture sensitive polyimide. When this thin coating is exposed to moisture its swells, hence inducing tensile stress on the PS-FBG and affecting its Bragg wavelength. Due to its intrinsic properties, the PS-FBG sensor presents the same trend of wavelength variation as standard fiber Bragg Grating sensor but with higher measurement resolution, and reliable measurements can be obtained in different humidity and temperature environments. This paper assesses the suitability, including sensitivity and response time, of the phaseshifted FBG sensor approach for humidity sensing. By monitoring this change, it is demonstrated that the humidity level of the environment can be accurately monitored.
Load monitoring and damage detection are the two critical aspects of aircraft structural health monitoring (SHM). The
load monitoring is achieved by detecting the local strain changes while the damage detection is generally accomplished
by the monitoring of acoustic signal changes. It would be ideal that a single sensor can perform both tasks
simultaneously. This paper reports the demonstration of using fiber Bragg gratings to monitor load and acoustic signal
applied on a simulated aircraft structure. The results clearly show that a single fiber Bragg grating sensor with short
grating length has the potential to perform both tasks simultaneously.
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has been identified as an area of significant potential for advanced aircraft
maintenance programs that ensure continued airworthiness, enhanced operational safety and reduced life cycle cost.
Several sensors and sensory systems have been developed for the implementation of such health monitoring capability.
Among a wide range of developed technologies, fiber optic sensor technology, in particular fiber Bragg grating based
emerged as one of the most promising for aircraft structural applications. This paper is set to explore the suitability of
using a new Fiber Bragg Grating sensor (FBG) system developed for operation in two modes, low and high speed
sensing modes, respectively. The suitability of the system for potential use in aircraft load monitoring and damage
detection applications has been demonstrated. Results from FBG sensor system were in good agreement with results
from conventional resistive strain gauges, validating this capability for load monitoring. For damage detection, the FBG
sensor system was able to detect acoustic waves generated 52 inches (1.32 m) away. The initial results, obtained in a full
stale experimentation, demonstrate the potential of using FBG sensors for both load monitoring and damage detection in
aircraft environment.
We report a miniaturized wavelength interrogator for the static and dynamic strain fiber Bragg grating sensors. The
developed interrogator is based on a monolithically integrated echelle diffractive grating and works in two independent
modes, one for the static strain measurement and the other for dynamic strain measurement. The proposed interrogator is
evaluated by measureing a static strain of 400 με and a dynamic strain of 200 Hz with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 200
με. Initial results are excellent and show that these two interrogation modes can be potentially performed
simultaneously.
A wavelength interrogation system based on an arrayed-waveguide-grating (AWG) is evaluated. The transmission
wavelengths are capable of shifting by thermally scanning the AWG. By employing this AWG wavelength tunability
scheme, the center wavelength of a long-period-grating (LPG) sensor is precisely interrogated. The theoretical principle
and the experimental result are presented in this paper. An interrogated wavelength resolution of 0.5 pm is achieved by
introducing this technique. Furthermore, a palm-size LPG sensor interrogator based on a chip integrated with an AWG
demultiplexer, a photodiode, a signal processing module and an electronic controlling module is proposed.
This work was to introduce a reference mechanism in fiber based-SPR (surface plasmon resonance)
sensors to increase their sensitivity. We fabricated two tandem SPR sections in a single optical fiber and
coated one of the sections with a reference material to split a regular single resonant peak into two peaks,
one in regular wavelength range for sensing and another one in longer wavelength range for referencing.
By using the referencing peak to specifically detect the SPR changes caused by uncontrolled factors, such
as temperature variation, non-specific bonding, we were able to subtract the contribution of these factors
to the sensing peak using an established relationship, and thus increase the sensitivity of the sensing dip. With the method, we have demonstrated a fiber-based SPR humidity sensor whose sensitivity is immune to the variation of environment temperature.
An intensity interrogation system for a long-period-grating (LPG) -based fiber sensor using a linear combination of two Gaussian functions as the curve fitting function is proposed and demonstrated. The selected resonant dip of the LPG transmission spectrum can be reconstructed with the curve fitting function based on the measured intensities at different wavelengths. Thus, the center wavelength and the minimum transmission value of the resonant dip can be interrogated simultaneously. The center wavelength is obtained by calculating the first-order derivative of the fitting function, which is 1562.74 nm compared to 1562.3 nm directly measured using an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). The minimum transmission value is obtained directly from the fitting curve, which is -35.6 dBm is compared to -34.2 dBm directly measured from an OSA. An arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) is supposed to be adopted for the intensity measurement. However, the experiment is carried out using a tunable optical filter to approve the concept due to the unavailability of a suitable AWG at the time of experiment.
Optical fiber sensors have shown great potentials for aerospace applications. But two issues need to be addressed before
these applications can be realized. One is how to reliably implement optical sensors in the air vehicles. The other is the
need of compact, low weight sensor interrogation systems. We propose to use planar lightwave circuits (PLC) to address
the second issue. In this article, we report some of our results on the development of both echelle diffractive gratings
based sensor interrogator and arrayed waveguide gratings based sensor interrogators. Both approaches offer miniaturized
solutions for the development of optical fiber sensor interrogation systems.
Since their introduction in the mid seventies, a variety of fibre optic sensor configurations have been developed for the
measurement of strain, deformation, temperature, vibration, pressure, etc. Variation of these parameters alters the
refractive index and the geometric properties of the optical fibre, which in turn perturbs the intensity, phase, or
polarization of the light wave propagating in the waveguide. Only in the past decade that Bragg grating-based fibre
optic sensors emerged as the non-disputed champion in multiplexing and dual parameter sensing with increased potential
for smart structure applications. Stringent requirements for single point discrete or distributed simultaneous strain and
temperature measurements prompted this characterization study which has the objective of developing a detailed
understanding of grating characteristics and response under external stimuli. Collocated and serially placed gratings
were evaluated and tested for their effective sensitivity to strain and temperature and to coating materials variation such
as polyamide and acrylite. Experimental sensitivity results correlated well with theoretical estimation for strain in single
gratings. Whereas, significant wavelength differential is required for simultaneous temperature and strain measurement
if collocated gratings are used.
Using an arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) based demultiplexer, a simple channel gain equalizer can be designed. The gain equalization and blocking functions are realized by the hybrid waveguide based variable optical attenuators fabricated on the output waveguides of the demultiplexer. This paper discusses the operation principle of the design and presents some simulation results.
Use the method developed recently we calculate the bit-error-rate (BER) improvement as a function of transmitter extinction ratio and the optical link noise parameter.
Quantum operator algebra related to Jaynes-Cummings model is developed to design multi-reflector resonant bandpass filters for the first time. Transmittance and reflectance spectra of these filters are givens with analytic expressions. The results are found in agreement with those based on the existing filter design method. By selecting parameters such as r and N, designed filters can achieve a target spectrum profile with flat-top, large bandwidth, and minor ripples.
Our developed thermal curing adhesives were reported having excellent performance in coupling optical fibers to waveguides. The fiber-to-waveguide coupling process based on these adhesives is reported in this paper. The process consisted of three major steps in the process, including loading waveguide dies and fiber arrays onto the sample holders, aligning the fibers to waveguides at a constant temperature to reach minimum loss, bonding the fiber arrays to waveguide dies. The sample holders, which used ceramic spaces to isolate heat and springs to damp stress, were specially designed to keep fiber arrays and waveguide dies at a constant temperature up to 120°C with minimum shift. When the fiber arrays and waveguide dies were equilibrated with the set temperature, a rough alignment was conducted manually, followed by an automatic alignment controlled by a Melles Griot system. Then, the adhesives with proper viscosity and curing rate were applied to the gaps between fiber array and waveguide dies to bond them together. The curing temperature was optimized so that the adhesives could be distributed rapidly and cured at a speed that still allowed a small alignment adjustment during the curing. Such a temperature optimization was achieved by studying the adhesives’ curing kinetics with a DSC.
The bulking or stressing of fiber ribbons in the packaged waveguide-based components is associated with the performance deterioration of the components. The current industrial practice of avoiding the problem is to keep fiber ribbons movable regarding the packaging house. This approach, however, makes the component vulnerable to external load during component handling and does not complied with Telcordia test standard. A special technology based on incorporating a soft gasket was developed in our laboratory to solve the problem. The gasket is made of low-modulus elastomer foam with certain thickness and is positioned between the packaging house and strain relief boots, on which fiber ribbons are bonded with an in-house developed epoxy adhesive that has passed Telcordia test. In the packaged components, any effect caused by the mismatched coefficient of thermal expansion between the packaging house and fiber ribbons are compensated by the gasket, and no bulking or stressing occurs in the fiber ribbons. Meanwhile, since the fiber ribbons are firmly bonded to the strain relief boots, any external force applied on the fiber ribbons is transferred to the packaging house, instead of the fiber arrays and waveguide dies. The packaged component with this technology meets the Telcordia test standard and is cost-effective.
We have developed a widely tunable, narrow-linewidth, simultaneous triple-wavelength oscillation erbium-doped fiber ring laser (EDFRL), which can produce double-wavelength oscillations with the same polarization output, as well as another widely tunable wavelength oscillation with orthogonal polarization from 1522.2 nm to 1595.9 nm. By using this EDFRL along with a method of measuring polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) in optical fibers based on a broad-band orthogonal-pump four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), we have measured the PMD values of optical fibers, which are in good agreement with values measured by means of commercial PMD testing equipment. We have also proposed several novel devices for in-field PMD measurement and monitoring on dense wavelength-division multiplexed (DWDM) traffic-carrying links, which will significantly reduce the cost and time of the PMD testing in the running DWMD networking systems.
Variable optical attenuators (VOAs) play an important role in the wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) telecommunication networks. It is often necessary to use VOAs to perform functions as: (a) Dynamic channel balancing at MUX location; (b) Dynamic channel leveling at add/drop sites; (c) Receiver overload control; and (d) Optical channel blocking. In order to minimize the overall costs and optimize the performances, VOAs are sometimes required to be integrated with other optical components, such as a MUX/DEMUX, a detector array and etc. Planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology is the ideal technology platform for realizing this type of large-scale integrations.
In this work, we propose a VOA design based on a simple straight polymer channel waveguide layout in order to provide the optimal optical performances with very low electric power consumptions and high fabrication yield. The fabrication of the proposed design will be in compatible with other polymer components on the same substrate. It is found from the simulation results that the design can offer high attenuation level with very low electrical power consumption. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed VOA design can achieve very low polarization dependent loss and very good spectra flatness. All these performances would make the proposed VOA design very suitable for large-scale integration applications.
A novel polarization scrambling optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitor has been proposed and demonstrated. The OSNR monitor consists of a polarization scrambler, a polarizer and a photodetector. When the channel signal input to the polarizer is a linear polarization state aligned parallel (orthogonal) to the polarizer the output reaches its maximum (minimum). The OSNR can be obtained from the measured maximum and minimum of the output power if the sampling time is long enough to ensure a good coverage on Poincare sphere. The new OSNR monitor is polarization mode dispersion insensitive. The effect of polarizer extinction ratio and sampling time on the accuracy has been discussed.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.