Optical Fiber Sensors – Fundamentals for Development of Optimized Devices

The book acts as a guide and a reference for a wide audience, ranging from graduate students to researchers and engineers in the world of fiber optic sensors. It provides fundamentals as well as some examples to aid understanding of both the working principles of fiber optic sensors and their possible applications. Some first sections are devoted to the explanation of how light propagates through the basic elements of the sensor setup: the optical source, the detector, light coupling, splices, etc. In addition to this, different detection techniques area detailed, including intensity modulation, polarimetric detection, phase modulation and wavelength modulation. Also, distributed sensing with Rayleigh, Raman and Brillouin scattering methods are presented. Finally the book provides some chapters on optimized applications such as biomechanical sensing, gas and volatile organic compound sensors, health care and clinical diagnosis.