High Resolution Short Response Time Fiber-Optic Temperature Sensor

This article presents an all-silica microwire optical sensor designed for both fast response time and high-resolution temperature detection. The sensor consists of a thin optical microwire created at the tip of an optical fiber, configured as a temperature sensitive Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). For the purposes of achieving rapid response times, the sensing section of the sensor has a diameter of $11~\mu $ m. Experimental bench tests were set up to evaluate the sensor’s static and dynamic performance. The results indicate a sensor system resolution of about 5 mK and demonstrate a bandwidth of 38 Hz that corresponds to a response time of 4 ms in still air. The sensor’s functionality is shown through a basic periodic gas compression method detecting small temperature fluctuations. In addition, the sensor was demonstrated for operation up to $600~^{\circ } $ C.