Thermo-Optical Measurements and Simulation in a Fibre-Optic Circuit Using an Extrinsic Fabry–Pérot Interferometer under Pulsed Laser Heating

Abstract

Advantages of using an external Fabry–Pérot interferometer (EFPI) as a high-speed local temperature deformation sensor are demonstrated for the fibre-optic circuit combining a powerful laser beam for surface heating with a low-power probing radiation. The difference in the formation of the heating and probing radiation provides a simple basis for varying the gap between the fibre end and the surface in order to change the ratio between the heating and EFPI measuring areas. Using an example of modelling the laser heating by radiation from a standard single-mode fibre, we demonstrate the possibility of employing the EFPI to measure the temperature deformation of the surface on a quasi-isothermal area with the temperature close to the maximum at gap values of more than 100 μm. With the condition of preliminary calibration, the proposed scheme can be used to evaluate the heat treatment of the surface with the speed of the applied photodetector. The practical possibilities of the method are demonstrated on examples of heating some metal and semiconductor samples by laser pulses of microsecond duration.