Optical fiber sensors using hollow glass spheres and CCD spectrometer interrogator

Hollow glass micro-spheres, firstly used to make fiber optic sensors for high hydrostatic pressure, have been interrogated using a high-resolution CCD-based spectrometer, to give far better precision than conventional spectrometric read out. It is found that these simple, low-cost micro-sensors have excellent sensitivity to both static and dynamic pressure, and have the advantage of being hermetically sealed. Many other application areas are foreseen for these low-cost sensors.