Where from:

We don't know.

Where to:

• Event: Field Fiber Splicer Resource use 1.00 HR July 31, 2013 from: SENSORICA
• Process: Fluid level sensor
• Workers: Work - R&D optics from: Tibi
Labnotes:

03, JUNE 2013
I discovered this new sensor by playing with the microfiber transducer.
Ideas were there before from discussions with Frederic about the constriction transducer. Frederic thought that the mechanism of the constriction transducer was leakage, and suggested to plunge it in water to see how the signal changes. The microfilament is a constricted optical fiber on a longer length, so the connection was easy to make, I plunged one microfiber transducer into water and it worked.
I also tested it to see a difference between water and alcohol, and it worked. I tested saturated salted water, and the signal difference with pure water was too small to make a conclusion.
I published the results in this video http://youtu.be/oA-0UgrdPBU
I believe that the working principle is leakage: the fiber is pulled to a smaller core, some light transferred into the cladding, which propagates if the fiber is in air. If the fiber is immersed in a fluid with higher refraction index some light escapes. We're measuring intensity fluctuations. So yes, it depends on the difference between the index of refraction of the cladding and the external media. Nothing out of the ordinary. There is some specific know how for the fabrication of the fiber, which has to be tapered and pulled with a certain geometry, the tip has to be melted to a ball and coated with silver (we're using our in-house low cost silver coating method) to send the light back to the detector.
I marked some time for documenting the work, communicating to SENSORICA and publishing it on social media.
I used 125/63.5 MM glass Infinicor300 Corning fiber, pulled with the microsplicer, voltage used 8.5V, max current. I pulled the fiber by hand using the manual micrometers on the device. One can diminish the voltage down to 8V. 7V is not enough to melt the glass fiber. At 8 one can do finer stretches.
The tip of the pulled micro fiber was melted to round it, and was coated using our inhouse wet silver coating method. Only the very tip was coated. I made 2 devices, 1 to 2 mm long, 40 and 20 microns diameter. Only the 20 microns diameter was sensitive when immersed into water.
I used the 850nm LED to test it, before it was improved with filter and amplifier.
TODO: try different diameters. It seems that the critical diameter is between 40 and 20 microns. Also try multiple constrictions to see if we can have a discrete level sensor.

• Event: Resource Production Prototype - Fluid level sensor 1.00 HR July 31, 2013
• Resource: Fluid level sensor
• Event: Field Fiber Splicer Resource use 5.10 HR June 14, 2013 from: SENSORICA
• Event: Field Fiber Splicer Resource use 4.00 HR May 10, 2013 from: SENSORICA
• Process: Make Photonics - Constriction Transducer
• Workers: Work - R&D optics from: Tibi
Labnotes:

Worked with Francois on exploring the constriction transducer with the LED 850nm Mosquito.
See report
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aAjJoOfv3M1zt1lPsye8TAxtrE_dlt8lXVRBzGoWAf0/edit#

May 22
Worked on the constriction again. I made some experiments to distinguish between my model and Frederic's model of the constriction transducer.
My model: some light get's transferred into the cladding at the constriction site and after some travel comes back in the core. As it does that, it interferes with the light that continued into the core and the detector sees this interference pattern. I thought that if I coat the entire constricted area and the lever with silver I would increase the sensitivity of the transducer, because more light would come back into the core.
I made 3 transducers, one with 4 constrictions, one with 2 constrictions and the one with a single constriction. The first two I constricted approx 30%, the last one approx 50%. I connected them to the Chinese LD Mosquito that came back from Phil.
Through the fluctuations of this Mosquito, because we understand its defaults, I could measure some sensitivity for the 4 constrictions transducer, but not good enough for the other ones. The Mosquito behaves in a strange/unpredictable way.
I used the reusable optical fiber connectors to connect the fiber.
In conclusion, it seems that my theory about the mechanism behind the constriction transducer is not the one I thought.
Pictures and videos were made.

• Event: Resource Production Prototype Material - Constriction transducer 4.00 HR May 10, 2013
• Resource: Constriction transducer - multiple constriction zones