6533b870fe1ef96bd12d0463

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Erbium doped optical fiber lasers for magnetic field sensing

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In this work two erbium doped optical fiber laser configurations for magnetic field measurement are implemented and compared. The first laser is set-up in a loop configuration and requires only a single FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating), acting as mirror. A second laser employs a simpler linear cavity configuration but requires two FBGs with spectral overlap to form the laser cavity. A bulk magnetostrictive material made of Terfenol-D is attached to the laser FBGs enabling modulation of its operation wavelength by the magnetic field. Moreover, a passive interferometer was developed to demodulate the AC magnetic field information where the corresponding demodulation algorithms were software based. Both configurations are tested and compared with the results showing different sensitivities and resolutions. Better performance was accomplished with the double FBGs linear cavity configuration with a resolution of 0.05 m TRMS in the range of 8 to 16 m TRMS . For the same range the loop configuration attained a resolution of 0.48 m TRMS .