This book describes the latest development in optical fiber devices, and their applications to sensor technology. Optical fiber sensors, an important application of the optical fiber, have experienced fast development, and attracted wide attentions in basic science as well as in practical applications. Sensing is often likened to human sense organs. Optical fiber can not only transport information acquired by sensors at high speed and large volume, but also can play the roles of sensing element itself. Compared with electric and other types of sensors, fiber sensor technology has unique merits. It has advantages over conventional bulky optic sensors, such as combination of sensing and signal transportation, smaller size, and possibility of building distributed systems. Fiber sensor technology has been used in various areas of industry, transportation, communication, security and defense, as well as daily life. Its importance has been growing with the advancement of the technology and the expansion of the scope of its application, a growth this book fully describes.

Aims to provide a solid overall background in fibre optic sensors and discusses mechanisms and configurations for a wide range of applications for measurement and analysis. The author also discusses both sides of the case for fibre optic sensors, including sensitivity and dynamic response.

The most complete, one-stop reference for fiber optic sensor theory and application Optical Fiber Sensors: Fundamentals for Development of Optimized Devices constitutes the most complete, comprehensive, and up-to-date reference on the development of optical fiber sensors. Edited by two respected experts in the field and authored by experienced engineers and scientists, the book acts as a guide and a reference for an audience ranging from graduate students to researchers and engineers in the field of fiber optic sensors. The book discusses the fundamentals and foundations of fiber optic sensor technology and provides real-world examples to illuminate and illustrate the concepts found within. In addition to the basic concepts necessary to understand this technology, Optical Fiber Sensors includes chapters on: Distributed sensing with Rayleigh, Raman and Brillouin scattering methods Biomechanical sensing Gas and volatile organic compound sensors Application of nanotechnology to optical fiber sensors Health care and clinical diagnosis And others Graduate students as well as professionals who work with optical fiber sensors will find this volume to be an indispensable resource and reference.

Environmental and chemical sensors in optical fiber sensor technology The nature of the environment in which we live and work, and the precarious state of many aspects of the natural environment, has been a major lesson for scientists over the last few decades. Public awareness of the issues involved is high, and often coupled with a scepticism of the ability of the scientist and engineer to provide an adequate, or even rapid solution to the preservation of the environment before further damage is done, and to achieve this with a mini mum of expenditure. Monitoring of the various aspects of the environment, whether it be external or internal to ourselves and involving chemical, physical or biomedical parameters is an essential process for the well-being of mankind and of the individual. Legis lative requirements set new standards for measurement and control all around us, which must be met by the most appropriate of the technologies available, commensurate with the costs involved. Optical fiber sensor technology has a major part to play in this process, both to complement existing technologies and to promote new solutions to difficult measurement issues. The developments in new sources and detectors covering wider ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, with higher sensitivity, allow the use of techniques that some time ago would have been considered inappropriate or lacking in sufficient sensitivity.

This book explains physical principles, unique benefits, broad categories, implementation aspects, and performance criteria of distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS). For each kind of sensor, the book highlights industrial applications, which range from oil and gas production to power line monitoring, plant and process engineering, environmental monitoring, industrial fire and leakage detection, and so on. The text also includes a discussion of such key areas as backscattering, launched power limitations, and receiver sensitivity, as well as a concise historical account of the field’s development.

The need for both intrinsic and extrinsic fiber optic sensor technologies continues to grow. To meet the demands of this fast expanding applications-driven market, Fiber Optic Sensors, Second Edition presents both the latest advances in fiber optic sensor technology, such as the application of photonic crystal fibers to fiber optic gyroscopes, and recent application opportunities, including the use of fiber optic sensors as a minimally invasive medical treatment. The new edition of this seminal work highlights the development of fiber optic sensors, while providing an overview of current methods for the construction of high-speed and high-capacity fiber optic systems. Two new chapters cover topics such as femtosecond laser illumination inscription and the growing application sector of fiber optic chemical and biological sensors. Adding significant new material, the book continues to provide a progressive history of each sensor type as well as basic principles and fundamental building blocks for practical applications in the electrical aerospace, defense and manufacturing, smart structure, undersea surveillance, medical, and gas and oil industries.

The book provides an introduction of surface plasmons and presents its applications in the sensing of various chemical and biological analyses using optical fiber technology. The field is developed by introducing the surface plasmons for semi-infinite metal-dielectric interface with discussion of their propagation length and penetration depth. Practical issues with the excitation of surface plasmons in different configurations and in various geometries including various means of their excitation have also been included. The book discusses the essential components of fiber optic sensors, their functions and the performance parameters along with the theoretical description of fiber optic Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensors with respect to various light launching conditions. The fabrication methods and protocols used for the fabrication of the fiber optic SPR chemical and biosensors have been described. Some fiber optic sensing applications based on SPR phenomena and various issues, such as sensitivity enhancement, influence of external stimuli etc, have been an important part of the book.The book will help beginners as well as established researchers in understanding the fundamentals and advancements of optical fiber plasmonic sensor technology. The book contains both the rigorous theory and the experimental techniques of SPR and related variety of sensors.