Toward Optical Sensors: Review and Applications

TLDR

Recent advances in fiber optics and the advantages of light over electronics have expanded optical sensor use across military, industry, and social sectors, offering small size, long life, EMI immunity, multiplexing, and high sensitivity, while falling costs drive wider adoption. This paper provides an executive review of optical fiber sensors and highlights their most beneficial applications.

Abstract

Recent advances in fiber optics (FOs) and the numerous advantages of light over electronic systems have boosted the utility and demand for optical sensors in various military, industry and social fields. Environmental and atmospheric monitoring, earth and space sciences, industrial chemical processing and biotechnology, law enforcement, digital imaging, scanning, and printing are exemplars of them. The ubiquity of photonic technologies could drive down prices which reduced the cost of optical fibers and lasers. Fiber optic sensors (FOSs) offer a wide spectrum of advantages over traditional sensing systems, such as small size and longer lifetime. Immunity to electromagnetic interference, amenability to multiplexing, and high sensitivity make FOs the sensor technology of choice in several fields, including the healthcare and aerospace sectors. FOSs show reliable and rigid sensing tasks over conventional electrical and electronic sensors. This paper presents an executive review of optical fiber sensors and the most beneficial applications.