Integrated optic current transducers incorporating photonic crystal fiber for reduced temperature dependence

Optical current transducers (OCT) are indispensable for accurate monitoring of large electrical currents in an environment suffering from severe electromagnetic interference. Temperature dependence of OCTs caused by its components, such as wave plates and optical fibers, should be reduced to allow temperature-independent operation. A photonic crystal fiber with a structural optical birefringence was incorporated instead of a PM fiber, and a spun PM fiber was introduced to overcome the temperature-dependent linear birefringence of sensing fiber coil. Moreover, an integrated optic device that provides higher stability than fiber-optics was employed to control the polarization and detect the phase of the sensed optical signal. The proposed OCT exhibited much lower temperature dependence than that from a previous study. The OCT satisfied the 0.5 accuracy class (IIEC 60044-8) and had a temperature dependence less than ± 1% for a temperature range of 25 to 78 °C.