ACOUSTIC-FIELD FIBEROPTIC SENSOR

Optical-fibre mechanical sensors show some advantages over existing te chnologies. Higher sensitivity, dielectric properties and compatibilit y with communication technologies are some of their common characteris tics. Sensors based on fibre interferometers are very sensitive to pha se changes along the light path produced by mechanical perturbations o n the fiber. A Mach-Zehnder fibre interferometer has been mounted and tested. The interferometer performance has been studied, comparing its output with the signal measured with calibrated probes. Two kinds of vibrations have been measured: vibrations of a piezoelectric transduce r and acoustic plane waves travelling through a water cell.