A novel laser diode based length measuring interferometer for scientific and industrial metrology is presented. Wavelength the stabilization system applied in the interferometer is based on the optical wedge interferometer. Main components of the interferometer such as: laser diode stabilization assembly, photodetection system, measuring software, air parameters compensator and base optical assemblies are described. Metrological properties of the device such as resolution, measuring range, repeatability and accuracy are characterized.

Knowledge of gravitational acceleration in metrology is required for traceable force and pressure calibrations, furthermore the redefinition of the SI base unit of kilogram requires absolute accomplishment of the gravitational acceleration. A direct free-fall gravimeter is developed using pneumatic grippers for test mass handling and a semi-rotary actuator for repositioning, i.e. automated re-launching. The catch and release system is powered by compressed air. This eliminates electric interferences around the test mass. A simplified method of signal capturing and processing is used on the designed gravimeter. A digital frequency trigger is implemented in the post processing algorithms to ensure that the signals are analysed from the identical effective height. The experimental results measured the site gravitational acceleration of 9.786043 ms−2 with a statistical uncertainty of ±29 µs −2.

The paper presents the properties of a strain sensor, which was made using the micro hole collapse method and operates in the configuration of a Mach-Zehnder modal interferometer with a PM-1550-01 polarization maintaining photonic crystal fibre. The sensor’s transfer curve was determined analytically. Its strain sensitivity, determined from measurements, decreases slightly with increasing wavelength and is in a range from −2.01 to −2.23 pm/µε in the wavelength range 1520–1580 nm. Based on the Fourier analysis of the wavelength spectrum of the constructed sensor, the difference of the group refractive indices of the core and the cladding of the photonic crystal fibre was determined, which are in a range from 7.45·10−3 to 1.01·10−2. The temperature sensitivity of the sensor, determined on the basis of measurements performed in a range from 23 to 60◦C, is positive and equals 5.9 pm/K.

Astronomers are charting out a radio map of the sky, showing hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies.

In this paper, we present a fibre-optic sensor for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and thickness of liquid layers.We designed an experimental low-coherence setup with two broadband light sources and an extrinsic fibre-optic Fabry–Pérot interferometer acting as the sensing head.We examined how the refractive index of a liquid film and its thickness affect spectrum at the output of a fibre-optic interferometer. We performed a series of experiments using two light sources and only one sensing head. The spectra were collected in ranges of 1220÷1340 nm and 1500÷1640 nm. The obtained results show that using two spectra recorded simultaneously for two wavelength ranges enables to determine thickness in a range of 50÷500 μm, and refractive index of a liquid film in a range of 1:00÷1:41 RIU using only one sensing head.

Rotational seismology is one of the fastest developing fields of science nowadays with strongly recognized significance. Capability of monitoring rotational ground motions represents a crucial aspect of improving civil safety and efficiency of seismological data gathering. The correct sensing network selection is very important for reliable data acquisition. This paper presents initial data obtained during the international research study which has involved more than 40 various rotational sensors collected in one place. The key novelty of this experiment was the possibility to compare data gathered by completely different rotational sensors during artificially generated ground vibrations. Authors collected data by four interferometric optical fiber sensors, Fiber-Optic System for Rotational Events & Phenomena Monitoring (FOSREM), which are mobile rotational seismographs with a wide measuring range from 10-7 rad/s up to even few rad/s, sensitive only to the rotational component of the ground movement. Presented experimental results show that FOSREMs are competitive in rotational events recording compared with the state-of-the-art rotational sensors but their operation still should be improved.

This paper presents two methods for evaluation of the effective wavenumber of nearly-Gaussian beams in laser interferometers that can be used for determination of a so called diffraction correction in absolute gravimeters. The first method, that can be simply used in situ, is an empirical procedure based on the evaluation of the variability of g measurements against the amount of light limited by an iris diaphragm and transmitted to a photodetector. However, precision of this method depends on the beam quality similarly as in the case of the conventional method based on measurement of a beam width. The second method, that is more complex, is based on beam profiling in various distances and on calculation of the effective wavenumber using the second spatial derivative of a non-ideal beam field envelope. The measurement results achieved by both methods are presented on an example of two absolute gravimeters and the determined diffraction corrections are compared with the results obtained by measurements of beam width. Agreement of methods within about 1 mGal have been obtained with average diffraction corrections slightly exceeding +2 mGal for three FG5(X) gravimeter configurations.

The results of surface texture measurements obtained with the stylus equipment, white light interferometer

and confocal profilometer of the same samples were compared. Machined isotropic and anisotropic surfaces,

of symmetric and asymmetric ordinate distribution were measured. Forms were removed using polynomials.

Sampling intervals and measuring areas during computations of parameters were the same. Discrepancies

between the results obtained with various methods were observed and discussed. It was found that errors of

surface texture measurement with the optical methods depend on the type of surface topography.

In order to calibrate the stripe precision of a leveling rod, an automatic laser interferometer and a vision measurement system were designed by Xi’an University of Technology in China. The rod was driven by a closed-loop control and the data were collected at the stop state to ensure precision. The laser interferometer provided not only the long distance data but also a position feedback signal in the automatic control loop. CCD camera and a vision measurement method were used to inspect the stripe edge position and defect. A pixel-equivalent self-calibration method was designed to improve precision. ROI (regions of interest) method and an outline tracing method were designed to quickly extract multiple stripe edges. A combination of the image data with the interferometer data reduces control difficulty and ensures the measurement accuracy. The vision measurement method reached sub-pixel precision and the defective edges were reported. The system can automatically calibrate a stripe leveling rod with a high degree of efficiency and precision.

Distributed measurement often relies on sensor networks. In this paper, we present the construction of low-coherence fiber-optic Fabry–Pérot sensors connected into a quasi-distributed network. We discuss the mechanism of spectrum modulation in this type of sensor and the constraints of assembly of such sensors in the network. Particular attention was paid to separate the signals from individual sensors which can be achieved by cavity length-based addressing. We designed and built a laboratory model of a temperature sensors network. The employed sensors are low-coherence Fabry–Pérot interferometric sensors in a fiberoptics configuration. The extrinsic sensor cavity utilizes the thermal expansion of ceramics, and the sensors are addressed by the different lengths of the cavities. The obtained test results showthat the signal components from each sensor can be successfully separated, and the number of sensors could be expanded depending on the FWHM of the light source.

Reference blocks are required for ultrasonic calibration and non-destructive testing (NDT). There are already in existence sets of reference blocks constructed according to American Society for Testing and Materials standards, but as the industry evolves, we need more reference blocks with varied designs. In this study, two reference blocks of steel and aluminum are constructed. These blocks have several sets of flat bottom holes (FBH) with different diameters (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 mm), angles (45° and 90°) and placements. The novel constructed reference blocks are evaluated using the ultrasonic and a displacement measuring interferometer (DMI). They allow for detailed FBH characterization in terms of defining their location, diameter, depth and so on. The two techniques show consistency in the majority of the outcomes. The expanded uncertainty of readings is found to be ± 1.4 µm, according to DMI data. The findings show that the newly constructed blocks could be ideal for evaluating a variety of calibration factors including transducer sensitivity, dead zone, defect size, and depth. Furthermore, they can be used in NDT in various industries such as petroleum pipe production, steel manufacturing and so on.

A modified optical fibre based Mach-Zehnder interferometer was applied as a sensor to detect wiretapping in long transmission optical fibre lines. The signal consisting of short pulses (around 1 ns) was launched to the input of the interferometer based on the polarization maintaining fibres and polarization elements. When the sensing line was undisturbed, detectors registered only a single pulse. The additional two side pulses appear, if the wiretapping attempt took place. For robust detection of any alarm situation we proposed two-criteria algorithm to minimize false alarm rate. Moreover, slow environmental fluctuations were continuously monitored and compensated by polarization controllers. We measured frequency characteristics of the sensor and performed a hundred wiretapping attempts, which proved high performance of the sensor.

Determining the dependence of phase difference modulations between light pulses in a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer was used to develop an optical system coding the information and working as an eavesdropping sensor for an optical fibre information exchange system. The basic challenge in the system development is to maintain stable operation in changing environmental conditions, as well as to ensure optimal parameters of the phase modulator. The system was tested for various many-kilometer long transmission lines of single-mode fibres. The research was focused on achieving the normative Bit Error Rate for the system in the 100 Mbit/s range (STM-1). Such a system can be used in commercial applications for the code key secure transmission in the physical layer of the link.

A compact temperature measuring device using a weakly coupled multi-core fibre in the Michelson interferometer structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The device is manufactured by an easy and simple splicing approach which consists of a multi-core fibre segment and an in-fibre coupler. In-fibre coupler is made of a cascaded single-mode fibre and multi-core fibre balls. It enhances the interference phenomenon of light energy between the central core and the outer cores of a multi-core fibre. The sensor shows a high quality fringe visibility of about 14–18 dB in the wavelength spectrum. Multi-core structure presents multi-path interferences and exhibits a maximum temperature sensitivity of 70.6 pm/°C in the range of 20–90°C with an insensitive response to the refractive index in the range of 1.334 to 1.354. The device has the advantages of compact size, easy manufacturing, and it solves cross-sensitivity between temperature and refractive index making it an authentic real-time temperature monitoring solution.

Vibration is a ubiquitous phenomenon that occurs in everyday life and people are exposed to it almost all the time. Most often, vibration is measured using electromechanical devices such as piezoelectric, piezoresistive, or capacitive accelerometers. However, attention should be paid to the limitations of such vibration sensors. They cannot operate in the presence of strong electromagnetic fields. Measurements with electromechanical devices require physical contact between the sensor and the vibrating object, which is not always possible due to the design of the sensor and device. The possibility of a non-contact vibration measurement in harsh environments is provided by the technology of interferometric fibre optic sensors. This paper reports the principle of operation, design aspects, experimentation, and performance of a Mach-Zehnder interferometric setup for the measurement of vibration frequency. There are different sensing arms implemented in the interferometer: single-mode, polarization-maintaining, and tapered optical fibre. The paper emphasises the simplicity of the set-up structure and the detection capabilities based on the interferometric sensing giving the possibility of constructing a commercial vibration sensor for all industry demands.

The main objective of this work is to characterize the performance of an interferometric fibre sensor which has been designed in order to register rotational phenomena, both in seismological observatories and engineering constructions. It is based on a well-known Sagnac effect which enables to detect one-axis rotational motions in a direct way and without any reference system. The presented optical fibre sensor – FOSREM allows to measure a component of rotation in a wide range of signal amplitude form 10^–8 rad/s to 10 rad/s, as well as frequency from 0 Hz to the upper frequency from 2.56 Hz to 328.12 Hz. The laboratory investigation of our system indicated that it keeps theoretical sensitivity equal to 2·10^–8 rad/s/Hz1/2 and accuracy no less than 3·1^–8 to 1.6·10^–6 rad/s in the above mentioned frequency band. Moreover, system size that equals 0.36×0.36×0.16 m and opportunity to remotely control the system via Internet by special server make FOSREM a mobile and autonomous device.

This work is focused on the issue of non-measured points – one of the most important problems in surface texture measurements using optical methods. The fundamental aim of this research is to analyse errors of surface texture measurements caused by the presence of non-measured points. This study is divided into two parts. In the first part, circles with non-measured points were artificially created on peak portions of measured surfaces. In the second part – the results of measurement by a Talysurf CCI Lite interferometer were analysed. A measurement area of 3.3 × 3.3 mm contained 1024 × 1024 points. The measurements were performed with different intensity of light. Changes of parameters regarding the analysed errors depended on a surface type. The following parameters are susceptible to errors: skewness Ssk, areal material ratio Smr, as well as the following feature parameters: Spd, Sda, Sdv, Sha and Shv. Inaccuracies of measurement in valley parts of two-process textures led usually to larger errors of parameter computations compared with deviations in peak portions.

A method for evaluating the dynamic characteristics of force transducers against small and short-duration impact forces is developed. In this method, a small mass collides with a force transducer and the impact force is measured with high accuracy as the inertial force of the mass. A pneumatic linear bearing is used to achieve linear motion with sufficiently small friction acting on the mass, which is the moving part of the bearing. Small and short-duration impact forces with a maximum impact force of approximately 5 N and minimum half-value width of approximately 1 ms are applied to a force transducer and the impulse responses are evaluated.

In recent years organic semiconductors have been given attention in the field of active materials for gas sensor applications. In the paper the investigations of the optoelectronic sensor structure of ammonia were presented. The sensor head consists of polyaniline and Nafion layers deposited on the face of the telecommunication optical fiber. The elaborated sensor structure in the form of Fabry-Perot interferometer is of the extremely small dimension – its thickness is of the order of 1 um. Many sensor structures of diffierent combinations of the polyaniline and Nafion layers were constructed and investigated. The optimal solution seems to be the structures with small number of polianiline layers (up to three).

We propose real time phase measurements in liquid crystals cells using Young's interferometer constructed with a new principle with possibility to control the distance between two point sources. The optical interference optical pattern is detected by a bicell photo-detector in a back Fourier focal plane. A phase modulation controlled by a monopixel liquid crystals’ cell placed in a reference arm of interferometer is observed as a dynamic shift of the fringes’ pattern in spatial domain. Concept of signals’ demodulation in the Fourier focal plane will be described using a new approach to the demodulation signals. In this work we evaluate the demodulation condition of our setup and we present measurements of a dynamic phase response for nematic liquid crystals and antiferroelectric liquid crystals cells.