Design and Application of Integrated Optics Sensor for Measurement of Intense Pulsed Electric Field

Integrated optical waveguide sensor has characteristics of good insulation, broadband response, small size, and large dielectric strength, which is appropriate for measurement of intensive pulsed electric field. Two types of integrated optics sensors using through and reflective type asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer are designed, fabricated, and implemented. Key parameters of the optical waveguide and antenna are theoretically analyzed and designed. The time domain response, input/output characteristics and frequency response of the sensors are investigated. The temperature stability is evaluated by measuring output power fluctuations of the sensors. Experiment results reveal that the sensitivity of the through type sensor is a little higher than that of the reflective type sensor, while the size (length) of the reflective type sensor is only half of the through type. Besides, as only a single optical fiber is coupled, it is convenient for the reflective type sensor to measure in very small space. Applications of the sensor for measurement of the lightning electromagnetic pulse, nuclear electromagnetic pulse, and pulsed radio frequency fields are demonstrated. The measurement results indicate that the developed integrated optics sensor has powerful potential and is expected to be widely used for measurement of intense pulsed electric fields.