New electric current sensor by thermal lens coupled magneto-optical effect in ferrofluid

Suihua Yuan; Xingwang Chen

doi:10.1117/12.252171

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24 September 1996 New electric current sensor by thermal lens coupled magneto-optical effect in ferrofluid

Suihua Yuan, Xingwang Chen

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Proceedings Volume 2895, Fiber Optic Sensors V; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.252171
Event: Photonics China '96, 1996, Beijing, China

Abstract

Optical current transformer (OCT) has been sought for the past two decades but has not been realized satisfactorily because of the problems in the long term field use of the polarization-preserving optical fibers which are required in the sensors based on the traditional principles such as Faraday rotation, etc. Based on fiber technology and a new physical effect reported, the diffraction angle of a laser beam focused on the ferrofluid thin film being approximately proportional to the field H² (in turn to the current I²) and being independent of the polarization state of the light, a new optical current sensor was designed and tested. When set 1 cm away from the electric power line, the current resolution of the sensor is 1 A and the measuring range is 0 A to 10² A, extendable to 2 multiplied by 10³ A when set 20 cm away from the line. The temperature dependence of the diffraction angle was measured to be proportional to T^-2 in the temperature range from minus 30 degrees Celsius to plus 50 degrees Celsius.

Citation Download Citation

Suihua Yuan and Xingwang Chen "New electric current sensor by thermal lens coupled magneto-optical effect in ferrofluid", Proc. SPIE 2895, Fiber Optic Sensors V, (24 September 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.252171

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