All-optical hydrophone insensitive to temperature and to static pressure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9103713-B2
Application number	US-201213642519-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 13, 2012
Priority date	Apr 14, 2011
Publication date	Aug 11, 2015
Grant date	Aug 11, 2015

Abstract

The invention consists of an optical hydrophone, an optical fiber element forming a laser cavity, housed in a mechanical structure which comprises an open cylindrical rigid body, defining the cavity enclosing a fluid and in which the optical fiber element is housed, and closed at its ends by two end caps which keep the optical fiber element permanently under tension, in a longitudinal rectilinear position inside the cavity. The end caps are configured in such a way that when the exterior pressure varies, they undergo a deformation giving rise to a variation in the length of the optical fiber element and that when the temperature varies, they undergo a deformation giving rise to a variation in the length of the optical fiber element which compensates for that induced on this element by the temperature variation. The mechanical structure furthermore exhibits one or more orifices allowing equilibration of the static pressures.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A optical hydrophone comprising:
an active optical fiber element with Bragg gratings inscribed in the active optical fiber element forming the laser cavity;
a mechanical structure forming a cavity filled with a fluid, and inside which the active optical fiber element is placed along a longitudinal axis of the cavity, the mechanical structure comprising:
a substantially cylindrical hollow rigid body forming the cavity inside which the optical fiber e…

Assignees

• Launay Francois-Xavier
• Doisy Martine
• Lardat Raphael
• Roux Gerard
• Thales Sa

Inventors

• Launay Francois-Xavier
• Doisy Martine
• Lardat Raphael
• Roux Gerard

Classifications

• G01V1/188

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01H9/004 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic