In this work, heavy metal oxide glasses based on Bi₂O₃–GeO₂–Ga₂O₃–Na₂O system have been synthesized under a low vacuum conditions. This procedure reduced absorption band at 3 μm due to OH^- ions concentration decrease to 50 ppm. Glass has been characterized by low phonon energy (724 cm^-1), low absorption coefficient in the infrared region (1.0 cm^-1) and good mechanical and chemical properties. In order to obtain luminescence in the MIR region, holmium and ytterbium ions have been incorporated into the glass matrix. Emission intensity analysis at 2.85 μm associated with the radiative transition between excited levels ⁵I₆ → ⁵I₇ in holmium ions under 980 nm laser diode excitation have been investigated. Obtained results allowed to determine the optimal concentration of co-dopants for maximum luminescence intensity. This demonstrate that developed heavy metal oxide glass is an attractive material for mid-infrared applications.

In this article a short introduction describes the existing solutions of TAH (Total Artificial Hearts) and LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) in terms of the type of drive and the possibility of blood transfusion will be shown. Next will be presented the principle of operation, the construction and the results of research of the pulsatile electromagnetically driven micropump. The simulation results of the electromagnetic drive will be done using the FEM method analysis for investigation the influence of the stator windings shape and its enhanced geometric, on the generated values of electromagnetic torque. The discussed existing solutions and the proposed concept of micropump in this article, are constructed for the minimal geometrical size, low energy consumption and effective human blood transfusion.

It is fully confirmed that the development of the new HgCdTe long-wave (8−12 μm) infrared radiation (LWIR) detector has been driven by applications requiring high frequency response ( τ _s) and operation at higher temperature (HOT - hot operating temperature, T > 200 K) [1]. Not only time response but also detectivity directly linked with τ _s of the HOT HgCdTe detector should be optimized. The HOT HgCdTe’s performance is limited by Auger processes and to circumvent that issue the N+/π/P+n+ device’s designs has been proposed to suppress generation - recombination (GR) processes, i.e. combination of exclusion and extraction heterojunctions (π is a p-type doping region) [2−5]. The nominally sharp interfaces in N⁺/π/P⁺n⁺ (especially N⁺π) layered HgCdTe heterostructures are affected by interdiffusion during technological process leading to significant composition and doping grading occurring during HgCdTe growth by MOCVD [6,7]. Mentioned composition and doping grading should be controlled to optimize frequency performance of the devices. In this paper we present short analysis of the time response depending on type and doping grading of N⁺/π/P⁺n⁺ HOT LWIR HgCdTe structure. Time response of the long-wave HgCdTe detector with 50% cut-off wavelength ( λ _c), ≈ 10.6 μm at T = 230 K, V = 200 mV was reduced form ~ 160 ps to ~ 52 ps by optimization of the N⁺π interface even for low voltage operation ~ 200 mV.

The article presents a software ‘SALAS’ (Spectral Analyzer for Laser Absorption Spectroscopy) dedicated to the analysis of gas absorption spectra. The analysis takes into consideration performances of two laser absorption spectroscopy techniques i.e. cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS)^[1]. It is based on data imported from the HITRAN database. The main task is to determine spectral range of operation providing effective results of these gas detection techniques. The SALAS is not only able to identify spectral lines for the defined gas but also to indicate so-called “fingerprint” line with the least impact of other gases (interferents). For this purpose, the software gives the possibility to import data of several gases and to define the detected gas. The implemented procedures indicate the influence of the interferents absorption spectra on the absorbance of the tested gas. This operation is particularly important for CEAS technique in which the main importance is to indicate characteristic absorption line. This provides high sensitivity and measurement selectivity. The developed software was tested for the identification of selected gases, called the disease biomarkers in the exhaled air. These tests were performed in the frame of the project ‘Sensormed’ taking into consideration the detection of nitrous oxide, methane and carbon monoxide^[2,3]. Correct operation of the SALAS was also defined by comparing the results of the absorption lines analysis for other gases to the results found in the literature.

The paper presents the results of numerical analyses of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) gas sensor based on WO₃ layer with a catalytic nanolayer of Pd. The changes of SAW velocity vs. the surface electrical conductivity of the sensing layer is a essence of sensors of this kind. The conductivity of the porous sensoric layer which is deposited on a piezoelectric waveguide depends on the profile of concentration of gaseous molecules diffused inside the sensing layer. The Knudsen’s model of gas diffusion was used. Results of numerical analysis of the effect of the gaseous CH₄ in air environment in the WO₃ sensoric layer have been shown. The results of numerical analysis allow to select conditions of the SAW sensor, including the morphology of the sensor layer, its thickness and operating temperature. Some numerical results were verified by means of experimental studies.

The paper presents the use of an artificial neural network in sensors application. The task is to determine the volume of the chamber. The tests were performed on a model of a chamber in a mechanical prosthetic heart. In the considered task the surface of the diaphragm is observed by a near-infrared band camera. The artificial neural network was used to determine the relationship between the real views of the diaphragm and stroke volume. The artificial neural network learning process and research results are presented in the article.

In this article there have been presented the use of boron-doped diamond films for sensor applications. The low-finesse Fabry-Pérot interferometer working in the reflective mode has been implemented. Two kinds of reflective layers have been elaborated: boron-doped diamond thin films and zinc-oxide (ZnO) layer. Thin ZnO layers were deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) on the face of a standard telecommunication single-mode optical fiber (SMF-28). Boron-doped diamond films were deposited using Microwave Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (μPE CVD) system. Measurements were performed for various lengths of the air cavity in the reflective mode. The cavity length was varied from 0 μm to 600 μm in increments of 50 μm. Representative measured spectra obtained with a cavity length of 100 μm. The preliminary investigation of elaborated the low-coherence interferometers Fabry-Pérot have shown their ability for their application in sensors applications.

The article presents results achieved during researching the distance measuring method belonging to Depth From Defocus techniques. The method has been developed to determining the shape of the flaccid membrane used in the Ventricular Assist Device (VAD). The shape is determined on the basis of distance measured between the CCD sensor plate of the camera and objects (markers) located on the flaccid membrane. The experiments were carried out using a stationary camera and circular markers with a diameter from 0,003m to 0,009 m. The goal of this paper is to present the influence of the size of the object (marker) on the distance range measured between the camera and diaphragm used in the pneumatic prosthetic heart.

This article presents results of research on an optical fiber current sensor with external conversion (OFCS-EC). The sensor setup presented in the scope of this paper was developed from the optical fiber magnetic field sensor. The OFCSEC works on the principle of Faraday effect. Therefore, the active element of the sensor was made of the reliable glass showing high Verdet constant. The sensor was characterized by its sensitivity in a optoelectronic current transformer setup for static magnetic field. Investigations presented in this paper are focused on checking, whether parameters of the OFCS-EC are stable during long term measurements. The results of those investigations have proven excellent stability of the proposed OFCS-EC.

Department of Microelectronics and Computer Science of Lodz University of Technology has long traditions and high expertise in field of design of electronic systems of various kinds and for several applications. DMCS has expertise in design of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) based and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) based analog, mixed-signal and digital system designs. DMCS design teams participated in numerous national and international scientific research programs and grants. A series of commercial contracts was also conducted in DMCS. Many of these works finished with introduction of new systems into scientific installations or putting new product into general markets. Several DMCS achievements have been successfully patented. Such extensive experience in connection with wide field of scientific activities, enabled application of DMCS capabilities to quite different and even unusual electronic system applications aimed at work in extreme environments.

Three precursors of graphite were employed to synthesise graphite oxides (GrO) that are now routinely obtained by the oxidation of a precursor graphite. These oxidation samples exhibit highly broadened D and G Raman bands which caused by the large amount of defects of graphene sheets. In addition, chemical oxidation results in the multiple peaks such as G*, D+D` and 2D`(in place of the conventional 2D band), which are activated by defects. The broad G band might also be deconvoluted in the actual G band and D` band, thereby attributing the broadening in G band. The band position and intensity ratio have also been demonstrated in the oxidized graphite.

A laboratory demonstrator of the optoelectronic sensor employing cavity enhanced spectroscopy has been designed to detect the trace amounts of carbon monoxide. High sensitivity of this sensor is provided by the use of optical cavity consisted of dielectric mirrors with extremely high reflectance. The instrument concept was taking into consideration the latest achievement of optoelectronic technology as a part of the ‘EDEN’ project, funded by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development. Preliminary tests using the sensor concept have shown that detection of carbon monoxide is possible using the developed devices. In this configuration, the sensor is characterized by high linear sensitivity in the concentration range of 10 ppb to 2.5 ppm.

The paper presents the principle of operation of the broad-band difference interferometer in the bimodal waveguide. In the planar bimodal waveguide modes fundamental TE₀ and TE₁ can be excited for the entire range visible light. During the propagation the difference of the phases between the modes is determined, which is the function of the length of the path of propagation, the difference of effective refractive index (N_TE0-N_TE1) and the optical wavelength. At the output of this system the spectral distribution of intensity is recorded, the shape of which depends on the value of the refractive index of the cover of the waveguides.

This paper presents tests of the active composite fence with razor tape module. Due to application of electro-magnetic and optical fiber sensors the fence becomes actively protected. This type of solution may be used to detect violations of peripheral areas [1]. Due to using composite materials the fence is lighter, cheaper and resistant to environmental conditions (including corrosion). What is the most important the composite fence system is transparent to electromagnetic waves. Another advantage of using composite material is the possibility of integration the fiber optic and electro-magnetic cable in the structure of the fence [2]. The durability of a composite is comparable to a standard metal fence. The paper presents test results of the sensors placed on the composite fence. This type of the fence system protection with alarm sensors integrated in its structure is unique in the world scale. Performed tests consisted of laboratory and field tests of modalmetric fiber optic sensor itself, laboratory and field tests of electro-magnetic sensor itself and field tests of both sensors combined. During the laboratory tests an electrodynamic shaker was used to excite the modalmetric sensor to an alarm state. Its excitation distance decreases with the frequency growth. The tests were made for different frequencies and different forces to imitate different fence violation e.g. climbing on it, cutting it or walking along it.

This article presents the single photon fiber optic sensor for detecting interferences of the transmission line. With the growing popularity of the use of fiber optic communication systems, there is a need to protect transmission lines against unauthorized interference and data interception. Classical Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) allows to transfer quantum key and interrupt transmission when it detects interference. The use of proven as safe protocols BB84 in conjunction with currently used encryption techniques provide better data safety. However, due to lack of evidence on the safety of transmission using commercial QKD systems, their apply to the protection of classified information is currently impossible. Support these assumptions are carried out so far successful attacks on QKD systems. These statements do not mean impossibility of implementing these systems for the protection of classified information in the future. Our team proposes a solution consisting in transmitting information in fiber optic track with simultaneous implementation of a single photon sensor, developmentally impaired with the location of the interference place. The greatest yield of this method is to detect the intruder, who is unaware of its detection. To optimize and accelerate the testing, a simulation program that allows you to adjust the operating parameters of the sensor system and verification of performance of laboratory systems has been developed. Execution of simulation, helps in the selection of appropriate elements of the actual configuration and in comparison to obtained results. This work contains the results of the test operation of the system for disorders of mechanical and manual as well as performed simulations.

This paper describes how parameters of investigated substances and the fiber-optic Fabry-Pérot sensing interferometer affect the spectrum of the optical radiation at the output of the sensor. First, the modeling of the operation of the sensing interferometer was conducted. Most important parameters and effects that were taken into account are: dependences of the refractive indices of the core and the cladding, as well the mode field diameter of a single mode fiber on the wavelength, changes in the parameters of an optical beam inside the interferometer caused by refractive index and the absorption of the medium inside the cavity, including the intensity of the beam, the beam diameter, the beam divergence, the curvature of the wavefront, and the phase shift caused by the Gouy effect. Impact of these parameters and effects on the spectrum of the optical radiation at the output of the sensor was subsequently investigated. Following, spectra from selected Fabry-Pérot optical sensors, applied to measurement of refractive index, were presented. Measurement results were compared with the spectra obtained by modeling.

This work is devoted to studying the dielectric/metal multilayer planar waveguide structure that is composed of a highrefractive index, single mode, silica-titania film deposited on a BK7 glass substrate. The waveguide film is loaded with a thin gold film, through a thin silica film. It is assumed that a semi-infinitive cover have the same refractive index as the water. There are presented and analyzed spectral characteristics of effective indexes of TM-polarized: dielectric and surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes. Analysis of these characteristics is aimed at finding conditions for exciting the dielectric TM₀ mode and two SPP modes: antisymmetric and symmetric. Assuming that excitation is done with a field distribution of the unloaded TM₀ mode carried in this structure if the gold film is not present. The analysis is carried for the gold film having thicknesses d_m=50 nm. It is shown, that conditions for matching effective indexes of the unloaded TM₀ mode and SPP modes are met in a broad range of silica film thickness. The presence of the silica film is indispensable for reduction of a refractive index difference between loaded and unloaded TM₀ modes. It is shown that a sensitivity of this structure toward a small change of the cover refractive index is inconsiderably dependent on silica film thickness for the antisymmetric SPP mode. On the contrary, a sensitivity of the symmetric SPP mode, whose refractive index undergoes a discontinuous change with respect to wavelength changes its sign in function of the buffer film thickness.

In this communication we present our results on characterization of selected liquid crystalline materials in terms of their optical properties and their prospective applications as waveguiding layers in the integrated optic systems. Specifically, LCs refractive indices, with their dependence on temperature and within specific spectral range, have been measured and reported. The measurements were performed with use of the wedge-cell method. This simple goniometric technique is particularly useful when applied for liquid crystalline materials characterized by high refractive indices, for which refractometric methods are approaching their upper limits. It is important that the method proposed here requires relatively small amount of liquid crystalline material and gives reasonable results even if the light sources from the wide spectral range are applied. Experimental data allows for chromatic dispersion curves to be obtained by the numerical fitting with use of the Cauchy model.

In this paper, a study of a low-coherence fiber optic displacement sensor is presented. The sensor consisted of a broadband source whose central wavelength was either at 1310 nm or 1550 nm, a sensing Fabry-Pérot interferometer operating in reflective mode and an optical spectrum analyzer acting as the detection setup. All these components were connected by a single-mode fiber coupler. Metrological parameters of the sensor were investigated for different lengths of the fiber connecting the sensing Fabry-Pérot interferometer (1 m and 10 m). For each length of the fiber, displacement in the range of 0 μm to 500 μm, in increments of 50 μm were measured. Obtained results indicate that the developed sensor is not sensitive to changes in attenuation in the optical path, thus enabling remote measurement of the displacement on long distances while maintaining a satisfactory accuracy.

On of the approach to the subject of security is the protection of transmission lines by sensing devices. But in this case protection is limited by detection properties of used sensors. Ideal solution providing completely safe transmission would be a combination of sensing signal with transmitted data. Unfortunately, pulse sensor solutions are not widely used in fiber optic protection. In this paper authors presents solution that can provide higher level of security in data transmission. Team of authors conducted a study on use of pulse interferometer system for transmission line protection and a combination of sensing signal with encoded transmitted data. Analysis of pulse interferometer properties in terms of information security and ability to readout of transmitted data. There is also consideration of using the sensor in areas other than transmission lines protection. Analysis of pulse interferometer properties in terms of information security and ability to readout of transmitted data. There is also consideration of using the sensor in areas other than transmission lines protection.

In the paper the planar waveguide based on SU-8 polymer were made on different substrates. As polymer layer Gerseltec SU8 GM1040 and Microchem SU8 2000.5 were used. By using Gerseltec SU8 GM1040 we obtained layer with thickness 950 nm which gave us planar waveguide bimodal structure for λ=633nm. By using Microchem SU8 2000.5 we obtained layer thickness 450 nm which gave us single mode waveguide structure for λ=633nm. As substrate we used 2μm of SiO₂ on Si and standard microscope glass (soda-lime glass). Additionally the authors performed measurements for characterization of optical and physical properties of obtained layers. We measured layer thickness by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and by ellipsometer. Ellipsometry measurement also gave us refractive indices of waveguide layer and substrate. We also performed measurement of effective refractive index and attenuation of waveguide layers. Additionally we performed SEM measurement for checking layers adhesion.

It has developed a simple fiber optic sensor that is used to detection and measure concentration of water vapour in the air. The operating principle of the sensor is discussed in this work, and it was noticed that the wavelength positions of the reflectance peaks change with the concentration of H₂O molecules. The sensor has been successfully used to monitor relative humidity of the air. The sensor utilizes a layered Fabry-Perot interferometric sensing structure. This structure was fabricated on the end of standard multi-mode fiber optic and includes Nafion® sensing film. The fiber optic hygrometer was tested for measurement of relative humidity in the range of 10-80% in air. SHT75 sensor (Sensirion Corp.) was used as reference sensor for control humidity level and temperature of gas mixture.