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Flying particle sensors in hollow-core photonic crystal fibre

Nature Photonics volume 9, pages 461–465 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Optical fibre sensors make use of diverse physical effects to measure parameters such as strain, temperature and electric field. Here we introduce a new class of reconfigurable fibre sensor, based on a ‘flying-particle’ optically trapped inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre and illustrate its use in electric field and temperature sensing with high spatial resolution. The electric field distribution near the surface of a multi-element electrode is measured with a resolution of ∼100 μm by monitoring changes in the transmitted light signal due to the transverse displacement of a charged silica microparticle trapped within the hollow core. Doppler-based velocity measurements are used to map the gas viscosity, and thus the temperature, along a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre. The flying-particle approach represents a new paradigm in fibre sensors, potentially allowing multiple physical quantities to be mapped with high positional accuracy over kilometre-scale distances.

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Figure 1: Schematic of measurement procedures.
Figure 2: Measurements of the particle response at different pressures.
Figure 3: Measurement of the particle response at different powers.
Figure 4: Spatially resolved measurements of the electric field.
Figure 5: Temperature measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Guenther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, Bldg 24, Erlangen, 91058, Germany

    D. S. Bykov, O. A. Schmidt, T. G. Euser & P. St. J. Russell

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  1. D. S. Bykov
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  2. O. A. Schmidt
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  3. T. G. Euser
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  4. P. St. J. Russell
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Contributions

P.St.J.R. conceived the idea, all authors designed the experimental setup and D.S.B. performed the experiments. D.S.B., T.G.E. and P.St.J.R. analysed the data and prepared the manuscript.

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Correspondence to D. S. Bykov or T. G. Euser.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bykov, D., Schmidt, O., Euser, T. et al. Flying particle sensors in hollow-core photonic crystal fibre. Nature Photon 9, 461–465 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.94

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