Abstract
A magnetic field sensor based on the integration of a high birefringence photonic crystal fiber and a composite material made of Terfenol particles and an epoxy resin is proposed. An in-fiber modal interferometer is assembled by evenly exciting both eigenemodes of the HiBi fiber. Changes in the cavity length as well as the effective refractive index are induced by exposing the sensor head to magnetic fields. The magnetic field sensor has a sensitivity of 0.006 (nm/mT) over a range from 0 to 300 mT with a resolution about ±1 mT. A fiber Bragg grating magnetic field sensor is also fabricated and employed to characterize the response of Terfenol composite to the magnetic field.
Highlights
Optical fiber magnetic field sensors appear as an important alternative to electrical sensors, such asHall Effect based sensors, for monitoring magnetic field in applications such as power plants, whereSensors 2011, 11 electric insulation and electromagnetic interference are an issue
The response of the interferometric sensor and the fiber Bragg grating reference sensor against the magnetic field is plotted in Figure 3(a) for comparison
A novel optical fiber sensor obtained by integrating a HiBi PCF fiber with a custom made
Summary
Optical fiber magnetic field sensors appear as an important alternative to electrical sensors, such as. An obvious way of relaxing the need for optical fiber sensors with long interaction lengths is the possibility of using fiber materials with a higher Verdets constant, such as some soft glasses [6,7] These glasses, are typically mechanically fragile and do not withstand the temperature levels required in many industrial applications. An alternative approach relies on the integration of Terfenol particles into the optical fibers providing them with high magnetostriction properties This possibility was investigated and demonstrated using fiber Bragg gratings which led to the development of localized magnetic field sensors [8,9,10,11]. The composite material sensitivity to the applied magnetic field is determined by using an optical fiber Bragg grating, detailed information about this sensor can be found in [13] This result is subsequently used to understand how the mechanical forces, originated from the magnetostrictive. A mechanical model illustrating the main force components present in the sensor head as a result of the applied magnetic field is proposed and discussed
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