Fiber optic transducer with fluid coupling means between optical fiber and transduction material
First Claim
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1. A fiber optic transducer comprising:
- an optical fiber;
a nonlinear transduction material in which strain resulting from an applied field is a nonlinear function of the applied field; and
fluid means disposed between said optical fiber and said nonlinear transduction material and having the capability of coupling alternating mechanical strain from said nonlinear transduction material to said optical fiber while simultaneously rejecting static mechanical strain.
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Abstract
A fiber optic transducer includes a fiber optic cable or ribbon, a sensor, fluid material for coupling the fiber optic medium to the sensor and an affixing material to optionally affix the position of the sensor position relative to the fiber optic ribbon by affixing only one end of the sensor to the fiber optic ribbon. The sensor can be made from either magnetostrictive or electrostrictive materials. The coupling fluid enables the transducers to be manufactured with substantially similar frequency responses across a range of frequencies.
23 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A fiber optic transducer comprising:
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an optical fiber; a nonlinear transduction material in which strain resulting from an applied field is a nonlinear function of the applied field; and fluid means disposed between said optical fiber and said nonlinear transduction material and having the capability of coupling alternating mechanical strain from said nonlinear transduction material to said optical fiber while simultaneously rejecting static mechanical strain. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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13. A method for manufacturing a fiber optic transducer comprising the steps of:
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providing an optical fiber; providing a nonlinear transduction material in which strain resulting from an applied field is a nonlinear function of the applied field; and providing between the optical fiber and the nonlinear transduction material a fluid having the capability of coupling alternating mechanical strain from the nonlinear transduction material to the optical fiber while simultaneously rejecting static mechanical strain. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A field detection device for detecting a strength of an external signal field, the device comprising:
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means for generating an applied carrier field; a fiber optic transducer comprising; a nonlinear transduction material being responsive to the external signal field and the applied field for developing an induced strain therein; an optical fiber; and fluid means disposed between said optical fiber and said nonlinear transduction material for coupling said nonlinear transduction material to said optical fiber, said fluid means transferring the induced strain in said nonlinear transduction material into said optical fiber; a light source; an interferometer incorporating said fiber optic transducer as a sensor arm and receiving light from said light source, said light source sending light through said sensor arm, said sensor arm generating a total parameter shift in the light corresponding to the external signal field and the applied field; and signal detecting means for converting the parameter shift in the light into a parameter shift signal, for extracting an external component signal from the parameter shift signal, the external component signal representative of the external signal field, and for converting the external component signal into a measurement signal corresponding to the external signal field. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification