Compensation of parasitic losses in an extrinsic fiber-optic temperature sensor based on intensity measurement

A method of referencing in an extrinsic optical fiber sensor system utilizing temperature dependence of the absorption edge in a semiconductor crystal (semi-insulating iron-doped indium phosphide) is demonstrated. The intensity reference is provided by controlling the temperature of an LED source and transmission measurements with different emission spectra. A transient operation regime is introduced. The entire process is controlled by a microprocessor unit. The performance of the sensor system is investigated and it is shown that the connector losses may be compensated for. Contrary to the published works performed with GaAs crystals it was not observed that the absorption coefficient of the semiconductor follows the law for idealized direct-gap semiconductor but can be described by the so-called Urbach tail. Since the proposed sensor system comprises a single LED source, simple electronics and no optical fiber couplers it is promising for realization of low-cost fiber-optic temperature sensors, e.g. for power transformer monitoring or magnetic resonance imaging applications.

► Semi-insulating iron-doped indium phosphide.
► Intensity reference by heating the emitting LED.
► Transient operation regime.
► Connector losses compensated.
► Single LED source, simple electronics and no optical fiber couplers.