Abstract
In this work, a novel optical fiber sensor capable of measuring both the liquid level and its refractive
index is designed, manufactured and demonstrated through simulations and experimentally. For
this, a silica capillary hollow-core fiber is used. The fiber, with a sensing length of 1.55 mm, has been
processed with a femtosecond laser, so that it incorporates four holes in its structure. In ...
[++]
In this work, a novel optical fiber sensor capable of measuring both the liquid level and its refractive
index is designed, manufactured and demonstrated through simulations and experimentally. For
this, a silica capillary hollow-core fiber is used. The fiber, with a sensing length of 1.55 mm, has been
processed with a femtosecond laser, so that it incorporates four holes in its structure. In this way, the
liquid enters the air core, and it is possible to perform the sensing through the Fabry–Perot cavities
that the liquid generates. The detection mode is in reflection. With a resolution of 4 μm (liquid level),
it is in the state of the art of this type of sensor. The system is designed so that in the future it will be
capable of measuring the level of immiscible liquids, that is, liquids that form stratified layers. It can be
useful to determine the presence of impurities in tanks. [--]
Subject
Optical fiber sensors,
Liquid level sensors,
Fabry-Perot interferometers
Published in
Scientific Reports (2021) 11:3039
Departament
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación /
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoa eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritza Saila /
Universidad Pública de Navarra/Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2016-76021-C2-1-R and TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R), the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-107270RB-C21 and PID2019-107270RB-C22), the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain (PhD grant FPU2018/02797), and Projects for young researches UPNA 2019.