Electro-optic electric field sensor

What is it about?

Partow E-field sensor products uses electro-optic micro-ring resonators or Mach-Zehnder modulators made from lithium niobate thin films for sensing of electric fields. The sensors can achieve very high spatial resolution and can operated form near DC frequencies up to several THz. The readout system is based on a tunable laser and a detector. The sensor consists of the sensor element which is in a cylindrical housing and one fiber which is connected to a laser source and one or two additional fibers that will connect to detectors. The interrogation system includes the laser source and detector(s) and control circuits. The sensor operates at an eye safe wavelength of 1550nm. The sensor produces a voltage proportional to measurand electric field. An oscilloscope, digitizer board, lock in amplifier or spectrum analyzer instrument need to be connected to system output to measure the electric field.

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The sensor is made from all dielectric materials. Hence it does not perturb measurand electric field. Also, since fiber optic cables are used these sensors are immune to electromagnetic interference and can be used in highly noisy environment.