An all-fiber setup to store and retrieve light pulses using electric control is presented. The experiment is based on a Sagnac interferometer with a phase modulator fabricated using a poled fiber with internal electrodes.

In this article, we report on a carbon-coated optical fiber that is suitable to be used simultaneously as a transmission medium and as a sensor. It consists of a standard single mode fiber (SMF) sleeved in two layers of coating, which provide protection and isolation from external elements. The inner layer is made of carbon, whereas the outer is made of polymer. When the fiber is subjected to mechanical stress, the electrical resistance of the carbon layer changes accordingly. The voltage variations caused by the former can be measured with high accuracy and without interfering with the light propagating through the SMF. In this work, the feasibility of this operating principle is demonstrated in a low coherence Michelson interferometer in which electrical and optical signals were measured simultaneously and compared to each other. Results indicate that electrical measurements are as precise as the optical ones and with linear behavior, reaching a sensitivity of 1.582 mV/με and able to detect vibrations down to 100 mHz. © 2024 The Authors

The optical fibre coating is essential to ensure high performance and reliability of the optical fibre. Out of all polymer-coated fibres, polyimide coatings provide the highest temperature rating, typically rated for use in optical fibre sensing applications at 300˚C (in air), with short excursion to 350˚C. In this communication, we assess whether the inclusion of graphene-based nanoparticles, such as graphene and graphene oxide, in a polyimide coating can enhance the durability of optical fibres at high temperatures. Draw tower fabrication of optical fibres with nanocomposite polymer coating is described. Tensile strength tests, performed on aged nanocomposite-coated optical fibres, are used as an indication of their performance at harsh conditions. The results are validated and quantified by distributed temperature and humidity sensing tests performed using these fibres. The results show that this novel class of fibre is more robust to high-temperature ageing and moisture-induced strain than standard polyimide-coated fibres, when used for distributed sensing. The electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite coating is also used in a multi-sensing approach, together with distributed optical fibre sensing, to measure temperature in a reliable way using the same optical fibre. 

The finite element method (FEM) was used to investigate the optical-mechanical behavior of a Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) composed of a capillary segment spliced between two sections of standard optical fiber. The developed FEM model was validated by comparing it with theory and with previously published experimental data. The model was then used to show that the absolute strain on the host substrate is usually smaller than the strain measurement obtained with the sensor. Finally, the FEM model was used to propose a cavity geometry that can be produced with repeatability and that yields the correct absolute strain experienced by the host substrate, without requiring previous strain calibration.

Fibre-optic based sensing technologies are becoming popular in the field of geophysics since enable long range and high spatial resolution acoustic measurements. In this work, we present preliminary results obtained using quasi-distributed Fibre-Bragg grating sensing and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to monitor seismic activities in an operational underground mine. 12 FBGs and 800 metres of fiber optic cable was installed in the tunnel lining an operational mine and recorded mine seismicity such as production blasts and a small seismic activity of magnitude 1.41 in September 2022. 

We demonstrate the use of the electrooptic effect to control the propagation constant of the guided modes in silicate few mode fibers with internal electrodes. The electrooptic effect induces a perturbation of the fiber's refractive index profile that controls intermodal interference. To increase the electrooptic effect the silicate fibers are poled. The response time is in the nanosecond range. 

The electrooptic effect is used in a few-mode fiber to control intermodal interference. The fiber has internal electrodes and is poled to increase its electrooptic coefficient. The response time is in the nanosecond range. © Optica Publishing Group 2022, © 2022 The Author(s)

Ultrathin 25μm optical fibers with FBG sensors are manufactured and used as vibration sensors in glass-fiber reinforced composites. The use of ultrathin fibers is discussed, and their manufacture is described. © 2022 The Authors.

Electrical corona discharge is employed in this work to deposit ions on the surface of an optical fiber, creating a strong electric field that is used for poling. Green laser light propagating in the core frees photocarriers that are displaced by the poling field. The technique presented can induce a higher optical nonlinearity than previously obtained in traditional optical poling with internal metal electrodes. To date, a maximum second order nonlinearity 0.13 pm/V has been achieved for a 15 kV corona discharge bias. 

In this work, we report on a twin-core fiber sensor system that provides improved spectral efficiency, allows for multiplexing and gives low level of crosstalk. Pieces of the referred strongly coupled multicore fiber are used as sensors in a laser cavity incorporating a pulsed semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). Each sensor has its unique cavity length and can be addressed individually by electrically matching the periodic gating of the SOA to the sensor’s cavity roundtrip time. The interrogator acts as a laser and provides a narrow spectrum with high signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, it allows distinguishing the response of individual sensors even in the case of overlapping spectra. Potentially, the number of interrogated sensors can be increased significantly, which is an appealing feature for multipoint sensing. © 2022, The Author(s).