Optical whispering gallery mode barcodes for high-precision and wide-range measurements
AssigneeWashington University
InventorsLan Yang, Jie Liao
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Abstract
Systems and methods for measuring a temperature using an optical whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator are disclosed. The system includes a WGM resonator operatively coupled to a tunable laser source and a detector, as well as a computing device. The computing device is configured to transform a transmission spectrum from the detector into a measured barcode that includes a matrix of values indicative of at least one characteristic of the transmission spectrum. The computing device is further configured to transform the measured barcode into a temperature based on a relative collective shift of the measured barcode from a reference barcode selected from a predetermined library of reference barcodes.
Claims15
An optical thermal sensing system for measuring a temperature, the system comprising:
- a. a WGM sensor comprising a WGM resonator operatively coupled to a tunable laser source and a detector;
- b. a computing device comprising at least one processor and a non-volatile computer-readable memory, the computing device configured to:
- i. receive a plurality of signals from the detector indicative of a transmission spectrum of the WGM resonator;
- ii. transform the plurality of signals into a measured barcode, the measured barcode comprising a matrix of values indicative of at least one characteristic of the transmission spectrum;
- and
- iii. transform the measured barcode into the temperature based on a relative collective shift of the measured barcode from a reference barcode selected from a predetermined library of reference barcodes, each reference barcode comprising a matrix of reference values corresponding to one reference temperature.
A computer-aided method of measuring a temperature using an optical thermal sensing system, the method comprising:
- a. providing an optical thermal sensing system comprising:
- i. a WGM sensor comprising a WGM resonator operatively coupled to a tunable laser source and a detector;
- and
- ii. a computing device comprising at least one processor and a non-volatile computer-readable memory, the computing device operatively coupled to the detector;
- b. producing a wavelength scan of laser light using the tunable laser source and directing the laser light into the first end of the taper fiber waveguide;
- c. receiving, using the detector, a transmission spectrum from the second end of the taper fiber waveguide, the transmission spectrum comprising a non-resonant portion of the wavelength scan, the non-resonant portion of the wavelength scan comprising light wavelengths falling outside of at least one resonance mode of the WGM resonator;
- d. transforming, using the computing device, the transmission spectrum into a measured barcode, the measured barcode comprising a matrix of values indicative of at least one characteristic of the transmission spectrum;
- and
- e. transforming, using the computing device, the measured barcode into the temperature based on a relative collective shift of the measured barcode from a reference barcode selected from a predetermined library of reference barcodes, each reference barcode comprising a matrix of reference values corresponding to one reference temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.