Participants
Eleanor Sparke
We all know of optical fibers’ use in telecommunication, but have you ever considered that fibers can also be used as sensors? Shining light into a glass fiber only 125 microns wide, with tiny mirror-like patterns hidden inside its core, illustrates the principle behind a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG). By “writing” these microscopic patterns using a UV-laser, the fiber is transformed into a sensor that reflects a precise wavelength of light, called the Bragg wavelength.
My project was part of a core research area in our lab, where I explored how the Bragg wavelength shifts under different conditions. I focused on temperature sensing—setting up experiments, collecting data, and analysing how changes in temperature produced measurable wavelength changes, even under extremely cold conditions. Our results highlight the reliable sensitivity of FBGs and their potential as precise sensors, with our team now extending this work to strain sensing and investigating the addition of nanomaterials to further enhance performance.