David Coulas

Self-organized nanostructure formation during femtosecond-laser inscription of fiber Bragg gratings

Periodic planar nanostructures are found in Type II-IR Bragg gratings produced in SMF-28 fiber by side-illuminating it with infrared femtosecond-laser pulses through a phase mask. The planar nanostructures are aligned perpendicular to the laser polarization, as demonstrated using scanning electron microscopy analysis of cleaved fiber samples. Dark field optical microscopy is employed for real-time monitoring of structural changes occurring inside the fiber during the inscription process.

High temperature monitoring of an oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustor using femtosecond infrared laser written fiber Bragg gratings

Femtosecond pulse duration infrared laser (fs-IR) written fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), have demonstrated great potential for extreme environment sensing. Harsh environments are inherent to the advanced power plant technologies under development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The performance of new power systems are currently limited by the lack of sensors and controls capable of withstanding the high temperature, pressure and corrosive conditions present. This paper discusses fabrication and deployment of several fs-IR written FBG arrays, for monitoring the temperature distribution within a fluidized bed combustor. Results include: calibration data to ~ 1100 °C, discussion of deployment strategies, contrast with thermocouple data, and comments on reliability.

Extreme Environment Sensing Using Femtosecond Laser-Inscribed Fiber Bragg Gratings

The femtosecond laser-induced fiber Bragg grating is an effective sensor technology that can be deployed in harsh environments. Depending on the optical fiber chosen and the inscription parameters that are used, devices suitable for high temperature, pressure, ionizing radiation and strain sensor applications are possible. Such devices are appropriate for aerospace or energy production applications where there is a need for components, instrumentation and controls that can function in harsh environments. This paper will present a review of some of the more recent developments in this field.

New technique for fabrication of low loss high temperature stable high reflectivity FBG sensor arrays

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) arrays in silica based optical fibers are increasingly used in applications involving system monitoring in extreme high temperature environments. Where operational temperatures are < 600 °C, traditional UVlaser inscribed FBGs are not appropriate since the induced Type I index change is erased. Instead two competing FBG technologies exist: 1) regenerative FBGs resulting from high temperature annealing of a UV-laser written grating in a hydrogen loaded fiber and 2) FBGs written with femtosecond infrared pulse duration radiation (fs-IR), either using the point-by-point method or using the phase mask approach. Regenerative gratings possess low reflectivity and are cumbersome to produce, requiring high temperature processing in an oxygen free environment. Multiple pulse Type II femtosecond IR laser induced gratings made with a phase mask, while having very good thermal stability, also tend to have high insertion loss (~ 1dB/grating) limiting the number of gratings that can be concatenated in a sensor array. Recently it has been shown that during multiple pulse type II thermally stable fs-IR FBG production, two competing process occur: an initial induced fs-IR type I FBG followed by a thermally stable high insertion loss type II FBG. In this paper, we show that if only a type I FBG is written using type II intensity conditions but limited numbers of pulses and then annealed above 600 °C, the process results in a type II grating that is stable up to 1000 °C with very low insertion loss ideal for an FBG sensor array.

Entrained-flow gasifier and fluidized-bed combustor temperature monitoring using arrays of fs-IR written fiber Bragg gratings

Femtosecond written fiber Bragg gratings, have shown great potential for sensing in extreme environments. This paper discusses the fabrication and deployment of several fs-IR written FBG arrays, for monitoring main-spool skin temperatures of an entrained-flow gasifier, as well as the internal temperature gradient of a fluidized bed combustor.

High resolution temperature mapping of gas turbine combustor simulator exhaust with femtosecond laser induced fiber Bragg gratings

Femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) laser written fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), have demonstrated great potential for extreme sensing. Such conditions are inherent in advanced gas turbine engines under development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and the ability to measure temperature gradients in these harsh environments is currently limited by the lack of sensors and controls capable of withstanding the high temperature, pressure and corrosive conditions present. This paper discusses fabrication and deployment of several fs-IR written FBG arrays, for monitoring exhaust temperature gradients of a gas turbine combustor simulator. Results include: contour plots of measured temperature gradients, contrast with thermocouple data.

Combustor deployments of femtosecond laser written fiber Bragg grating arrays for temperature measurements surpassing 1000 °C

Femtosecond Infrared (fs-IR) laser written fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), have demonstrated great potential for extreme sensing. Such conditions are inherent to advanced power plant technologies and gas turbine engines, under development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and the ability to measure temperature gradients in these harsh environments is currently limited by the lack of sensors and controls capable of withstanding the high temperature, pressure and corrosive conditions present. This paper reviews our fabrication and deployment of hundreds of fs-IR written FBGs, for monitoring temperature gradients of an oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustor and an aerospace gas turbine combustor simulator.

Plane-by-plane inscription of grating structures in optical fibers

Plane-by-plane fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings in optical fibers using short-pulse femtosecond IR laser is proposed and demonstrated. By incorporating a cylindrical lens in the fabrication setup, a plane of index modification can be directly inscribed in fiber core by a single laser pulse through the proposed method. This plane-by-plane method simplifies the grating inscription process and allows for the fabrication of complicated grating structures.

High-resolution fast temperature mapping of a gas turbine combustor simulator with femtosecond infrared laser written fiber Bragg gratings

Femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) written fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), have demonstrated great potential for extreme sensing. Such conditions are inherent to the advanced gas turbine engines under development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and the ability to measure temperature gradients in these harsh environments is currently limited by the lack of sensors and controls capable of withstanding the high temperature, pressure and corrosive conditions present. This paper discusses fabrication and deployment of several fs-IR written FBG arrays, for monitoring the sidewall and exhaust temperature gradients of a gas turbine combustor simulator. Results include: contour plots of measured temperature gradients contrasted with thermocouple data, discussion of deployment strategies and comments on reliability.