Relative Humidity Sensinor

Using Optical Fibre

Technologies
Table of Contents
1. Optical Fibres
2. Construction of optical fibres
3. Acceptance angle
4. Propagation of light through an optical fibre
5. Uses of Optical Fibre
6. Relative Humidity
7. Evanescent field
8. Use of 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2
9. Observations
10. Results
11. Conclusion
What are Optical Fibres?

An optical fibre is a hair-

thin long strand of
quality glass or quartz
surrounded by a glass
coating of slightly lower
refractive index. It is used
as a guided medium for
transmitting an optical
signal from one place to
another.
Construction of optical fibres

An optical fibre consists of three main parts:

• Core: The central cylinder core is made of high
quality glass/silica/plastic of refractive index 𝑛1
and has a diameter of 10 to 100 𝜇𝑚.
• Cladding: The core is surrounded by a
glass/plastic jacket of refractive index 𝑛2 < 𝑛1 .
• Buffer coating: For providing safety and
strength, the core cladding of optical fibre is
enclosed in a plastic jacket.
Acceptance Angle:
• It is the maximum angle of a ray (against the fibre axis)
hitting the fibre core which allows the incident light to be
guided by the core.
• The acceptance angle is given by:
1
−1
𝛼 = sin ( 𝑛12 − 𝑛22 )
𝑛3
Propagation of light through an
optical fibre:
• When light is incident on one end of the fibre at a small
angle, it goes inside and suffer repeated total internal
reflection.
• The angle of incidence is greater than critical angle of the
fibre material with respect to its outer coating.
• The critical angle is given by:
1
𝑛3 =
sin (ic )
ic = critical angle of incidence
• There is a very few loss of intensity in total internal
reflection, the out coming beam is of as much intensity as
the incident beam.
Uses of Optical Fibre:

• 90% of long distance telephony (Communication).

• Most of the LAN (Computer Networks) connections.
• Ideal solution data transmission with security in military and
aerospace.
• They are widely used in the fields of medicine and research
(Endoscopy).
What is Relative Humidity?

It is the amount of water

vapour in the air, expressed
as a percentage of the
maximum amount that the
air could hold at the given
temperature.
Device used for Measuring Relative
Humidity:

A Hygrometer is a device used for

measuring the humidity in air.
Evanescent field

At the interface between a medium with a high refraction

index and another medium with a lower refraction index, then
the rays which come from definite incidences are totally
reflected, however the light will get through the interface and
enter farther or closer in the medium with a low refraction
index. This part of the electromagnetic field is called
evanescent field.
How we used it
• In this project we have decladed the fibre so that
evanescent field is exposed to the external moisture.
• The basic principle of the evanescent field sensor is that to
make the quantity (water molecules) to be measured by
making it interact with the electromagnetic field.
• So it is necessary for water molecules to come as close as
possible to the guiding part (i.e. the core) to obtain enough
sensitivity.
• By depositing chemical (𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2) on the decladed region we
would be able to measure the change in humidity in terms
of voltage.

• Since 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 interacts with the optical power in the guided

modes which are extended to the cladding region.
Why we used 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 ?
• A dry 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 has a strong absorption in the wavelength
ranging from 550 to 700 nm and has almost no absorption if
wet, forming a compound CoCl2·6(H2O).
• An anhydrous 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 was immobilized in a suitable polymer
matrix and dip-coating method was used to realize a thin
sensing film. Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) was used as the
binding polymer matrix for anhydrous 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 .
Observations:
• At low humidity, 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 is dry and a strong absorption of
light passing through the sensing fibre element was
observed.
• Whereas, at higher humidity, 𝐶𝑜𝐶𝑙2 absorbs lesser optical
power, leading to an increase in the output power.
 Variation of the Humidity and the Optical Sensor
4

3.5

2.5
Voltage

1.5

0.5

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Relative Humidity
Results:
• We fabricated sensor with two film thicknesses using 1-dip
and 2-dip coatings.
• The 1st-dip coated probe was much less than the
penetration depth of the evanescent wave.
For 1-dip coating
4
3.5
3
2.5
Voltage

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Relative Humidity
• The 2nd-dip was of the order of evanescent field. This lead
to the maximum possible interaction of evanescent wave in
the case of 2-dip coated probe.

For 2-dip coating

4

3.5

2.5
Voltage

1.5

0.5

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Relative Humidity
Conclusion:
The sensor response is approximately linear in the measured
RH range accept at very low humidity values as the sensor
responds slowly at lower humidity (till ∼30%) and very quickly
at higher humidity. Thus the sensitivity increases steeply and
linearly with RH in a range from ∼30 to 80%.
Thank You