Fiber-Optic-Based Sensing Systems

Lazo M. Manojlović

• Publisher: Apple Academic Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781774637364
• eBook ISBN: 9781000564952
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications
• Index: Technology & Engineering

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, this book discusses both the latest advances and recent application opportunities along with the basic optical phenomena, with the main emphasis on applying optical knowledge for solving real-life engineering problems.

Key features of the book:
• Highlights the uniqueness of fiber-optics sensors
• Presents state-of-the-art technology in optical fiber sensors
• Discusses a variety of fiber-optic topologies
• Considers different detection techniques
• Gives special attention to distributed fiber-optic sensing systems

Basic tools and concepts are presented in the earlier chapters, which are then developed in more detail in the later chapters. The book is organized in seven chapters covering a broad range of fiber-optical sensing phenomena. Written for undergraduate and graduate students who want to broaden their knowledge of fiber-optic sensing system applications for real-life engineering problems, the volume is also valuable for engineers who want to acquire the basic principles of optics, especially fiber-optics.

CHAPTER 1 The Properties and the Nature of Light

ABSTRACT

The properties and nature of light intriguing the mankind since the beginning of human civilization. Today, passing more than 25 centuries from the first known philosophical treatment of the optical phenomena, which the early Greek philosopher Pythagoras have been made, the scientist are still astonished by the dual nature of light. Maxwell’s classical electromagnetic theory perfectly describes the propagation of light, whereas the quantum theory treats the interaction between light and matter or the absorption and emission of light. So, if someone ask “What is light?,” there is no a simple answer to this simple questions.

1.1 THE BRIEF HISTORY OF LIGHT PHENOMENA PERCEPTION

Since the dawn of human civilization the man was astonished and puzzled by the everyday interplay between the daylight and the nightdark caused by the Sun. Being unable to understand the origins of observed optical phenomena but understanding the importance of such phenomena on everyday life, the early men ascribed to the Sun the divine imprint. For a long period of human history, the Sun, the Moon, and the stars were the only sources of light in which periodic temporal behaviors were well understood and interweaved into the human perception of time. Sometimes, this perfectly tempered clock was interrupted by the solar and Moon eclipses as well as by the lightning and the polar light that confused the early man perception of light. The first turning point in understanding and controlling the optical phenomena and being able for the first time to make a man controlled light source was the discovery of fire control. For the first time, the primordial man was able not only to heat his home but also to illuminate it.

The curious mind of the ancient Greek philosophers was the first one who tries to get a deeper insight in the nature of light. The early Greek philosopher Pythagoras (c. 582–c. 497 b.c.) believed that light, which originates from the visible objects, is carried by the tiny particles of light. Empedocles (fifth-century b.c.) believed that light came from the illuminating objects but also believed that the light rays came out from our eyes. He was the first one who postulated that light travels at a finite speed. The famous Greek mathematician Euclid (c. 325–c. 265 b.c.) thought that the eyes transmit rays of light that cause the sensation of vision. Mirrors were also studied by Euclid, where in his book, entitled Catoptrics and written in the third-century b.c., the law of reflection was established.

The rectilinear propagation of rays of light was the main reason for Isaac Newton in his Treatise on Opticks to adopt the corpuscular nature of light, more than 20 centuries after Euclid. He believed that light consists of very small bodies emanating from the shining bodies. The shadow formation behind the illuminated objects as well as the law of mirror reflections goes in the favor of corpuscular nature of light. In contrast to Newton’s corpuscular theory, Christian Huygens developed a different theory where light is considered to be a wave motion that spreads from the source uniformly in all directions. The optical phenomena such as interference and diffraction, which were inexplicable in the frame of Newton’s corpuscular theory, perfectly fit the wave nature of light.

In the mid–19th century, one of the milestones in understanding the nature of light was reached. Namely, due to the genius work of James Clerk Maxwell that was published in his famous paper A Dy...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Synopsis.
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• 1 The Properties and the Nature of Light
• 2 Radiometric and Photometric Measurements
• 3 Optical Detection
• 4 Coherence and Interference of Light
• 5 Fiber Optics
• 6 Low-Coherence Fiber-Optic Sensor Principle of Operation
• 7 Fiber-Optic Sensor Case Studies
• Author Biography
• Index