Open Access
Ultra-long (290 km) remote interrogation sensor network based on a random distributed feedback fiber laser
(Optical Society of America, 2018) Miguel Soto, Verónica de; Leandro González, Daniel; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
In this work, an interferometric sensor has been interrogated 290 km away from the monitoring station, reaching the longest distance in fiber optic sensing up to date. This has been attained by employing a double-pumped random distributed feedback fiber laser as the light source for a fiber optic low-coherence interferometry scheme. Additionally, the capability of the system to achieve coherence multiplexing for ultra-long range measurements (up to 270 km) has been proved, without presenting crosstalk between the sensors. The use of coherence multiplexing together with a random distributed feedback fiber laser addresses two of the main limitations of long-range sensing setups: their limited multiplexing capability and the need to reach the maximum monitoring distance.
Open Access
In-field torsion measurements on solar trackers using fiber optic sensors
(Optica, 2020) Leandro González, Daniel; Bravo Acha, Mikel; Júdez Colorado, Aitor; Mariñelarena Ollacarizqueta, Jon; Falcone Lanas, Francisco; Loayssa Lara, Alayn; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Jiménez, S.; Achaerandio, Álvaro; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
In-field torsion measurements on solar trackers using fiber Bragg gratings are presented. 45 FBG sensors have been deployed in an operational solar energy plant to study the mechanical response of the structure to wind.
Open Access
L-band multiwavelength single-longitudinal mode fiber laser for sensing applications
(IEEE / OSA, 2012) Pérez Herrera, Rosa Ana; Ullán Nieto, Ángel; Leandro González, Daniel; Fernández Vallejo, Montserrat; Quintela, M. A.; Loayssa Lara, Alayn; López Higuera, José Miguel; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa
In this work, a novel single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) four-wavelength laser configuration for sensing applications in the L-band is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor system presented here is based on ring resonators, and employs fiber Bragg gratings to select the operation wavelengths. The stable SLM operation is guaranteed when all the lasing channels present similar output powers. It is also experimentally demonstrated that when a SLMbehavior is achieved, lower output power fluctuations are obtained. Characterization of the lasing structure for temperature sensing is also shown.
Open Access
Microdrilled tapers to enhance optical fiber lasers for sensing
(Nature Research, 2021) Pérez Herrera, Rosa Ana; Bravo Acha, Mikel; Roldán Varona, Pablo; Leandro González, Daniel; Rodríguez Cobo, Luis; López Higuera, José Miguel; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
In this work, an experimental analysis of the performance of different types of quasi-randomly distributed reflectors inscribed into a single-mode fiber as a sensing mirror is presented. These artificially-controlled backscattering fiber reflectors are used in short linear cavity fiber lasers. In particular, laser emission and sensor application features are analyzed when employing optical tapered fibers, micro-drilled optical fibers and 50 μm-waist or 100 μm-waist micro-drilled tapered fibers (MDTF). Single-wavelength laser with an output power level of about 8.2 dBm and an optical signal-to-noise ratio of 45 dB were measured when employing a 50 μm-waist micro-drilled tapered optical fiber. The achieved temperature sensitivities were similar to those of FBGs; however, the strain sensitivity improved more than one order of magnitude in comparison with FBG sensors, attaining slope sensitivities as good as 18.1 pm/με when using a 50 μm-waist MDTF as distributed reflector.
Open Access
Quasi-distributed vibration analysis of a cantilever beam using OFDR and weak reflectors
(Optica Publishing Group, 2022) Leandro González, Daniel; Zhu, Mengshi; Wada, Daichi; Kasai, Tokio; Igawa, Hirotaka; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Murayama, Hideaki; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren
This work evaluates the performance of a quasi-distributed in-line velocimeter based on OFDR and weak reflectors to measure vibration every 10 cm, using a cantilever beam under free-end damping and during an impact-hammer test.
Open Access
High sensitivity fiber-optic liquid level sensor using biconical tapered fibers
(Optical Society of America, 2018) Júdez Colorado, Aitor; Leandro González, Daniel; Pérez Herrera, Rosa Ana; Galarza Galarza, Marko; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
A liquid level sensor is presented using a biconical tapered standard single-mode fiber, being its main characteristic an outstanding sensitivity for a low cost transducer. Temperature compensation is enabled with the same interrogation equipment.
Open Access
High resolution polarization-independent highbirefringence fiber loop mirror sensor
(Optical Society of America, 2015) Leandro González, Daniel; Bravo Acha, Mikel; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa
In this work, two all polarization-maintaining (PM) highbirefringence (Hi-Bi) fiber loop mirrors (FLM) which are immune to external polarization perturbations are validated both theoretically and experimentally. Simplified and stable versions of classical FLMs were attained using a PM-coupler and by fusing the different Hi-Bi fiber sections with an adequate rotation angle between them. Since the polarization states are fixed along the whole fiber loop, no polarization controllers are needed. This simplifies the operation and increases the stability of the systems, which were also validated as ultra-high resolution sensors, experimentally obtaining a resolution of 6.2·10−4 °C without averaging.
Open Access
Quasi-distributed vibration sensing based on weak reflectors and STFT demodulation
(IEEE, 2020) Leandro González, Daniel; Zhu, Mengshi; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Murayama, Hideaki; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación
In this work, a new system is proposed for quasi-distributed vibration sensing based on the Doppler effect. The setup employs an optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) and an array of weak reflectors. The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) is employed to obtain the spectrogram, then the demodulation process detects the frequency variation and compensates the accumulated response. In this manner, events occurring in the fiber segment between neighboring reflectors can be measured. The theoretical development of the approach is presented and demonstrated, evidencing the velocimeter operation of the technique. The setup has been proved in several tests under different perturbation conditions, evaluating the limitations and capabilities. This solution presents many advantages such as the ability to measure arbitrary perturbations, the linear response, high spatial-resolution, simplicity, high configurability or the low repetition rate required to detect kilohertz-frequency vibrations.
Open Access
Medida de torsión en seguidores solares con sensores de fibra óptica
(SEDOPTICA, 2021) Leandro González, Daniel; Bravo Acha, Mikel; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Loayssa Lara, Alayn; Júdez Colorado, Aitor; Mariñelarena Ollacarizqueta, Jon; Falcone Lanas, Francisco; Jiménez Romero, Sergio; Moriana García, Iñaki; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua WINDSOLAR (0011-1365-2017-000122)
En este trabajo se ha monitorizado la torsión sufrida por una estructura de seguidores solares empleando sensores de fibra óptica. Estas medidas de campo se han obtenido con una red de sensores formada por 45 redes de difracción de Bragg en una huerta solar activa. Estos resultados, correlados con la velocidad y dirección del viento permitirían aumentar la eficiencia de los seguidores y ayudar a entender y prevenir efectos negativos relacionados con inestabilidades aeroelásticas.
Open Access
Interferometric vs wavelength selective optical fiber sensors for cryogenic temperature measurements
(SPIE, 2017) Miguel Soto, Verónica de; Leandro González, Daniel; López Aldaba, Aitor; Beato López, Juan Jesús; Pérez de Landazábal Berganzo, José Ignacio; Auguste, Jean-Louis; Jamier, Raphael; Roy, Philippe; López-Amo Sáinz, Manuel; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Fisika; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Física
In this work, a preliminary study of the behavior of two different interferometric fiber optic sensors and two different wavelength selective fiber optic sensors is performed. A photonic cristal fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer, a Sagnac interferometer, a commercial fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a π-phase shifted fiber Bragg grating interrogated in a random distributed feedback fiber laser are analyzed. A comparison of their sensitivities and resolutions is carried out to analyze their performance as sensors for cryogenic temperatures, taking into account their advantages and drawbacks.