This paper presents a novel fiber optic Fabry-Perot (FP) structure for direct detection of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
sequences. The capture DNA is immobilized onto the surface of a silica optical fiber tip by means of the layer-by-layer
electrostatic self-assembly (L-b-L ESA) technique. With the FP cavity inside the fiber, the change in optical path length
difference (OPD) caused by the immobilization and hybridization can be demodulated. Experimental results demonstrate
short (~5 min) response time. In addition, the sensor fabrication is simple and low cost. The signal is stable with high
visibility.
This paper presents a novel intrinsic fiber optic Fabry-Perot (FP) structure with a micrometric diameter tip. With the FP cavity inside the fiber, the change in optical path length difference (OPD) caused by the environment can be demodulated. With such a tiny protrusion, the sensor can be inserted into micron size cells for intracellular measurements. This label-free detection method is very useful in biological areas such as DNA hybridization detection. It provides a valuable tool for intracellular studies that have applications ranging from medicine to national security. In addition, the fabrication is simple including only cleaving, splicing, and etching. The signal is stable with high visibility. Last but not the least, the structure shows great promise for reduction to nanometric size. Once this goal is achieved, the sensor can be inserted into most cells with minimal invasiveness.
This paper presents a novel fiber optic Fabry-Perot (FP) structure with a micrometric diameter tip. The fabrication of micro scale probes has become essential in intracellular surgery, in cell sensing, manipulation, and injection. It is of great importance in many fields, such as genetics, pathology, criminology, pharmacogenetics, and food safety. With such a tiny protrusion, the sensor can be inserted into micron size cells, say, for DNA analysis. With the FP cavity inside the fiber, the change of optical path difference (OPD) caused by the environment can be demodulated. In addition, the structure is intrinsically capable of temperature compensation. What's more, it is simple, cost-efficient, and compact. Last but not the least, the structure shows promise for nanometric protrusion. Once this goal is achieved, the sensor can be inserted into most cells. The sensor could pave the way for faster, more accurate medical diagnostic tests for countless conditions and may ultimately save lives by allowing earlier disease detection and intervention.
Fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) sensors are widely used in dynamic pressure measurements
because of their inherent advantages including small size, light weight, high sensitivity, high frequency response,
electrical passivity, electromagnetic interference immunity (EMI), and single-point measurement. However, small
fluctuations of background pressure could shift the operating point of the sensor in an unpredictable way, which
introduces a nonlinear response in dynamic pressure measurements. In this paper, we present a novel open structure only
125 μm in diameter to eliminate the operating point dependence on background pressure fluctuations. The essential
element is a piece of hollow fiber, which connects a standard telecommunication fiber and another hollow fiber with a
smaller inside diameter to form a Fabry-Perot cavity. The structure is open to the environment by a small hole, which
allows gas exchange between the sensor cavity and the ambient atmosphere. On the other hand, the sensor is capable of
responding to acoustic pressure because of the slow gas exchange through the small hole. In addition, this all fused silica
structure features high temperature stability, good linearity, and high repeatability.
New miniature extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (MEFPI) optical fiber sensors with a size of 125μm in diameter are presented, which are ideal for applications where the operation space is highly restricted. The temperature sensor can work up to 800°C with a sensitivity of 0.46nm/°C. The pressure sensor exhibited a sensitivity of about 0.36nm/psi. The sensitivities of the pressure and temperature sensor can be controlled with high precision during fabrication. In addition, their Fabry-Perot cavity lengths can be controlled with a resolution of several nanometers, which provides excellent flexibility in sensor design and signal demodulation. The sensors are composed entirely of fused silica, which is very reliable, biocompatible, corrosion resistant and immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Ultra-high temperature measurement is required in many harsh environment applications such as temperature monitoring in combustors and furnaces. This paper presents a novel thermometer, which is capable to measure temperatures above 1000°C with high resolution and accuracy. This sensor functions as a gas thermometer with a fiber optic readout, which will not suffer from blackbody radiation noise. The sensing part has high hardness, good electrical insulation, good wear resistance and does not react with most chemicals. The size of the sensor can be chosen flexibly to satisfy different application requirements. Since no electrical components are involved, the sensor is spark/explosion free and immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI). The sensor structure is simple, easy to fabricate and low cost. Some temperature measurement results in the laboratory are presented.
A novel vacuum-sealed miniature optical fiber sensor for static pressure or acoustic wave measurement is presented. This pressure sensor functions as a diaphragm-based extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (DEFPI) sensor. The sensor can work at high temperatures because of its all-silica structure. In static pressure measurement, the sensor's measurement range can be set up to 15,000psi with different thickness diaphragms. For acoustic applications, the sensor resonant frequency is higher than 600kHz. Evacuation of the sensor's cavity eliminates the thermally induced inner pressure changes (which is a common problem in pressure sensors) and therefore improves the accuracy and repeatability. In addition, the sensor fabrication process is simple, fast, controllable and low cost. This fiber sensor is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI), and corrosion resistant.
Accurate real time nondestructive modulus measurement is one of the principal requirements in service life monitoring of smart structures. However, most current measurement methods, such as tension and/or compression testing are inappropriate for such applications. For one thing, the force load may damage the casting. For another, the test process is not trivial and inconvenient for real-time modulus monitoring. This paper describes an acoustic-based measurement mechanism using two separated miniature optical sensors. The sensor features miniature size (<500μm), high resolution and accuracy, high temperature and pressure survivability, electromagnetic interference immunity (EMI), electrically non- conductivity, and chemical erosion inertness. This technique offers future potential for real-time measurement for in-service monitoring, particularly in applications involving such environments as high temperatures or high pressure.
Pressure sensors are the key elements for industrial monitoring and control systems to lower equipment maintenance cost, improve fuel economy, reduce atmospheric pollution, and provide a safer workplace. However, the testing environment is usually harsh. For example, inside the turbine engine, temperatures might exceed 600°C and pressures might exceed 100psi (690kPa), where most current available sensors cannot survive. Moreover, due to the restricted space for installation, miniature size of the sensor is highly desirable. To meet these requirements, a novel type of all fused silica optic fiber tip pressure sensor with a 125μm diameter was developed. It is a diaphragm based pressure sensor in which a Fabry-Perot interferometer is constructed by the end face of an optical fiber and the surface of a diaphragm connected by a short piece of hollow fiber. The FP cavity length and the interference pattern will change according to ambient pressure variation. Its main improvement with respect to previously developed optical sensors, such as those utilizing techniques of wet etching, anodic bonding and sol-gel bonding, is the fact that no chemical method is needed during the cavity fabrication. Its dynamic pressure performance was verified in a turbine engine field test, demonstrating not only that it can safely and reliably function near the fan of a turbine engine for more than two hours, but also that its performance is consistent with that of a commercial Kulite sensor.
We describe a fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) based temperature sensor that incorporates a pressure isolation fixture. The sensor has high temperature sensitivity and low pressure-induced crosstalk. The detailed analysis and discussion of the sensor design, the signal demodulation algorithm, and the sensor fabrication as well as the sensor performance are presented.
A new structure for diaphragm-based extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) optical fiber sensors is presented. This structure introduces a through hole in a conventional diaphragm-based EFPI sensor and significantly reduces the effect of operating point drift due to the background pressure and fluctuations. This structure also potentially has high temperature stability.
This paper describes the effort in developing a sapphire temperature prototype sensor for coal gasifier applications. The sensor is tested in laboratory to 1600 degree C and demonstrated 0.47% accuracy with respect to full measurement range. The efforts on sensor prototype development ranging from sensor probe packaging at each level, sensor electronics, LED modulation to remote data access are addressed.
In this paper, we present a miniature fiber optic pressure sensor. The sensor is extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) based with its FP cavity directly fabricated on the tip of the fiber by fusion splicing and chemical etching. The processes are simple, with no other materials but silica fibers involved. The sensor has the same dimension as the fiber itself, only 125μm in diameter. The length of the FP cavity and the interference pattern will change in response to ambient pressure variation. The signal is demodulated by tracing the spectrum shift. Sensitivity can be adjusted for different applications with low or high pressure range. Prototype sensors were fabricated and tested for static response. Dynamic measurements were performed in a turbine engine. Theoretical and experimental analysis of the sensor response are also presented.
Pressure measurements at various locations of a gas turbine engine are highly desirable to improve the operational performance and reliability. However, measurement of dynamic pressure (1psi (6.9kPa) variation superimposed on the static bias) in the operating environment of the engine, where temperatures might exceed 600°C and pressures might exceed 100psi (690kPa), is a great challenge to currently available sensors. To meet these requirements, a novel type of fiber optic engine pressure sensor has been developed. This pressure sensor functions as a diaphragm-based extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) sensor. The structure of the sensor head, composed entirely of fused silica, allows a much higher operating temperature to be achieved in conjunction with a low temperature dependence. The sensor head and the fiber tail have been packaged in a metal fitting connected to a piece of metal extension tubing, which improves the mechanical strength of the sensor and facilitates easy sensor installation. The sensor exhibited very good performance in an engine field test, demonstrating not only that the sensors' package is robust enough for engine operation, but also that its performance is consistent with that of a commercial Kulite sensor.
In this paper, we present a novel design of a fiber optic flow sensor system for single-phase fluid flow detection. This new system is based on the principle of broadband interferometry and cantilever beam bending. The fiber optic sensor system utilizes two fiber ferrule sensors that are bonded on both sides of a cantilever beam. The flow rate can be determined by monitoring the air gap changes caused by bending of the cantilever beam. Cross-sensitivity of the temperature and pressure dependence of the sensor can be compensated for automatically. The prototype sensor system was fabricated and tested on the lab-scale with preliminary evaluations completed. Field-testing was performed in the indoor and outdoor flow loops of Tulsa University in Tulsa, Okalahoma. Both the lab-scale and field-testing results verified that the designed flow sensor system could measure the single-phase fluid flow rate with high resolution and repeatability by compensating the thermal and pressure effects of the environment. The outdoor field-testing demonstrated the feasibility of the designed fiber optic flow sensor for single-phase fluid flow rate measurements in the oil fields.
Detailed studies on fiber optic pressure and temperature sensors for oil down-hole applications are described in this paper. The sensor head is an interferometric based fiber optic senor in which the air-gap will change with the pressure or temperature. For high-speed applications, a novel self-calibrating interferometric/intensity-based (SCIIB) scheme, which realizes compensations for both the light source drift and the fiber loss variation, was used to demodulate the pressure (or temperature) signals. An improved white light system was developed for sensor fabrication. This system is also used as the signal demodulation system providing very high resolution. Experiment results show that the SCIIB system achieves 0.1% accuracy with a 0-8000psi working range for the pressure sensor and a 0-600 degree(s)C working range for the temperature sensor. The resolution of the white light system is about +/- 0.5 nm with a dynamic range up to 10 micrometers. The long -term testing results in the oil site are also presented in this paper.
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