The use of optical fibre sensors is an expanding R&D topic and its significance is unquestionable. These sensors can be applied in several different areas, from the integrity of structural health, to environmental and ecological monitoring and aeronautics. At the Centre for Applied Photonics (CAP), we have been investing essentially in interferometric sensors, in optical fibre long period and Bragg gratings, as well as in conventional and microstructured fibres.

With the emergence of new special fibres, at CAP we started studying several solutions to measure several physical parameters simultaneously or other sensing elements which are not sensitive to temperature. Currently, research in this area is more focused on applications for extreme environments and for the energy sector.

We are also involved in new projects in which we are developing remote measurement systems with amplification. The aim is to perform long distance monitoring using nonlinear effects which enable reflexive measurements at distances above 200 km. Lastly, we are also working on a new generation of optical fibre sensors which can measure electric currents and magnetic fields in the energy domain.

Partners:

• Universidade da Madeira (Portugal)
• University of Kent (United Kingdom)
• University of North Carolina (USA)
• Escola de Biotecnologia, Univ. Católica (Portugal)
• INEGI (Portugal)
• Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (Portugal)
• Instituto de Ciências da Terra e do Espaço (Portugal)
• ITQB (Portugal)
  Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain)
• Universidad de Pamplona (Spain)
• Universidade Federal do Pará (Brazil)
• Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (Curitiba) (Brazil)
• Université des Sciences et Technologie de Lille (France)
• Université de Limoges (France)
• University of Bath (United Kingdom)
• Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain)
• Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland)