Fibre‐optic sensing: past reflections and future prospects

Culshaw, Brian and Petrovich, Marco N. (2020) Fibre‐optic sensing: past reflections and future prospects. In, Del Villar, Ignacio and Matias, Ignacio R. (eds.) Optical Fibre Sensors: Fundamentals for Development of Optimized Devices. (Optical Fibre Sensors) Wiley, pp. 477-509. (doi:10.1002/9781119534730.ch14).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

This chapter reflects upon the past and on the achievements that fibre sensors have made over the past half-century. It explains the simple observation that market presence of fibre-optic sensing is modest at best. The chapter illustrates the essentials of a photonic system. Photonics as a discipline is most certainly arousing strategic interest with targeted research and development programmes emerging in both the United States and the European Union. The microstructured fibres, also known as photonic crystal fibres, dramatically increased the variety of geometries and optical responses available to fibre-based sensing. These fibres have arrays of wavelength-scale air holes in their transverse cross section, which extend along the full fibre length and define the waveguide properties. Fibre-optic sensing will continue to provide not only exciting research opportunities but also intriguing (and profitable) application niches in the future.

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