Data acquisition with fiber optic sensors

The advantages of using fiber optic sensors for data acquisition are discussed, and their present utilization in this area is examined. Because of their high cost, these sensors are not likely to be competitive in general metrological applications in the near future. They do, however, provide important advantages in specific areas such as isolation against high voltage and immunity against electromagnetic fields and explosive and/or corrosive environments. They also offer the possibility of miniaturized and compact packaging of the sensing element an application within a broad temperature range. Multimode fiber optic sensors for parameters such as temperature, pressure, and refractive index have more immediate commercial potential than monomode fiber optic sensors, which have higher costs. The latter allow for high precision solutions of metrological tasks under specific conditions, and will be utilized in the foreseeable future.