A Silicon-tipped Fiber-optic Sensing Platform with High Resolution and Fast Response

Summary

This work reports an innovative silicon-tipped fiber-optic sensing platform (Si-FOSP) for high-resolution and fast-response measurement of a variety of physical parameters, such as temperature, flow, and radiation. Applications of this Si-FOSP span from oceanographic research, mechanical industry, to fusion energy research.

Abstract

In this article, we introduce an innovative and practically promising fiber-optic sensing platform (FOSP) that we proposed and demonstrated recently. This FOSP relies on a silicon Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) attached to the fiber end, referred to as Si-FOSP in this work. The Si-FOSP generates an interferogram determined by the optical path length (OPL) of the silicon cavity. Measurand alters the OPL and thus shifts the interferogram. Due to the unique optical and thermal properties of the silicon material, this Si-FOSP exhibits an advantageous performance in terms of sensitivity and speed. Furthermore, the mature silicon fabrication industry endows the Si-FOSP with excellent reproducibility and low cost toward practical applications. Depending on the specific applications, either a low-finesse or high-finesse version will be utilized, and two different data demodulation methods will be adopted accordingly. Detailed protocols for fabricating both versions of the Si-FOSP will be provided. Three representative applications and their according results will be shown. The first one is a prototype underwater thermometer for profiling the ocean thermoclines, the second one is a flow meter to measure flow speed in the ocean, and the last one is a bolometer used for monitoring exhaust radiation from magnetically confined high-temperature plasma.

Introduction

Fiber-optic sensors (FOSs) have been the focus for many researchers due to its unique properties, such as its small size, its low cost, its light weight, and its immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI)¹. These FOSs have found wide applications in many areas such as environmental monitoring, ocean surveillance, oil exploration, and industrial process among others. When it comes to the temperature-related sensing, the traditional FOSs are not superior in terms of resolution and speed for the cases where measurement of minute and fast temperature variations is desirable. These limitations stem from the optical and thermal properties of the ....

Protocol

1. Fabrication of Low-Finesse Sensors

1. Fabricate the silicon pillars. Pattern a piece of 200-µm-thick double-side-polished (DSP) silicon wafer into standalone silicon pillars (Figure 2a), using standard micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) fabrication facilitates.
   NOTE: The patterned wafer is bonded on another larger silicon wafer using a thin layer of photoresist. The bonding force of the photoresist is strong enough to hold the pillars upright, but also weak enough.......

Discussion

The choice of the size (length and diameter) of the silicon FPI is made upon the tradeoff between requirements on the resolution and speed. In general, a smaller size provides a higher speed but also reduces the resolution². A short length is advantageous for obtaining a higher speed, but it is not superior for obtaining a high resolution due to the expanded FWHM of the reflection notches. Using HR coatings to reduce the FWHM can help improve the resolution, but it will limit the dynamic range due.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
200 Proof Pure Ethanol	Koptec	V1001
5 Channels Duplex CWDM	Fiber Store	5MDD-ABS-FSCWDM
Butterfly Laser Diode Mounts	Tholabs	LM14S2
CastAway CTD	Yellow Springs Instrument
CTD	Seabird	SBE 19plus
Current Meter	Nortek	Vector
Data Acquisition Device	National Instruments	NIUSB4366
Digital Oscilloscope	RIGOL	DS1204B	200 MHz 2 GSa/s
Diode Laser	Thorlabs	LM9LP	Wavelength: 632 nm
Fixed BNC Terminator Kit	Thorlabs	FTK01
Function Waveform Generator	RIGOL	DG4162	160 MHz 500 GSa/s
High Precision Cleaver	Fujikura	CT-32
High Reflection Dielectric Coating	Evaporated Coating INC (ECI)		Materials and structure of the coating are unknown
I-MON 512 Spectrometer	Ibsen Phtonics	P/N: 1257110
InGaAs Biased Detector	Tholabs	DET01CFC	FC/PC output:0-10V; Quantity: 2
Laser Diode	Qphotonic	QFLD-405-20S	Wavelength: 405 nm
Laser Diode Current Controller	Tholabs	LDC 210C	1 A and 100 mA range
Laser Diode Temperature Controller	Tholabs	TEC 200C	Quantity: 2
Latex Examination Gloves	HCS
Micro Slides	Corning Incorporated
Narrow Linewidth DFB Laser	Eblana	EP1550-NLW-B06-100FM	Wavelength:1550 nm
Optical Fiber Fusion Splicer	Sumitomo electric industries, LTD	3822-2
Optical Microscope and Monitor	Ikegami Tsushinki Company	PM-127
Optical Spectrum Analyzer	Yokogawa	AQ6370C	wavelength range: 600-1700 nm
Polish Machine	ULTRA TEC	41076
Post-mountable Irises	Thorlabs		Quantity: 2
Pump Laser	Gooch and Housego	0400-0974-SM	Wavelength: 980 nm
Si Amplified Photodetector	Thorlabs	PDA36A	Wavelength: 350-1100 nm
Silicon wafer	University Wafer		thickness: 10 µm, 200 µm, 75 µm, 40 µm
Single mode fiber	Corning	SMF-28
Single Mode Fused  Fiber Coupler	Thorlabs		Wavelength: 1550 nm
SM 125 interogrator	Micron Optics
Submersible Aquarium Pump	Songlong	SL-403
Superluminscent LED	Denselight Semiconductors	DL-BP1-1501A	wavelength range:1510-1590 nm
Syringe Pump	Cole Parmer	74905-02
Travel Translation Stage	Thorlabs	LT1
UV curable glue	Epoxy Technology	PB109077
UVGL-15 Compact UV Lmap	UVP	P/N:95-0017-09	254/365 nm
Variable Optical Attenuators	Tholabs	M-VA/00016951 P/N: VOA50-APC