TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT OF FIBER OPTICS BY MEANS OF THERMAL INDUCED FLUORESCENCE

Abstract

A method for temperature measurement includes measuring intensities of two adjacent wavelengths emitted from a heated optical fiber and calculating the thermal population distribution between associated energy levels.

Claims

1. A method for temperature measurement comprising: heating an optical fiber to induce fluorescence emission from said optical fiber, said fluorescence emission comprising at least two emission lines having wavelengths j and k, respectively; and calculating a temperature T of said optical fiber by solving for T in equation: $\frac{I_j}{I_k}\approx \frac{\exp \left(\frac{-\Delta .Math..Math.E_{j,0}}{k_b.Math.T}\right)}{\exp \left(\frac{-\Delta .Math..Math.E_{k,0}}{k_b.Math.T}\right)}.Math.\left(\frac{A_{j,0}}{A_{k,0}}\right)$ wherein: I.sub.m is measured emission intensity at wavelength m, ΔE.sub.m,0 is energy gap between an emission level associated with wavelength m and ground level (0 level), k.sub.b is Boltzmann constant (about 1.3806488×10.sup.−23 J/K), T is absolute temperature (K) of said optical fiber and A.sub.m0 is Einstein constant (probability per unit time that an electron in an energy state at the emission level associated with the wavelength m will decay spontaneously to the ground level).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fluorescence emission is due to a first overtone of vibration energy level of dopant ions existing in said optical fiber.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fluorescence emission is due to a first overtone of vibration energy level of OH.sup.− ions existing in said optical fiber.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of said two emission lines is below 1400 nm and another of said two emission lines is above 1400 nm.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of said two emission lines is 1460 nm and another of said two emission lines is 1396 nm.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein $T\approx \frac{-4822}{\ln \left(\frac{I_{1460}}{I_{1396}}\right)-1.0057}.$

7. Apparatus for temperature measurement comprising: a heater operative to heat an optical fiber to induce fluorescence emission from said optical fiber, said fluorescence emission comprising at least two emission lines having wavelengths j and k, respectively; an optical detector operative to detect said emission lines; and a processor operative to calculate a temperature T of said optical fiber by solving for T in the equation in claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a device and method for optical temperature measurement, in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0011] When heating silica fiber above room temperature, a weak but measurable optical radiation at wavelengths around 1400 nm is revealed. The origin of this radiation is fluorescence emission related to the first overtone of the vibration energy level of dopant ions (such as OH.sup.− ions) existing in small concentrations in the fiber and occupying different sites. In addition, weaker emission lines around 1260 nm can be observed; these are related to the sum of the first overtone of OH.sup.− ions and the first vibration of SiO.sub.4 molecule (2v.sub.OH+v.sub.SiO4).

[0012] In order to deduce an accurate temperature, a complete measurement of the OH.sup.− emission spectrum can be fitted to the theoretical emission spectrum. The latter can be calculated, and is dependent upon known physical constants, the thermal population of the different energy levels and thermal broadening of the emitting levels. However, a much simpler calculation, as depicted below, has proven to be quite accurate. Here, the intensity of two emission lines around the 1400 nm band, namely, 1460 nm and 1396 nm are compared. It is assumed that the two lines experience the same thermal broadening and that they share the same partition function. Knowing their Einstein constants for spontaneous emission (A.sub.i) the following equation can be written:

[00002]$\frac{I_{1460}}{I_{1396}}\approx \frac{\exp \left(\frac{-\Delta .Math..Math.E_{1460,0}}{k_b.Math.T}\right)}{\exp \left(\frac{-\Delta .Math..Math.E_{1396,0}}{k_b.Math.T}\right)}.Math.\left(\frac{A_{1460,0}}{A_{1396,0}}\right),$

where I.sub.j represents the measured emission intensity at the wavelength j, ΔE.sub.l,0 is the energy gap between a particular emission level associated with the wavelength j, and the ground level (0 level), k.sub.b is Boltzmann constant (about 1.3806488×10.sup.−23 J/K), T is the absolute temperature (K) and A.sub.i0 is the Einstein constant (probability per unit time that an electron in state i with energy at the emission level associated with the wavelength j will decay spontaneously to state 0 at the ground level). Plugging in the appropriate parameters and solving for T leads to:

[00003]$T\approx \frac{-4822}{\ln \left(\frac{I_{1460}}{I_{1396}}\right)-1.0057}.$

It should be noted that some calibration constants may have to be added to refine the last equation for improved accuracy.

[0013] An instrument that performs in situ and on line temperature measurement during the fusion process includes an optical detector for detecting the emission lines and a processor for performing the temperature calculation. Optionally, at least two optical detectors may be used with two different spectral filters, wherein each one of the detectors measures only one of the OH.sup.− emission lines. The detectors will be coupled to the processed fiber, preferably by side-coupling as close as possible to the heated zone, but could also be coupled to the end terminal of the processed fiber provided appropriate calibration is made. Using data acquisition and processing units (included in the processor), the ratio between the signals of the detectors may be used to calculate the fiber temperature.

[0014] It should be mentioned that this technique provides a weighted average measurement of the heated zone's temperature which is typically not uniform. In order to deduce the thermal distribution within the heated zone, an emission profile of the heated zone will have to be recorded and analyzed.