Microwave Photonics for Optical Sensors

This paper presents a review and discussion of the applications of microwave photonic techniques and functionalities to the field of optical fiber sensors. A specific end-to end model for its characterization is presented here for the first time that yields the sensitivity of the different figures of merit in terms of measured variations. Experimental techniques to characterize these systems are presented and applications of two specific microwave photonic functionalities to high-resolution discrete and quasidistributed optical sensing are illustrated. Future directions of research are also highlighted.