An optomechanical system including a guide structure, to guide a light beam; and two waveguide segments. Each guide structure include beams that together form two combs partially nested one in the other. At least one beam is free to move in translation along an axis orthogonal to the long axis of the guide structure. A displacement into an optical phase shift, while limiting additional effects on the intensity.

A detection device includes an illumination optical system and a detection optical system. The illumination optical system is configured to illuminate a first diffraction grating having a first period in a first direction and a second diffraction grating having a second period different from the first period. The detection optical system is configured to detect light diffracted by the first and second diffraction gratings. The illumination optical system includes an optical member configured to form, on a pupil plane, a first pole and a second pole opposite to the first pole. The illumination optical system causes lights from the first and second poles to obliquely enter the first and second diffraction gratings from the first direction to illuminate the first and second diffraction gratings. The detection optical system detects diffracted light diffracted by one of the first and second diffraction gratings and by an other diffraction grating.

An interferometric sensor and related methods are provided, with a sensing element whereby a measurand induces a relative phase shift between two waves, at least one detector measuring an interference signal between the two waves, and further including a phase shift detection unit having as input the interference signal and determining a first measure representative of the principal value of the relative phase shift, and a contrast detection unit having as input the interference signal for determining a second measure representative of the cross-correlation between the two waves, and a further a processing unit for converting the first and second measures to a measurand value.

A sensor for detecting an amount of current flowing in a wire wherein displacement of a sensing mirror is used in an interferometer to enable determination of the amount of current. The sensor includes a magnetostrictive element located within a magnetic field formed by the wire. The sensor also includes a position sensor that detects a size increase of the magnetostrictive element. In addition, the sensor includes an amplifying device that amplifies the size increase of the magnetostrictive element by a predetermined amplification factor to provide an amplified size increase. Further, the sensor includes a displacement device that displaces the sensing mirror by an amount corresponding to the amplified size increase.

A confocal optical protractor for simultaneously measuring roll angle, pitch angle and yaw angle of an element that includes a tunable laser source generating a laser beam and an SPPR device responsive to the laser beam. The protractor also includes a beam splitter receiving and splitting an output beam from the SPPR device, and a lens being responsive to and projecting the split beam onto the element and being responsive to a reflected beam from the element. The protractor further includes a measurement detector responsive to the reflected beam from the element, where the reflected beam is imaged by the lens onto the measurement detector, and a processor receiving and processing image data from the measurement detector and generating the pitch, yaw and roll angles from the data, where the image data includes an orientation of an vortex intensity pattern in the split beam.

A displacement detection device is capable of stably and accurately detecting an amount of displacement. A polarization maintaining fiber has a length not to be equal to a length obtained by dividing, a product of an integral multiple of twice a length of a resonator times a refractive index of the resonator and a beat length obtained from a difference between propagation constants of two polarization modes, by a wavelength of the light source, is selected from a range including a length equal to the above length. The polarization maintaining fiber includes multiple polarization maintaining fibers fitted to each other by removable connectors.

Systems for the monitoring of bacterial levels in samples, using spectral analysis of the light diffracted from a substrate with an ordered array of pores having diameters enabling the targets to enter them. The trapping pore array is cyclically illuminated by light of different wavelengths, and the light diffracted from the pore array is imaged by a 2-dimensional detector array, with one pixel, or a small group of pixels receiving light from each associated pore. The temporal sequence of frames provides a series of images, each from the reflection of a different wavelength. A time sequenced readout of the signal from the pixel or pixels associated with each pore region, provides a spectral plot of the reflected light from that pore region. Spectral analysis of the light intensity from this series of different wavelength enables the effective optical thickness (EOT) of each pore to be extracted.

A sensor for measuring pressure, temperature or both may be provided. The sensor may include a diaphragm that may respond to a change in temperature or pressure, a base connected to the diaphragm, a cavity, and an optical fiber that may conduct light reflected off of a surface of the diaphragm. The diaphragm and base may be sapphire elements. An interrogator may be provided for detecting a deflection of the diaphragm.

A confocal optical protractor for simultaneously measuring roll angle, pitch angle and yaw angle of an element that includes a tunable laser source generating a laser beam and an SPPR device responsive to the laser beam. The protractor also includes a beam splitter receiving and splitting an output beam from the SPPR device, and a lens being responsive to and projecting the split beam onto the element and being responsive to a reflected beam from the element. The protractor further includes a measurement detector responsive to the reflected beam from the element, where the reflected beam is imaged by the lens onto the measurement detector, and a processor receiving and processing image data from the measurement detector and generating the pitch, yaw and roll angles from the data, where the image data includes an orientation of an vortex intensity pattern in the split beam.

A method for simultaneously measuring roll angle, pitch angle and yaw angle of an element. The method includes directing a laser beam into a spiral phase plate resonator (SPPR) device to generate an optical vortex intensity pattern having a centroid and radial light peaks. The method reflects the laser beam off of the element after it has propagated through the SPPR device so that the laser beam is directed onto a camera that generates images of the optical vortex intensity pattern. The method determines a location of the centroid in the images, determines integrated counts along a radial direction from the centroid in the images, and determines a location of the radial light peaks in the images using the integrated counts. The method changes the frequency of the laser beam to rotate the radial light peaks, and estimates the roll angle of the element from the change in frequency.