INDUCED FLUORESCENCE FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an optical method for temperature measurement. When operated, it enables on line precise temperature measurement of optical fiber components during fusion processes. Moreover, this method can be used as a temperature sensing in high temperature environments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fused optical fiber components are nowadays very common in fiber laser, optical communications and other optical fiber based systems. The main process for manufacturing such a component is fusion of the fibers material in order to manipulate their shape. Usually, the heat for the fusion is generated by means of hydrogen flame, arc discharge, filament or laser beam. However, all of these methods require tightly controlling the amount of heat that is absorbed in the fibers for the process to be precise and reproducible. Controlling of heat absorption can be performed by measuring the temperature of the heated fibers section, which is typically 1-3 mm in length and 0.01-1 mm in diameter. Direct measurement of the temperature under such circumstances is complicated, since measurement by contact will disturb the fusion process. Another problem is that it is very difficult to distinguish between the fiber temperature and the temperature of the heat source itself without touching the fiber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an indirect method for precise temperature measurement of optical fibers at high temperature environment. The method uses the fluorescence emitted from a small content of doping molecules (e.g., OH ^" ) inside the fiber. By calculating the ratio between the powers of two adjacent emission lines the population distribution between energy levels can be deduced. Since the population is temperature dependence via Boltzmann distribution, the temperature of the fiber can be concluded. Practically, the invention enables remote temperature measurement by means of optical fiber in the 800 - 2000°C range.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method for temperature measurement including heating an optical fiber to induce fluorescence emission from the optical fiber, the fluorescence emission including at least two emission lines having wavelengths j and k, respectively, and calculating a temperature T of the optical fiber by solving for T in equation:

wherein:

I _m is measured emission intensity at wavelength m, E _{m 0} is energy gap between an emission level associated with wavelength m and ground level (0 level), k _b is

Boltzmann constant (about 1.3806488x10 —23 J/K), T is absolute temperature (K) of the optical fiber and A _m o is Einstein constant (probability per unit time that an electron in an energy state at the emission level associated with the wavelength m will decay spontaneously to the ground level).

The fluorescence emission may be due to a first overtone of vibration energy level of dopant ions (e.g., OH ^" ions) existing in the optical fiber.

Apparatus is also provided for temperature measurement including a heater operative to heat an optical fiber to induce fluorescence emission from the optical fiber, the fluorescence emission including at least two emission lines having wavelengths j and k, respectively, an optical detector operative to detect the emission lines, and a processor operative to calculate a temperature T of the optical fiber by solving for T in the above equation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a simplified illustration of a device and method for optical temperature measurement, in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

When heating silica fiber above room temperature, a weak but measurable optical radiation at wavelengths around 1400 nm is revealed. The origin of this radiation is fluorescence emission related to the first overtone of the vibration energy level of dopant ions (such as OH ^" ions) existing in small concentrations in the fiber and occupying different sites. In addition, weaker emission lines around 1260 nm can be observed; these are related to the sum of the first overtone of OH ^" ions and the first vibration of Si0 ₄ molecule (2VQH + Vsicw)- In order to deduce an accurate temperature, a complete measurement of the OH ^" emission spectrum can be fitted to the theoretical emission spectrum. The latter can be calculated, and is dependent upon known physical constants, the thermal population of the different energy levels and thermal broadening of the emitting levels. However, a much simpler calculation, as depicted below, has proven to be quite accurate. Here, the intensity of two emission lines around the 1400 nm band, namely, 1460 nm and 1396 nm are compared. It is assumed that the two lines experience the same thermal broadening and that they share the same partition function. Knowing their Einstein constants for spontaneous emission (A the following equation can be written:

where I _j represents the measured emission intensity at the wavelength j, AEi ₀ is the energy gap between a particular emission level associated with the wavelength j, and the ground level (0 level), k _b is Boltzmann constant (about 1.3806488xl0 ^~23 J/K), T is the absolute temperature (K) and Aio is the Einstein constant (probability per unit time that an electron in state i with energy at the emission level associated with the wavelength j will decay spontaneously to state 0 at the ground level). Plugging in the appropriate parameters and solving for T leads to:

It should be noted that some calibration constants may have to be added to refine the last equation for improved accuracy.

An instrument that performs in situ and on line temperature measurement during the fusion process includes an optical detector for detecting the emission lines and a processor for performing the temperature calculation. Optionally, at least two optical detectors may be used with two different spectral filters, wherein each one of the detectors measures only one of the OH ^" emission lines. The detectors will be coupled to the processed fiber, preferably by side-coupling as close as possible to the heated zone, but could also be coupled to the end terminal of the processed fiber provided appropriate calibration is made. Using data acquisition and processing units (included in the processor), the ratio between the signals of the detectors may be used to calculate the fiber temperature.

It should be mentioned that this technique provides a weighted average measurement of the heated zone' s temperature which is typically not uniform. In order to deduce the thermal distribution within the heated zone, an emission profile of the heated zone will have to be recorded and analyzed.