OPTICAL SENSORS AND

THEIR APPLICATIONS

PRESENTED BY
Divya Chaurasia

TOPICS INCLUDED IN THIS

PRESENTATION
Introduction
Why

optical sensors ?
Principle of optical sensors
Classification and comparison
Some interesting applications
Where do we go from here ?

INTRODUCTION
New

revolution of optical fiber sensors

It is a spin-off from other optical
technologies.
Seeing the potential in sensing
applications developed as its own field

Optical Fiber
Optical fiber is :

a filament of
transparent dielectric
material, glass or plastic
usually cylindrical in
shape
a guidance system for
light

Optical Fiber

SNELLS LAW:
n1 sin J = n2 sin J

where n is refractive index

n1
n2

J1
J2

Guidance is achieved through

multiple reflections at the fiber
walls.
Core, transparent dielectric
material, surrounded by another
dielectric material with a lower
refractive index called cladding. (n1
>n2)
In practice, there is a third
protective layer called jacket.

Why Optical Sensors

Non-electric (immune to

electromagnetic and
radio-frequency
interference)

withstand high

temperature and harsh

environments

(corrosion)

High shock survivability

(explosion or extreme
vibration)

high accuracy and

sensitivity
light weight and small size
high capacity and signal
purity
multiplexing capacity
Can be easily interfaced
with data communication
systems

OPTICAL SENSOR MEASURANDS

TEMPERATURE
PRESSURE

CHEMICAL
SPECIES
FORCE

FLOW

RADIATION

LIQUID LEVEL

pH

DISPLACEMENT HUMIDITY
VIBRATION

STRAIN

ROTATION

VELOCITY

MAGNETIC
FIELDS

ELECTRIC
FIELDS

ACCELERATION ACOUSTIC
FIELDS

WORKING PRINCIPLE

Light beam changes by the phenomena that

is being measured
LIGHT MAY CHANGE IN ITS FIVE OPTICAL
PROPERTIES i.e. intensity, phase,
polarization , wavelength and spectral
distribution
8

CLASSIFICATION

EXTRINSIC SENSORS

Where the light leaves the feed or transmitting

fiber to be changed before it continues to the
detector by means of the return or receiving fiber
9

CLASSIFICATION (contd.)

INTRINSIC SENSORS

Intrinsic sensors are different in that the light beam does

not leave the optical fiber but is changed whilst still
contained within it.
10

COMPARISON OF THE TWO TYPES

Extrinsic
Applications-

temperature, pressure ,
liquid level and flow.
Less sensitive
Easily multiplexed
ingress/ egress
connection problems
Easier to use
Less expensive

Intrinsic
Applications-

rotation,
acceleration, strain, acoustic
pressure and vibration.
More sensitive
Tougher to multiplex
Reduces connection
problems
More elaborate signal
demodulation
More expensive

11

SENSOR TYPES
Chemical sensors

Remote spectroscopy
Ground water and soil contamination
Major players in chemical sensors
1) Pharmacia Biotech (Sweden)
2) FiberChem
3) The Quantum Group

Temperature sensors

Largest commercially available sensors

RANGE -40 deg C TO 1000 deg C
US-small companies, Japan- Hitachi n Sumitomo
12

Strain sensors
Fiber bragg gratings (fbg) technology
(A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of distributed Bragg
reflector constructed in a short segment of optical fiber that reflects
particular wavelengths of light and transmits all other)

Senses as little as 9 microstrain

Nrl and united technology research
Biomedical sensors
Spectroscopic biomedical sensors
CO 2, O2 and ph can be measured
simultaneously
Flow monitoring by laser dopplerimetry
Fibers ophthalmologic application
13

Electrical and magnetic sensors

Appealing- inherent dielectric nature

Less sensitive to electromagnetic interference
Small size and safer
They are almost always hybrid
Abb corporation research center

Rotation sensor

Based on the SAGNAC effect(A beam of light is split and

the two beams are made to follow the same path but in opposite
directions. To act as a ring the trajectory must enclose an area.
On return to the point of entry the two light beams are allowed to
exit the ring and undergo interference. The relative phases of the
two exiting beams, and thus the position of the interference
fringes, are shifted according to the angular velocity of the
apparatus. This arrangement is also called a Sagnac
interferometer)

14

Two types ring laser gyroscope (rlg) and fiber

optic gyroscope (fog)
US companies pursuing high performance
fogs (Honeywell, Litton, Northrup, allied
signal etc.)

Pressure sensors

Earlier based on piezoresistive technique

Based on movable diaphragm
High performance- (polarization based
sensors)
Operating pressure ranges from 0-70,000 torr

15

Displacement and position sensors

One of the first optoelectronic sensors to be

developed.
Simple sensors rely on the change in
retroreflectance due to a proximal mirror
surface (A retroreflector (sometimes called
a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface
that reflects light back to its source with a minimum of
scattering)

Also referred as liquid level sensors

16

APPLICATIONS

MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

This sensor enables low light imaging at tv frame rates and above
without the limitations of vacuum tube based systems.

17

NIGHT VISION CAMERA (contd.)

Comprises of :
Amplified ccd sensor
Anti blooming technology
Crystal polymer shutter
Advantages :
Exceptional day light resoln.
Immune to over exposure
Very high contarast levels

No haloing or scintillations

18

BIOMETRICS
YOUR FACE, FINGERS AND EYES IN A WHOLE
NEW LIGHT

Image capture

image processing
Feature extraction
Feature comparison

19

Partial discharge detection uses

optical fiber sensors
Optical fiber sensors are being tested for use in detecting
partial discharges in electrical transformers. Pinpointing such
discharges is essential to preventing insulation breakdown
and catastrophic failures.

20

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT

THE CHRONOLOGY
OF OPTICAL
SENSORS

21

PUBLICATION AND PATENT

TRENDS

22

GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF
PUBLICATIONS

23

GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF
OPTICAL SENSOR PATENTS

24

25

CONCLUSIONS
Looking at the industry trends in the past
2 decades and the exponential curve it
seems to me that there is going to be a
lot of research and improvements to the
existing sensors
Optical sensors are here to stay !!!!

26

QUESTIONS ??

27

REFERENCES

Optical Sensor Technologies

www.wtec.org/loyola/opto/c6_s3.html
Measuring with LIGHT
www.sensorsmag.com/articles/0500/26main.html
Optical Fiber Sensors
www.ul.ie/elements/Issue6/Optical%20Fibre%20Sensors.
html
Partial Discharge Detection
http://www.photonics.com/spectra/applications/XQ/ASP/a
oaid.328/placement.HomeIndex/QX/read.html
Military and Law Enforcement
http://www.militaryandlaw.com.au/products/l3vision.php
28

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

PATIENCE AND TIME

29