Study of an integrated optical sensor with mono-shielding electrode for intense transient E-field measurement

• Integrated optical E-field sensor suitable for measuring intense transient field is developed.
• The sensor can effectively response time-domain waveforms with a rise time of 1 ns.
• The operating point and transfer function of the sensor are affected by temperature.
• The sensor was applied to measure gas discharge field, providing criterions for the streamer inception.

Intense E-field measurement is widely applied in high voltage and dielectric insulation research. In this paper, an integrated optical E-field sensor for time-domain measurement has been studied comprehensively, which is based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a mono-shielding electrode. Firstly, the principle and the key issues of the sensor design are presented. Secondly, the time-domain response characteristics are studied and the sensor can well follow waveforms with a rise time from nano-second to micro-second. Thirdly, the temperature stability of the sensor is analyzed, and the influence of temperature is quantified. Finally, the measurement of gas discharge field by the developed sensor is introduced, showing that the time-domain transient field measurement is an effective criterion for streamer inception.