Optical fibers can be used as sensors to measure, , and other quantities by modifying a fiber so that the quantity to be measured modulates the,,, or transit time of light in the fiber. Sensors that vary the intensity of light are the simplest, since only a simple source and detector are required. Jose Miguel Lopez-Higuera: Handbook of Optical Fiber Sensing Technology, John Wiley & Sons, 2002. Due to its small size, low cost and ease of fabrication leading it to replace traditional sensors which were used frequently before th birth of fiber optic sensors. Further there are many points why fiber optic sensors are used in place of traditional size and. At the heart of this technology is the optical fiber itself -- a hair-thin cylindrical filament made of glass that is able to guide light through itself by confining it within regions having different optical indices of refraction.
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