Fundamentals of Optical Fiber Sensors

PREFACE

Since the inventions of the laser and optical fiber in the 1960s, optical fiber communications and related technologies have been a great success story. The means and the way of human communication have been changed dramatically all over the world, and the standard of people's enjoyment of information is raised substantially. Relying on optical communication and computer science and technology, the function of information in various aspects of human life has reached inestimable importance. Stimulated and advanced by optical communication, research and development of fiber and related devices have made tremendous progress as well. A huge industry has emerged and boomed, including related materials, various types of optical fibers, devices and components, apparatus, machines, systems, networks, and their applications.

Optical fiber sensors, another important application of the optical fiber, have also experienced fast development, and attracted wide attention in fundamental scientific research as well as in practical applications. Sensing in the information system is often likened to human sense organs. Optical fiber can not only transport information acquired by sensors at a high speed and in large volume, but it can also play the role of a sensing element itself. In addition, compared with electric and other types of sensors, fiber sensor technology has unique merits, such as immunity from electromagnetic interference, being waterproof, and resistance to chemical corrosion. ...