Fiber Optic Sensors Based on the Faraday Effect.

Pedja Mihailovic,Slobodan Petricevic

doi:10.3390/s21196564

Abstract

Some 175 years ago Michael Faraday discovered magnetic circular birefringence, now commonly known as the Faraday effect. Sensing the magnetic field through the influence that the field has on light within the fiber optic sensor offers several advantages, one of them fundamental. These advantages find application in the measurement of electric current at high voltages by measuring the induced magnetic field, thus warranting application for this kind of fiber optic sensor (FOS) in future smart grids. Difficulties in designing and manufacturing high-performance FOSs were greatly alleviated by developments in optical telecommunication technology, thus giving new impetus to magnetometry based on the Faraday effect. Some of the major problems in the processing of optical signals and temperature dependence have been resolved, yet much effort is still needed to implement all solutions into a single commercial device. Artificial structures with giant Faraday rotation, reported in the literature in the 21st century, will further improve the performance of FOSs based on the Faraday effect. This paper will consider obstacles and limits imposed by the available technology and review solutions proposed so far for fiber optic sensors based on the Faraday effect.

Highlights

Fiber Optic Sensors Based on the Humanity’s ever-increasing demand for energy, especially electric energy that has high quality and acceptable distribution losses, is pushing electrical power systems towards higher complexity, voltage levels and transmission capacities
Soft ferromagnetic materials are recommended to decrease hysteresis nonlinearities
fiber optic sensor (FOS) based on the Faraday effect (FE) can be designed either as a magnetic field sensor or as an electric current sensor

Summary

Introduction

Fiber Optic Sensors Based on the Humanity’s ever-increasing demand for energy, especially electric energy that has high quality and acceptable distribution losses, is pushing electrical power systems towards higher complexity, voltage levels and transmission capacities. To ensure power quality and decrease losses, smart power grids need a vast number of current sensors, causing increased data flow. Incorporation of renewable energy sources further increases the need for monitoring and control [1]. Fiber optic current sensors (FOCSs), called optical current transducers (OCTs), have inherent advantages over current transformers, including the following: Faraday Effect. Academic Editors: Alayn Loayssa and Jose Miguel Lopez-Higuera. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

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