Impact of Soil-Based Insulation on Ultrahigh-Resolution Fiber-Optic Interferometry

High resolution optical interferometry often requires thermal and acoustic insultation to reduce and remove environment-induced fluctuations. Broader applications of interferometric optical sensors in the future call for low-cost materials with both low thermal diffusivity and good soundproofing cap...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nabil Md Rakinul Hoque, Lingze Duan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-12-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/1/259
Description
Summary:High resolution optical interferometry often requires thermal and acoustic insultation to reduce and remove environment-induced fluctuations. Broader applications of interferometric optical sensors in the future call for low-cost materials with both low thermal diffusivity and good soundproofing capability. In this paper, we explore the feasibility and effectiveness of natural soil as an insulation material for ultrahigh-resolution fiber-optic interferometry. An insulation chamber surrounded by soil is constructed, and its impact on the noise reduction of a Mach-Zehnder Fabry-Perot hybrid fiber interferometer is evaluated. Our results indicate that soil can effectively reduce ambient noise across a broad frequency range. Moreover, compared to conventional insulation materials such as polyurethane foam, soil shows superior insulation performance at low frequencies and thereby affords better long-term stability. This work demonstrates the practicability of soil as a legitimate option of insulation material for precision optical experiments.
ISSN:1424-8220