Inertial Sensors and Systems - Symposium Gyro Technology 2012

HiBi Single Polarizing HB-Z Zing™ Fibers for Fiber Optic Gyroscopes

0930 hrs Day 2: Wednesday 19 September 2012

Jose Alvarez will be discussing the use of HB-Z Zing™ fibers in FOGs in the second of our two papers at this Show.  Introduced in 2010, continual development now enables us to offer two new variants for operating at around 830 nm and 1310 nm, in addition to the original HB1060Z . 

Abstract:

Over the last few years the Inertial Navigation System (INS) industry has experienced an increasing demand in the accuracy of the gyroscopes for new military, space and civil applications. In this sense, setting and controlling the polarization state of the light launched into the fiber coil is a critical issue when designing a high precision Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG).

Traditionally, LiNbO3 multi-funtional integrated optical chips (MIOCs) have included the polarizing functionality in the gyro along with the splitter and the modulator, with different results in performance, cost and resilience.  The complexity of including the MIOC in the FOG design, and its high impact in the total cost of the gyroscopes, have created many problems to the FOG manufacturers. To support the industry, Fibercore have designed a new range of polarizing Zing™ fibers that will bring an all-fiber passive solution to this problem in terms of reduced cost, compact packaging, low insertion losses, power consumption, reliability, etc. 

A polarizing fiber guides the light in just one axis of the transmitted mode, cancelling the orthogonal degenerated mode by means of bending losses due to its extremely high birefingence levels.  This high birefringence (represented by a beat-length of about 0.6 mm @ 633 nm) creates a different refractive index and therefore a different propagation constant for the light traveling on both fast (lower refractive index) and slow (higher refractive index) axis. Therefore the bend edge of both axes will be clearly separated and, at some point, the fiber will guide the light in just one of the axes allowing for a stable single polarizing window of 100 nm - 200 nm with higher than 30 dB PER levels. To encourage this behaviour, the fiber will operate far away from the cut-off region and the initial NA of the fiber will be as low as possible so the polarizing effect is much more noticeable.

A theorectical explanation, based on the bending loss equation, of the basic operation and design principles of these fibers will be given in the paper.  The benefits of an all-fiber solution over other alternative technologies will be discussed along with significant experimental results showing the performance of the Zing™ fibers under different deployment and system conditions.

Inertial Sensors and Systems - Symposium Gyro Technology 2012

Radiation Tolerant Optical Fibers for Fiber Optic Gyroscopes

1600 hrs Day 1: Tuesday 18 September 2012

Fibercore Ltd has long been associated with fibers for FOG applications and our fibers are used in many different environments, each environment presenting its own unique challenge.  In the first of our two presentations at this year's Symposium in Karlsruhe, Dr Andy Gillooly will be discussing the challenges that space applications present and how they are overcome. 

 Abstract:
The application space for Fiber Optic Gyroscopes (FOGs) has been constantly growing with many applications in ground based vehicles, marine and aerospace sectors. As the FOG technology matures and gains better acceptance the use of FOGs in high value projects, such as satellites, continues to grow.  TV channel broadcasting drives the growth of the satellite industry and with momentum behind the lower cost micro-satellites there will be many new opportunities for the inclusion of FOGs into future satellite projects.

For most FOG fiber coils, polarization maintaing (PM) highly birefringent fibers are used which have an inner cladding region made from phosphorus doped silica.  The addition of phosphorus into the inner cladding aids the manufacturing process and is suitable for most terrestial applications. However with exposure to radiation, the phosphorus causes the attenuation of the fiber to increase.  The rate of attenuation increase is relative to the radiation dose and the operating state of the fiber.  Therefore PM optical fibers which are to be used in space applications or other applications that require radiation resistance need to be designed without phosphorous.

The effect of radiation on erbium doped fibers will also be discussed to give a balanced view on the possibility of using erbium doped fibers as ASE light sources for FOGs in radiation environments.  The radiation causes a change in the spectral response that is not constant over the full spectral range of the absorption and emission of the erbium doped fiber.  The level of spectral change is relative to the type and concentration of dopants used within the fiber, giving significant constraints in the ability to design an erbium doped fiber suitable for space applications.

The theory will be analysed and discussed and experimental results will be shown comparing the performance of phosphorus doped and phosphorus free PM fibers before and after exposure to radiation and the effects on erbium doped fibers will also be measured and discussed.

Romsey and Southampton North MP, Caroline Nokes, Visits Southampton technology Company Fibercore

Visit to Celebrate 30 years of Success for Optical Fiber Manufacturer and Hear About Company's Growth and Future Technology Development Plans

Fibercore, a UK based global market leader in the design and manufacture of specialty optical fibers, has announced today that Romsey and Southampton North MP, Caroline Nokes, recently visited the company's HQ at Fibercore House on the University of Southampton Science Park, to help the company celebrate 30 years in innovation and to hear about the company's new growth and technology development plans.

Established in 1982, Fibercore was formed as a spin-out from the world-renowned Optical Fiber Group of the University of Southampton, to offer the specialty optical fibers developed at the University, commercially. Today, Fibercore products are used in an incredibly broad range of applications spread throughout more than 50 countries including fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs), fiber optic hydrophones, fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), embedded sensors, specialist medical, government and corporate research agencies and telecommunications components.

Ms Nokes was given a tour of Fibercore's manufacturing facilities designed solely and specifically for the development and volume manufacture of specialty optical fibers. Its state-of-the-art Class 10000 cleanroom facilities were opened in 2003 and, since then, its loading dock has shipped more than 80,000,000 m of polarization-maintaining, bend-insensitive singlemode, photosensitive, rare-earth doped and cladding-pump fiber across the globe.

Caroline Nokes, MP, said, 'I was delighted to meet with Chris and his team. Fibercore is an impressive success story for the region and it was great to hear about the company's growth plans and to learn more about the exciting future of specialty fiber.  Southampton is a flourishing centre of enterprise for technology companies, with academia and private companies working together to commercialise innovative products.'

The total shipment of fiber from Fibercore House now averages more than 1,300,000 m per month - a figure believed to be higher than that of any other 'specialty' fiber manufacturer anywhere in the world and providing Fibercore with unmatched experience in the volume manufacture of highly-specified 'Specialty' fiber.

Fibercore's Managing Director, Dr Chris Emslie, said 'We are proud to be a success story for Southampton.  Having commercialised the pioneering technology developed at the University of Southampton, over thirty years ago, Fibercore products are now shipped to over 50 countries.  We have seen consistent growth for well over a decade and are always looking to further expand our product range and to work in partnership with our customers to enhance our fibers for their specific requirements. Augmenting our already impressive engineering credentials with New Blood will enable us to continue to deliver on our commitment to support our customers with world-class products and customer service across the globe.'

Inertial Sensors and Systems - Symposium Gyro Tecnology 2012

Karslruhe, Germany,

18-19 September 2012

This annual symposium continues to bring together experts and specialists in the Gyroscope field, expanding this year to include inertial sensors and systems.

Fibercore are pleased to announce that we will be presenting two papers at this year’s show:  ‘Radiant Tolerant Optical Fibers for Fiber Optic Gyroscopes’ and ‘HiBi Single Polarizing HB-Z Zing™ Fibers for Fiber Optic Gyroscopes’

With the increasing use of satellites for communication and broadcasting projects, Fiber Optic Gyroscopes (FOGs) are being used more and more in outer space, increasing the need for radiation tolerant fibers. In the first of these papers, 'Radiation Tolerant Optical Fibers for FOGs', Dr Andy Gillooly will be discussing the effect of radiation on specialty optical fibers and how this can be controlled.  As well as considering the polarization maintaining highly birefringent fibers that are used in FOGs, he will be talking about the effect that radiation has on erbium-doped fibers used for ASE light sources.

The second of our papers, 'HiBi Single Polarizing HB-Z Fibers for FOGs', will be presented by José

Maria Alvarez who will explain the theoretical basic principles behind our Bow-Tie polarizing fibers.  Jose will compare the economic and technical benefits of this all-fiber polarizing solution against the non-fiber integrated solutions that are currently used in the industry, completing the presentation with experimental results and measurements showing the polarizing capability of the fiber under different deployment conditions and at different wavelengths.

2012 will be the 6^th year for the Symposium and a full programme is now available.  Further details of our two presentations will be available nearer the date.

Fibercore Ltd at OSA Advanced Photonics, Colorado Springs

Our attendance at small specialist shows provides us with an opportunity to focus our attention on a technical level with experts in our marketplaces – and the Advanced Photonic Congress in Colorado Springs last week was no exception.

With the attendance of Engineers from Universities, Research Groups and R&D departments of major international companies, Dr Andy Gillooly and Ellen Landis were able to discuss the technical benefits and specifications of our fibers with scientists and engineers working on the latest projects. 

Fiber Bragg Gratings were a particular focus of the Meeting and Andy’s expertise in the field enabled him to discuss our photosensitive singlemode fibers for sensor applications, introducing our polyimide coated bend-insensitive fibers for the harsh environments of oil and gas sensing.  His extensive knowledge and experience in laser applications also enabled him to discuss our fibers in detail in this advancing technology.

Other topics covered by Ellen, using her extensive experience of the specialty optical fiber market, and Andy included erbium-doped fibers in EDFAs for telecommunications and various fibers for bio-photonics, as well as discussions around applications for our new HiBi Spun fiber.

For all those that came to our booth, it was a pleasure to discuss your application and our fibers with you and we will be in touch very shortly with the information that you require.  If you were unable to attend the meeting and would like to know more about how our fibers can help your project, email us at sales@fibercore.com and one of us will get in touch with you as quickly as we can.

Join Fibercore at OSA's Advanced Photonics Congress in Colorado Springs

17th June - 21st June 2012

Cheyenne Mountain Resort

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

Fibercore Ltd will be marking their 30th year as specialty fiber development and production experts, by exhibiting at the OSA Advanced Photonics Congress, where we will be talking about our vast array of fiber products and their outstanding versatility and performance.

To maintain a leading position within a technically demanding marketplace requires a unique combination of customer focus, quality and product performance.  Fibercore's fiber experts look forward to working with you to develop a true customer partnership, delivering quantifiable value that goes well beyond the product itself.

Of particular interest at our booth will be Fiber Bragg Gratings and how Fibercore's PS series of fibers can help.  With a high-germania and boron-co-doped core composition that enables high-reflectivity gratings to be written without the need to hydrogen-load, the Mode Field Diameters of Fibercore PS Series fibers have also been engineered so that gratings can be spliced into standard telecommunications or pigtailing fibers with minimal excess loss.  Alternatively, if bend-insensitivity is important for your project, our high-germania, low-attenuation, specialty singlemode fibers offer significantly higher photosensitivity than standard telecommunications fibers allowing long arrays to be written with our without hydrogen loading.

Dr Andy Gillooly has a PhD in Fiber Bragg Gratings and will be available to answer all your FBG questions on our booth.  Both he and Ellen Landis, our Director of Sales for North America, will also be talking about how Fibercore's precision products can be used in the harshest of conditions, such as our polyimide-coated high NA fibers, which are being used for monitoring deep-sea oil reserves - where extreme accuracy is paramount in one of the most challenging of all conditions imaginable.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference and talking about your individual fiber needs.  But if you are unable to attend, please contact us directly on +44 (0)23 8076 9893 or email us at sales@fibercore.com.  We are always very happy to discuss your fiber frequirements and to offer free expert advice on the use of specialty fibers in your products or projects, drawing on over three decades of experience and knowledge.

Specialty Optical Fiber Design for Commercial Intrinsic Fiber Sensors

Your opportunity to read the paper presented by Dr Chris Emslie at the SPIE Defense, Security & Sensing Conference in Baltimore on Friday 27th April.

Below is the introduction to Chris' White Paper, the full copy can be downloaded from our website.

After 30 years of promise, and in some cases one or more false-starts, intrinsic fiber sensors based on 'Specialty' optical fibers are at last becoming a genuine, commercial reality.  The first sensor to achieve this status is undoubtedly the fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) which has grown steadily in volume over the past decade and has now gained widespread acceptance as a high reliability alternative to both conventional, spinning-mass and also ring-laser gyroscopes.  FOG is now being joined by both current-sensors and sensors for a broad-range of measureands, based on well-established acoustic, seismic and non-linear scattering techniques, primarily for oil-extraction and civil engineering.  It is safe to say that this 30 year gestation has proved far longer than anyone had either expected or hoped.  However, scientists and engineers should take some comfort that this delay owes little, if anything, to the strength or state of the underlying technology.

Fiber Hydrophone Schematic

In some cases, for example FOG, the root-cause lies in the conservatism of a customer base dominated by Defence and Aerospace that necessarily views 'new' technologies as un-tested and therefore potentially unreliable.  In others, product development has been slowed by significant and global skills shortages, when one project has taken clear precedent over another - a phenomenon that led to the commercialisation of the erbium doped fiber amplifier an entire decade before the fiber laser.  In others still, such as fiber optic current sensors and hydrophones, the market simply has not been ready - either because existing technologies fulfilled the current need, or were too well-entrenched for easy (or willing) substitution.  Although the road to commercial acceptance has been a long and difficult one, the path has been eased significantly by the availability of 'Specialty Fibers' either adapted, or designed specifically for sensors.  This paper identifies seven principal fiber design considerations, bend-insensitivity, jointing characteristics, reliability, birefringence and mechanical stiffness and references their significance in the context of three types of fiber sensor that have either achieved, or are close to achieving commercial accpetance:  FOG, acoustic and seismic sensors and current-sensors.

Copies of the presentation are available by contacting info@fibercore.com.