MIXED-FIBER INTERFEROMETRIC SENSOR WITH MICRORETROREFLECTORS.

Abstract

Interferometric sensors utilizing long lengths of optical fiber offer extreme sensitivity to physical parameters but are large. Another class of problem potentially simplified by this technology requires very localized sensitivity. This type of fiber probe, sensing a tiny region with little perturbation, has received much less attention. The fiber Doppler velocimeter (FDV), however, does offer sensing localized in a small volume with little distributed sensitivity. A new FDV is described, offering large gains in stability, sensitivity localization, and optical efficiency and allowing for the first time not just object velocimetry but static sensing.