Redes de período longo em fibras ópticas aplicadas ao sensoriamento de corrente elétrica em Vant’s

Abstract

This dissertation presents the fabrication of long-period fiber gratings through electric arc discharges and their application in current sensing in unmanned aerial vehicles. The theoretical aspects of long-period gratings are presented. Besides, we discussed the different types of coupling that could occur in a long-period fiber grating, as well as the mechanisms responsible for the formation of the gratings produced by electric arc discharges. The manufacture process of the long-period gratings using the electric arc technique was described and the behavior of the polarization dependent loss of these gratings was investigated. In addition, a new method for the production of long period gratings with reduced polarization dependent loss is introduced. It has been found that by changing the incidence angle of the electric discharges in the optical fiber in relation to a reference point, it is possible to average the effects induced by each electric arc discharge and, therefore, reducing the intrinsic polarization dependent loss of these gratings. Finally, the application of a grating produced by electric arc combined with a neodymium permanent magnet is presented. This combination allows us to measure the electric current required by a motor of an unmanned aerial vehicle.