Methane Gas Photonic Sensor Based on Resonant Coupled Cavities.

In this paper we report methane gas photonic sensors exploiting the principle of absorption-induced redirection of light propagation in coupled resonant cavities. In particular, an example of implemented architecture consists of a Fabry-Pérot (FP) resonator coupled to a fibre ring resonator, operating in the near IR. By changing the concentration of the methane gas in the FP region, the absorption coefficient of the FP changes. In turn, the variation of the methane gas concentration allows the redirection of the light propagation in the fibre ring resonator. Then, the methane gas concentration can be evaluated by analysing the ratio between the powers of two resonant modes, counter-propagating in the fibre ring resonator. In this way, a self-referenced read-out scheme, immune to the power fluctuations of the source, has been conceived. Moreover, a sensitivity of 0.37 ± 0.04 [dB/%], defined as the ratio between resonant modes at different outputs, in a range of methane concentration included between the 0% and 5%, has been achieved. These results allow a detection limit below the lower explosive limit (LEL) to be reached with a cost-effective sensor system.

Fibre Bragg Grating Based Strain Sensors: Review of Technology and Applications.

Fibre Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors are not only a very well-established research field, but they are also acquiring a bigger market share due to their sensitivity and low costs. In this paper we review FBG strain sensors with high focus on the underlying physical principles, the interrogation, and the read-out techniques. Particular emphasis is given to recent advances in highly-performing, single head FBG, a category FBG strain sensors belong to. Different sensing schemes are described, including FBG strain sensors based on mode splitting. Their operation principle and performance are reported and compared with the conventional architectures. In conclusion, some advanced applications and key sectors the global fibre-optic strain sensors market are envisaged, as well as the main market players acting in this field.

Gyroscope Technology and Applications: A Review in the Industrial Perspective.

This paper is an overview of current gyroscopes and their roles based on their applications. The considered gyroscopes include mechanical gyroscopes and optical gyroscopes at macro- and micro-scale. Particularly, gyroscope technologies commercially available, such as Mechanical Gyroscopes, silicon MEMS Gyroscopes, Ring Laser Gyroscopes (RLGs) and Fiber-Optic Gyroscopes (FOGs), are discussed. The main features of these gyroscopes and their technologies are linked to their performance.

Investigation of refractive index sensing based on Fano resonance in fiber Bragg grating ring resonators.

In this paper we theoretically investigate a ring resonant cavity obtained by closing on itself a π-shifted fiber Bragg grating, to be used for refractive index sensing applications. Differently from a conventional π-shifted fiber Bragg grating, the spectral structure of this cavity is characterized by an asymmetric splitting doublet composed by a right side resonance having an asymmetric Fano profile and a left side resonance having a symmetric Lorentzian profile. The right side resonance shows a narrower and sharper peak than all the other kinds of resonance achievable with both conventional ring resonators and π-shifted fiber Bragg gratings. A reduction of the resonant linewidth with respect to a conventional π-shifted Fiber Bragg grating and a fiber ring resonator, having the same physical parameters, is theoretically proved, achieving up to five orders of magnitude improvement with respect to the usual ring resonator. Due to these resonance features, the π-shifted Bragg grating ring resonator results suitable for RI sensing applications requiring extremely narrow resonances for high resolution measurements. In particular, by assuming a refractive index sensing to detect the presence of sugar in water, the sensor can show a theoretical resolution better than 10-9 RIU.

Investigation of fiber Bragg grating based mode-splitting resonant sensors.

In this paper, we report on theoretical investigation of split mode resonant sensors based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) ring resonators and π-shifted fiber Bragg grating (π-FBG) ring resonators. By using a π-shifted Bragg grating ring resonator (π-FBGRR) instead of a conventional fiber Bragg grating ring resonator (FBGRR), the symmetric and antisymmetric resonance branches (i.e., the eigen-modes of the perturbed system) show peculiar and very important features that can be exploited to improve the performance of the fiber optic spectroscopic sensors. In particular, the π-FBGRR symmetric resonance branch can be taylored to have a maximum splitting sensitivity to small environmental perturbations. This optimal condition has been found around the crossing points of the two asymmetric resonance branches, by properly choosing the physical parameters of the system. Then, high sensitivity splitting mode sensors are theoretically demonstrated showing, as an example, a strain sensitivity improvement of at least one order of magnitude over the state-of-the-art.

Performance of SOI Bragg grating ring resonator for nonlinear sensing applications.

In this paper, a spectroscopic sensor formed by a silicon-on-insulator waveguiding Bragg grating ring resonator working in linear and non-linear regime is proposed. In linear regime, the device shows a spectral response characterized by a photonic band gap (PBG). Very close to the band gap edges, the resonant structure exhibits split modes having a splitting magnitude equal to the PBG spectral extension, whose characteristics can be exploited to obtain a RI optical sensor almost insensitive to the fabrication tolerances and environmental perturbations. When the device operates in nonlinear regime, exactly in the spectral region showing the split resonant modes, the RI sensing performance is strongly improved with respect to the linear regime. This improvement, demonstrated by taking into account all the non-linear effects excited in the integrated silicon structure (i.e., Two Photon Absorption (TPA), TPA-induced Free Carrier Absorption, plasma dispersion, Self-Phase-Modulation and Cross-Phase-Modulation effects as induced by Kerr nonlinearity) as well as the deleterious thermal and stress effects, allows enhancing the performance of the RI split mode resonant sensors, while achieving good immunity to the fabrication tolerances and environmental perturbations. The improvement in terms of sensor resolution can be at least one order of magnitude, still without using optimal parameters.

Recent advances in gas and chemical detection by Vernier effect-based photonic sensors.

Recently, the Vernier effect has been proved to be very efficient for significantly improving the sensitivity and the limit of detection (LOD) of chemical, biochemical and gas photonic sensors. In this paper a review of compact and efficient photonic sensors based on the Vernier effect is presented. The most relevant results of several theoretical and experimental works are reported, and the theoretical model of the typical Vernier effect-based sensor is discussed as well. In particular, sensitivity up to 460 µm/RIU has been experimentally reported, while ultra-high sensitivity of 2,500 µm/RIU and ultra-low LOD of 8.79 × 10(-8) RIU have been theoretically demonstrated, employing a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) as sensing device instead of an add drop ring resonator.