OPTICAL SENSORS AND

THEIR APPLICATIONS

PRESENTED BY
GAURAV PURI
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
SUNY AT BUFFALO
gapuri@buffalo.edu

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

WHY OPTICAL SENSORS

ELECTROMAGNETIC

IMMUNITY
ELECTRICAL ISOLATION
COMPACT AND LIGHT
BOTH POINT AND DISTRIBUTED
CONFIGURATION
WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE
AMENABLE TO MULTIPLEXING
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OPTICAL SENSOR MEASURANDS

TEMPERATURE

CHEMICAL
SPECIES

PRESSURE

FORCE

FLOW

RADIATION

LIQUID LEVEL

pH

DISPLACEMENT HUMIDITY
VIBRATION

STRAIN

ROTATION

VELOCITY

MAGNETIC
FIELDS

ELECTRIC
FIELDS

ACCELERATION ACOUSTIC
FIELDS

WORKING PRINCIPLE

LIGHTBEAMCHANGESBYTHE
PHENOMENATHATISBEINGMEASURED
LIGHTMAYCHANGEINITSFIVEOPTICAL

PROPERTIESi.eINTENSITY,PHASE,
POLARIZATION,WAVELENGTHAND
SPECTRALDISTRIBUTION
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SENSING DETAILS
EP(t)cos[t+(t)]

INTENSITY BASED SENSORS EP (t)

FREQUENCY VARYING SENSORS - P(t)
PHASE MODULATING SENSING- (t)
POLARIZATION MODULATING FIBER SENSING

CLASSIFICATION

EXTRINSIC SENSORS

WHERETHELIGHTLEAVESTHEFEEDOR
TRANSMITTINGFIBERTOBECHANGEDBEFORE
ITCONTINUESTOTHEDETECTORBYMEANS
OFTHERETURNORRECEIVINGFIBER
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CLASSIFICATION (contd.)

INTRINSIC SENSORS

INTRINSICSENSORSAREDIFFERENTINTHATTHE
LIGHTBEAMDOESNOTLEAVETHEOPTICALFIBER
BUTISCHANGEDWHILSTSTILLCONTAINEDWITHINIT.
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COMPARISON OF THE TWO TYPES

EXTRINSIC

INTRINSIC

APPLICATIONS-

APPLICATIONS-

TEMPERATURE,
PRESSURE,LIQUID
LEVEL AND FLOW.
LESS SENSITIVE
EASILY MULTIPLEXED
INGRESS/ EGRESS
CONNECTION
PROBLEMS
EASIER TO USE
LESS EXPENSIVE

ROTATION,
ACCELERATION, STRAIN,
ACOUSTIC PRESSURE
AND VIBRATION.
MORE SENSITIVE
TOUGHER TO MULTIPLEX
REDUCES CONNECTION
PROBLEMS
MORE ELABORATE
SIGNAL DEMODULATION
MORE EXPENSIVE

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SENSOR TYPES
CHEMICAL SENSORS

REMOTE SPECTROSCOPY
GROUNDWATER 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

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STRAIN SENSORS
FIBER BRAGG GRATINGS (FBG)
TECHNOLOGY
SENSES AS LITTLE AS 9 MICROSTRAIN
NRL and UNITED TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

BIOMEDICAL SENSORS
SPECTROSCOPIC BIOMEDICAL SENSORS
CO 2, O 2 and pH CAN BE MEASURED
SIMULTANEOUSLY
FLOW MONITORING BY LASER
DOPPLERIMETRY

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FIBERS OPTHALMOLOGIC APPLICATION

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

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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 070,000 torr

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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
ALSO REFERRED AS LIQUID LEVEL
SENSORS

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APPLICATIONS

MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

THISSENSORENABLESLOWLIGHTIMAGINGATTVFRAME
RATESANDABOVEWITHOUTTHELIMITATIONSOFVACUMTUBE
BASEDSYSTEMS.
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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
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BIOMETRICS
YOUR FACE, FINGERS AND EYES IN A WHOLE NEW
LIGHT

IMAGECAPTURE

IMAGEPROCESSING
FEATUREEXTRACTION
FEATURECOMPARISON

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PARTIAL DISCHARGE DETECTION

USES OPTICAL FIBER SENSORS
OPTICALFIBERSENSORSAREBEINGTESTEDFORUSE
INDETECTINGPARTIALDISCHARGESINELECTRICAL
TRANSFORMERS.PINPOINTINGSUCHDISCHARGESIS
ESSENTIALTOPREVENTINGINSULATIONBREAKDOWN
ANDCATASTROPHICFAILURES.

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LETS TAKE A LOOK AT

THE CHRONOLOGY
OF OPTICAL
SENSORS
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PUBLICATION AND PATENT

TRENDS

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GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF
PUBLICATIONS

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GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF
OPTICAL SENSOR PATENTS

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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 !!!!
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QUESTIONS ??

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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/ao
aid.328/placement.HomeIndex/QX/read.html
Military and Law Enforcement
http://www.militaryandlaw.com.au/products/l3vision.php

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Pockels Effect
www.scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Po
ckelsEffect.html
Distinctive advantages give optical
sensors the edge over conventional
systems
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ 200308/ti-dag081303.php

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR

PATIENCE AND TIME

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