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Fiber-optic sensors; particle trapping; photonic crystal fibers; incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometry
Abstract:
Optically trapped "flying particles" inside hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) can be used as multi-parameter sensors of, for example, temperature, radiation levels or external electric fields. They represent a new type of optical fiber sensor, offering a spatial resolution that is only limited by the particle size, while being functionally reconfigurable. Here we demonstrate accurate measurement of the axial position of flying particles using incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometry in combination with model-based estimation processing. The approach allows to measure the particle position inside the HC-PCF with a precision of similar to 140 μm.