A slab-coupled optical fiber sensor (SCOS) falls into a narrow class of all-dielectric optical fiber electric field sensors, which makes it a perfect candidate for measurements of high electric fields in environments where presence of conductors is highly perturbing to the system under test. Its nonlinear response to high fields requires a new nonlinear calibration technique. A nonlinear calibration method is explained and demonstrated to successfully measure high electric fields, as well as high voltages with dynamic range up to 50 dB. Furthermore, a SCOS can be fitted into narrow spaces and make highly localized measurements due to its small size. This allows a SCOS to be integrated inside a standard high voltage coaxial cable, such as RG-218. Effects of partial discharge and arcing is minimized by development of a fabrication method to avoid introduction of impurities, especially air-bubbles, into the cable during SCOS insertion. Low perturbation of the measured voltage is shown by simulating the introduced voltage reflections to be on the order of −50 dB. It is also shown that a SCOS can be inserted into other cables without significant perturbation to the voltage.A complete high voltage and high electric field measurement system is built based on the high-voltage modifications of the SCOS technology. The coaxial SCOS is enhanced for robustness. Enhancements include packaging a SCOS into stronger ceramic trough, strengthening the fiber with kevlar reinforced furcation tubing and protecting the sensor with metal braces and protective shells. The interrogator is protected from electromagnetic interference with an RF-shielded box. Reduction in power losses introduced by the new PANDA-SCOS technology allows interrogator bandwidths to be increased up to 1.2 GHz. The whole measurement process is streamlined with dedicated software, developed specifically for high voltage and electric field measurements with support for the nonlinear calibration.

<p>The task of the project was to evaluate a differential phase shift keying demodulation technique by replacing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer receiver with an optical filter (Fiber Bragg Grating). Computer simulations were made with single optical transmission, multi channel systems and transmission with combined angle/intensity modulated optical signals. The simulations showed good results at both 10 and 40 Gbit/s. Laboratory experiments were made at 10 Gbit/s to verify the simulation results. It was found that the demodulation technique worked, but not with satisfactory experimental results. The work was performed at Eindhoven University of Technology, Holland, within the framework of the STOLAS project at the department of Electro-optical communication.</p>

The different topics covered in this thesis include photosensitivity in germanosilicate fibers/glasses and application of fiber Bragg grating sensors in simultaneous strain and temperature discrimination. Fiber Bragg Gratings are wavelength dispersive refractive index structures manufactured through ultra-violet (UV) exposure of optical fibers. Their applications range from wavelength division multiplexing filters, dispersion compensators and fiber laser resonators for telecommunication applications to different types of point or distributive sensors for a variety of applications. One aim of this thesis has been to understand the mechanism of photosensitivity in germanosilicate fibers/preforms. Studies undertaken in this part of the thesis include thermal dynamics of Fiber Bragg Gratings and nano-indentation on ultra-violet irradiated germanosilicate glass preforms. An interesting, periodic appearance of a new peak has been observed in the reflected spectrum of Bragg grating inscribed in a germanosilicate fiber during thermal treatment. The new peak occurs on the longer wavelength side of the spectrum during heating and on the shorter wavelength side during cooling, following an identical reverse dynamics. A commercial grating with 99.9% reflectivity also shows a similar decay dynamics. The observed temperature induced distortion in refractive index modulation profile has been understood in the light of compaction-densification model. It is proposed that during the fabrication process of a grating, the modulation in the thermal expansion coefficient brought about by the interference fringes results in a non-uniform expansion throughout the grating length which in turn results in the distortion of the refractive index profile with increase/decrease in temperature. Since the reflection spectrum of a grating can be approximated as the Fourier transform of the refractive index profile, any distortion in the index profile results in the observed anomalous behaviour in the reflection spectrum. Nano-indentation studies have been performed to measure the changes in mechanical properties of a glass preform subjected to different levels of ultra-violet exposure. The results reveal that short term exposure leads to an appreciable increase in the Young’s modulus suggesting the densification of the glass, confirming the compaction-densification model. However, on prolonged exposure, the Young’s modulus decreases, which provides the first direct evidence of dilation in the glass leading into the Type IIA regime. The present results rule out the hypothesis that continued exposure leads to an irreversible compaction and prove that index modulation regimes are intrinsic to the glass matrix. In the second part of the thesis, three different schemes have been proposed for the use of Fiber Bragg Gratings as strain-temperature discriminating sensors: (a) The first method is based on the measurement of the different characteristic wavelength shifts of two types of gratings. Strain and temperature sensitivities of a Type I Bragg grating (G1) in germania doped silica fiber, fabricated under normal conditions, and zero strain, are compared with that of a Bragg grating inscribed under pre-strained condition (G2). Experimental results show that both, strain and temperature sensitivities of G1 and that of G2 are different. Based on this study, we have proposed an approach which enables simultaneous discrimination of axial strain and temperature. (b) In the second method, a single sensing element has been used to encode strain and temperature into an additional parameter other than the wavelength shift. The thermal out-diffusion of germanium from the core of a photosensitive fiber under elevated temperature is exploited to form a Fabry-Perot filter with a single Fiber Bragg Grating. The filter is fabricated using the standard phase-mask technique and one-time exposure. Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis is used to measure the out-diffusion. The filter is used as a sensor for simultaneous measurement and discrimination of strain and temperature. The proposed technique, where a single grating is used to discriminate the parameters, provides a large advantage over other existing methods. (c) In the third method, a compact design based on cross-wire arrangement of Fiber Bragg Gratings having identical Bragg resonance and different reflectivity is proposed for simultaneously sensing strain (uniaxial) and temperature. Two gratings are assembled orthogonal to each other on an aluminium base. The cross-wire design allows the two sensors to experience the same temperature but different strain. The gratings are identified by their respective reflectivity and, strain and temperature are resolved from the shift in Bragg wavelength. The proposed design exploits the fact that strain is a vector and temperature is a scalar parameter. This sensor has wide industrial application in discriminating strain from temperature effects.

The task of the project was to evaluate a differential phase shift keying demodulation technique by replacing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer receiver with an optical filter (Fiber Bragg Grating). Computer simulations were made with single optical transmission, multi channel systems and transmission with combined angle/intensity modulated optical signals. The simulations showed good results at both 10 and 40 Gbit/s. Laboratory experiments were made at 10 Gbit/s to verify the simulation results. It was found that the demodulation technique worked, but not with satisfactory experimental results. The work was performed at Eindhoven University of Technology, Holland, within the framework of the STOLAS project at the department of Electro-optical communication.

The objective of this thesis is to study of optical effects, arising in the form of non-uniform waveguide structure, complicated refractive index profiles or due to pulse propagation in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical communication systems. These effects are important and critically influence the performance of DWDM optical systems. A comprehensive survey of current literature on optical effects due to nonuniform optical structure and nonlinear optical effects is first done, showing their advantages and disadvantage in optical communication systems. A survey on methods of optical waveguide analysis is also done. The main contribution has been made to three main aspects of the problem : Accurate analysis of uniform/non-uniform optical waveguides with arbitary refractive index profiles Pulse propagation and distortion in DWDM Raman amplification systems. Use of non-uniform FBG to compensate for pulse distortion We study several existing analytical techniques developed so far for analyzing the mode of non-uniform optical waveguide structures. Later, we verify the analytical results by finite element method (FEM). The convergence study is also carried out. A new computational technique is proposed modifying the finite element method to analyze complex refractive index profiles required for the analysis, namely single mode step index profile, multi clad fiber, W -profile, chirp profile etc. An accuracy of 10−4 in the calculation of propagation constant/eigen-value is demonstrated. Dispersion characteristics of optical fibers w.r.t. different profile parameters is evaluated. A modification to scalar BPM is proposed and applied to study the effects of inhomogeneities along the propagation direction. The applicability and accuracy of the method is tested using integrated optic waveguide devices, namely, graded index slab waveguide. The proposed BPM uses Fourier decomposition of the transverse field. Coupled mode theory (CMT) of optical waveguides in non-homogeneous optical medium is applied to study the interaction of lightwaves propagation together such as in a DWDM system. The BPM results is verified by CMT. The inhomogeneous waveguide theory is extended to study pulse propagation in DWDM optical communication system. Nonlinear optical effects are an important aspects of DWDM systems with fiber Raman amplifier. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is necessary to study these nonlinear optical effects as other conventional methods are not suitable here. Here, we discuss DWDM optical communication systems due to nonlinearity in the form of SRS effect. In case of FRA, we study the various kinds of fiber profile design parameters, for the purpose to achieve and extend the flat gain bandwidth over the EDFA window. We also propose and study, a new bi-directional optical fiber transmission scheme with various constraints, using Raman amplification process with and without pump depletion. Our scheme, provides an advantage like high SNR, low pump induced noise, for long-haul communication link. We find that, there is a quite significant crosstalk and power coupling among the dense DWDM channels but earlier discussed BPM fails to account for possible interference effects among the channels. To reduce the harmful nonlinear optical effects like four wave mixing (FWM), we need to deploy a high chromatic dispersion fiber, which will ultimately lead to high pulse walk-off rate among the DWDM channels; hence for high bit rate long haul systems, walk-off effect can not be ignored. Application of FDTD provided an improved insight into the effect of GVD on stimulated Raman scattering crosstalk than different modulation techniques and line codes. It is shown through analysis that pulse walk-off phenomena may distort the data asymmetrically; especially for case of wide-band DWDM transmission system. Hence, the pulse walk-off effect should be considered in future systems containing optical amplifier. It is shown, that large walk-off rate may reduce the crosstalk among DWDM channels but tends to increase the asymmetric pulse distortion. Data may lose due to high walk-off effect. We also investigate channel addition/removal process in DWDM fiber Raman amplifier. We also demonstrate that the pulse walk-off effect tends to lead significantly to positive chirp for higher frequency channels. This feature can be exploited to overcome the chromatic dispersion effects in DWDM transmission systems. Pulse walk-off induced chirp, can be compensated by using the nonuniform fiber Bragg grating (NUFBG). The CMT due to periodic perturbation of the circular cylindrical waveguide structures is applied here. Here, we discuss the function of fiber Bragg grating as a transmission versus reflecting grating filter. We also discuss, FBG application to gain flattening of an EDFA window as well as how the group velocity dispersion (GVD) will be affected with bandwidth and coupling coefficient. We develop a new analytical technique to estimate the bandwidth of FBG based optical system. Finally, we investigate the dispersion compensation properties, pulse distortion, peak reflectivity analysis in uniform/non-uniform FBG due to an uniform/non-uniform incoming signal. More complicated refractive index profile can significantly reduce the GVD as well as side lobes intensity. Dispersion characteristic due to an arbitrary refractive index profile is discussed in details for the case of non-uniform FBG. Thus, we concluded that wide band DWDM optical communication system need to closely take into account various inhomogeneities and nonlinearities of optical fibers w.r.t. wave and pulse propagation.

La corrosion des armatures de renforcement des structures en béton représente un enjeu socio-économique majeur. Sa détection et le suivi de son évolution constituent un défi pour la recherche appliquée. Les techniques standards non destructives de détection de corrosion mettent en œuvre des procédés indirects tels la mesure d’impédance, de potentiels, ou par ultrasons. Leurs capacités d’auscultation sont limitées dans l’espace (notamment en profondeur), leur coût reste élevé dans un contexte de maintenance périodique et elles conduisent à des paramètres d’interprétation complexe. Des progrès sont nécessaires dans la détection et l’analyse fiable de la progression des processus de corrosion. Dans ce travail, nous présentons une nouvelle méthode pour détecter la corrosion et le suivi de son évolution, basée sur l’observation directe des changements intervenant à l’interface fer-béton par Capteur à Fibre Optique (CFO). L'attaque par corrosion de la surface de l'armature dépend de plusieurs paramètres électrochimiques (température, pH, carbonatation, présence de chlorures, contamination biologique, etc.). Deux comportements mécaniques à l'interface fer-béton sont distingués. Dans le premier cas (carbonatation), le produit d'oxydation du métal reste à l'interface et augmente la pression interne, pouvant conduire à la fissuration de la couche de béton extérieure. Dans le second cas (piqures), les ions métalliques sont évacués hors de la structure avec comme conséquence une réduction de section des barres d'armature (affaiblissement du renforcement). Un CFO innovant est proposé dans le but de localiser et quantifier les deux types de corrosion précités. Le principe consiste à observer l’impact direct de la corrosion sur l’état de déformation d’une fibre optique préalablement précontrainte par construction. Deux procédés métrologiques sont étudiés : Bragg et réflectométrie fréquentielle (Optical Frequency-Domain Reflectometry - OFDR). Des tests de corrosion accélérée montrent la faisabilité du procédé. Une procédure de fabrication simplifiée et à coût optimisé est proposée pour la surveillance in situ et répartie des structures de génie civil, dans une perspective future de maintenance conditionnée. / Corrosion of reinforced bars (rebars) in concrete structures remains a major issue in civil engineering works, being its detection and evolution a challenge for the applied research. Usual non-destructive corrosion detection methods involve impedance, potential or ultra-sonic indirect measurements of complex interpretation. Besides, they are restricted to near-surface examinations and the maintenance cost is still high (scheduled maintenance). Many efforts remain to be done to survey the onset and progression of corrosion processes in a reliable way. In this work, we present a new methodology to detect the onset of corrosion and to monitor its evolution, based on the direct observation of rebar–concrete interface changes by the use of an Optical Fiber Sensor (OFS). The corrosion attack over rebar surface depends on several physical, chemical and electrochemical parameters (temperature, pH, presence of chlorides/CO2, biological contamination, etc.). Two types of mechanical behavior and described. In the first case (carbonation), metal oxidation products stay at the interface and increase internal pressure, potentially leading to a crack of the external concrete layer. In the second case (pitting), metal ions are evacuated out of the structure, leading to a reduction of the rebar section (structural weakness). An innovative sensor design is proposed with the purpose of localizing and quantifying the amount of both corrosion types. The basic principle consists in measuring the impact of corrosion over the state of strain of a prestressed optical fiber. Two metrological techniques are used: Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) and Optical Frequency-Domain Reflectometry (OFDR). Accelerated corrosion tests were performed in electrolytic solutions for both kinds of corrosion types (pitting and carbonation) and provide a proof-of-concept for the technique. A low-cost, simplified manufacturing procedure is proposed with the aim to provide distributed and in situ Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), suitable for future Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) of civil engineering concrete structures.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Grades de Bragg nÃo-lineares tÃm sido consideradas desde o final do sÃculo passado para aplicaÃÃes em sistemas de comunicaÃÃes Ãpticas e sensoriamento. O estudo de pulsos ultra-curtos em grades de Bragg lineares, entretanto, sà tem sido considerado nos Ãltimos anos, devido ao desenvolvimento de tÃcnicas numÃricas especÃficas para se resolver o problema. Neste trabalho, foi realizado um estudo analÃtico-numÃrico das caracterÃsticas de transmissÃo e reflexÃo das grades de Bragg nÃo-lineares. Pela primeira vez, foram consideradas variaÃÃes periÃdicas da nÃo-linearidade no dispositivo operando no regime de onda continua, levando a uma nova classe de grades nÃo-uniformes. CaracterÃsticas dos estados bi- e multi-estÃveis foram extensamente investigados nas grades de Bragg nÃo-lineares. TambÃm, pela primeira vez, foi realizado o estudo numÃrico de pulsos ultracurtos ($sim$1 ps) incidindo em grades nÃo-lineares. O enfoque foi dado para a dependÃncia da intensidade de um pulso ultracurto ao passar por tal grade. Foram estudadas, ainda, as dependÃncias na forma temporal da profundidade de modulaÃÃo da grade e do Ãndice nÃo-linear. Grades apodizadas foram consideradas, jà que estas sÃo de importÃncia fundamental nos sitemas de comunicaÃÃes modernos. / Nonlinear fiber Bragg gratings has been considered since the end of last century for applications in optical communications and sensor techniques. The investigation of ultrashort pulses in linear Bragg gratings, however has been considered in the last few years due the development of specifical numerical techniques to solve this problem. In the present work an analytical and numerical study of the reflection and transmission characteristics of nonlinear Bragg gratings was done. For the first time, it has been considered periodic variations of the nonlinearity in that devices operating in the continuous wave regime, leading to a new class of nonuniform gratings. It was extensively investigated the bi- and multistable characteristics in these nonlinear fiber Bragg gratings. Also, for the first time, the numerical study of ultrahsort pulses ($sim$1 ps) incident in nonlinear gratings was done. The focus was the input pulse intensity dependence on that gratings. Also, the depedences in the time shapes of grating index modulation depth and nonlinear index were studied. Apodized gratings were considered since they are of fundamental importance in modern communications systems.

The electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly of polyelectrolyte’s has shown applications in thin film coatings, micro patterning, nano-bioreactors and capsules for drug delivery. The film architecture can be precisely designed and controlled to nanometer scale precision with a range from 5 nm to a few microns. Both in vitro and in vivo studies indicate potential applications in biology, pharmaceutics, medicine, and other biomedical areas. This thesis work focused on the design and development of protocols to fabricate polyelectrolyte multi-layer patterns on a variety of substrates such as glass, metals and plastics such as acrylic and polycarbonate. The micro-scale polyelectrolyte patterns have applications in the creation of DNA, protein or cell based microarrays. This work also demonstrated the use of polyelectrolyte multi-layers in the enhancement of fluorescence signals from fluorophore-tagged molecules captured within the multi-layers. In-situ measurements using Fiber Bragg Gratings were carried out to study the kinetics of adsorption and desorption of polyelectrolytes participating in the layer buildup process under different process environmental conditions.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta um sistema de interrogação de sensores a rede de Bragg em fibras ópticas, baseado em reflectometria no domínio do tempo e filtros fixos a rede de Bragg. Utilizando uma fonte de luz pulsada, a posição espectral do sensor é relacionada à razão da intensidade dos pulsos, tornando a detecção independente de variações de intensidade. São abordados aspectos teóricos e experimentais referentes aos princípios de funcionamento desta técnica. Uma vez que a filtragem é feita com redes de Bragg, apenas um circuito de fotodetecção é utilizado e um número reduzido de acopladores/circuladores ópticos é necessário, o sistema possibilita reduzir consideravelmente o custo para a interrogação de um conjunto de sensores. A utilização de apenas um circuito de fotodetecção apresenta a vantagem de manter as mesmas características para todos os pulsos, minimizando influências externas neste circuito como, por exemplo, variações da temperatura ambiente. Foi montada uma bancada de testes para a interrogação de seis sensores. Comparações entre os resultados experimentais e simulados mostram boa concordância. Extrapolações indicam que seria possível interrogar sensores com uma variação espectral de 2 nanômetros, com incertezas menores que 10 picometros, o que é adequado para sensores de temperatura. Análises de interferência entre dois canais adjacentes mostram pouca influência entre eles e são apresentadas opções para diminuir essa interferência. / [en] This work presents a system for the interrogation of fiber- optic Bragg grating sensors based on time domain reflectometry and Bragg grating fixed filters. Using a pulsed light source, the spectral position of the sensor is related to the ratio of two pulses intensities, making detection independent of intensity variations. Theoretical and experimental aspects regarding the working principles of this technique are discussed. Since filtering is accomplished with Bragg grating so that only one photodetection circuit is used and a reduced number of optic couplers/circulators are needed, the system provides a considerable reduction in the cost of interrogation for a set of sensors. Using only one photodetection circuit also has the advantage of maintaining the same characteristics for all pulses, thus minimizing external influences in this circuit, such as variations in the environment temperature. A test stand was assembled for the interrogation of six sensors. Comparisons between experimental and simulated results show a good agreement. Extrapolations indicate that it would be possible to interrogate sensors with a spectral variation of 2 nanometers, with uncertainties lower than 10 pm, which is adequate for temperature sensors. Cross talk analyses between two adjacent channels show small influence between them, and approaches to reduce this interference are presented.

Předložená disertační práce zkoumá možnosti použití nového typu polovodičového MGY- Laseru elektricky laditelného v širokém spektrálním rozsahu a zabývá se možnostmi jeho nasazení v optovláknové senzorové síti založené na metodě FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating). Výzkum byl započat komplexními dlouhodobými testy reálného měřícího scénáře z oblasti stavebnictví, sestaveného pro účely ověření limitujících aspektů současných technik. Inženýrské aplikace nabízejí velké množství vzájemně se vylučujících požadavků pro návrh strukturálních senzorových systémů. Tyto požadavky jsou sdíleny mnoha dalšími technologickými oblastmi, což přispívá k vysokému stupni univerzálnosti použití dosažených výsledků. Na základě posouzení stavu současné techniky a aplikačních požadavků byly v práci nejprve identifikovány aspekty, které mají být výzkumem zlepšeny. V dalším kroku byl detailně charakterizován MG-Y laser Syntune/Finisar S7500. Na základě dat získaných měřením byla zkoumána nová metoda spojitého řízená vlnové délky záření laseru. Provedené experimenty vedly nejen k návrhu nového způsobu spojité regulace vlnové délky ale také k vytvoření prostředků pro vlastní kalibraci systému na základě jeho vnitřních vlastností (podélných módů rezonátoru).