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Harsh‐Environment‐Resistant OH‐Vibrations‐Sensitive Mid‐Infrared Water‐Ice Photonic Sensor
Author(s) -
Martínez Javier,
Ródenas Airán,
Stake Andreas,
Traveria Miquel,
Aguiló Magdalena,
Solis Javier,
Osellame Roberto,
Tanaka Taro,
Berton Benoit,
Kimura Shigueo,
Rehfeld Nadine,
Díaz Francesc
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.184
H-Index - 42
ISSN - 2365-709X
DOI - 10.1002/admt.201700085
Subject(s) - materials science , icing , optoelectronics , photonics , infrared , absorption (acoustics) , optical fiber , optics , composite material , geology , physics , oceanography
State‐of‐the‐art ultrahigh‐sensitivity photonic sensing schemes rely on exposing the evanescent field of tightly confined light to the environment. Yet, this renders an inherent fragility to the device, and since adding a protective layer disables light exposure, there exists a technology gap for highly sensitive harsh‐environment‐resistant surface photonic sensors. Here, a novel type of mid‐infrared waveguide sensors is reported which exploit vibrational resonance‐driven directional coupling effects besides absorption, with optical sensing elements that can be buried (≈1–10 µm) and resist systematic exposure to industrial environments without failure. A harsh‐environment‐resistant, fiber‐coupled, surface sensor for monitoring the structural phase of water (liquid‐supercooled‐solid), as well as the type of ice microstructure (clear rime), is shown. It is demonstrated how this type of sensor can be designed to detect ice layers with nanometric (≈100 nm) to microscopic (≈30 µm or higher) thicknesses, and the first experimental tests both in optical laboratory and in icing wind tunnel inflight aircraft simulation tests are reported.