Abstract
An optical fiber sensor based on a tapered-FBG coated with 150 nm-thick Pd film is proposed for hydrogen pressure detection. The FBG was written in a 50 µm-diameter tapered fiber by DUV femtosecond laser technology. A second FBG was inscribed in the untapered fiber region for temperature compensation. The sensing head was able to detect the variation of hydrogen pressure in the range 0-780 kPa and a maximum sensitivity of 0.15 pm/kPa was achieved. © 2012 OSA.

Abstract
In this letter, a new configuration based on two fiber loop mirrors in series using a 3x3 coupler is demonstrated. This configuration is compact and can explore the Vernier effect. The results obtained were a sensitivity of 74.9 +/- 0.2 pm/ mu epsilon for the Vernier envelope and 6.41 +/- 0.01 pm/mu epsilon for the Vernier carrier. These results were compared to the sensitivity of the setup using only one fiber loop mirror interferometer, obtaining 14.41 +/- 0.01 pm/mu epsilon. This means a magnification factor of 5.2 for the Vernier envelope. Theoretical treatment of the system was carried out, using Jones matrix calculus, and the subsequent simulation results are also presented, having obtained good agreement with the experimental data.

Abstract

Abstract
Process Analytical Technology (PAT) has been increasingly used in the pharmaceutical industry to monitor essential parameters in real-time during pharmaceutical processes. The concentration of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), such as paracetamol, is one of these parameters, and controlling its variations allows for optimization of the production process. In this study, a refractometric sensor, implemented by an interrogation system based on an Erbium-Doped Fiber Ring Cavity (EDFRC), was presented and experimentally demonstrated. The Cavity Ring proposed included a 1 x 3 coupler. One port of the coupler was used to increase the optical power of the system through a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), and the other two ports were used as sensing head and reference. The sensor detected variations of paracetamol concentration with a sensitivity of [(-1.00 +/- 0.05) x 10(-3)] nW/(g/kg) and a resolution of 5.53 g/kg. The results demonstrate the potential of this technology as a possible non-invasive PAT tool.

Abstract
In this paper, a different Fiber Loop Mirror (FLM) configuration with two circulators is presented. This configuration is demonstrated and characterized for sensing applications. This new design concept was used for strain and torsion discrimination. For strain measurement, the interference fringe displacement has a sensitivity of (0.576 +/- 0.009) pm.mu epsilon(-1). When the FFT (Fast Fourier Transformer) is calculated and the frequency shift and signal amplitude are monitored, the sensitivities are (-2.1 +/- 0.3) x 10(-4) nm(-1) mu epsilon(-1) and (4.9 +/- 0.3) x 10(-7) mu epsilon(-1), respectively. For the characterization in torsion, an FFT peaks variation of (-2.177 +/- 0.002) x 10(-12) nm(-1)/degrees and an amplitude variation of (1.02 +/- 0.06) x 10(-3)/degrees are achieved. This configuration allows the use of a wide range of fiber lengths and with different refractive indices for controlling the free spectral range (FSR) and achieving refractive index differences, i.e., birefringence, higher than 10(-2), which is essential for the development of high sensitivity physical parameter sensors, such as operating on the Vernier effect. Furthermore, this FLM configuration allows the system to be balanced, which is not possible with traditional FLMs.