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We carry out a detailed analysis of angle-sensitive devices based on the critical-angle effect. We consider their use in measuring small angular deflections of a laser beam. We establish the diffraction limit to the sensitivity for optical-angle sensors based on reflection and transmission of a laser beam. We find that this limit is identical to that of the triangulation scheme when using a position-sensitive detector or the autocollimation scheme. We analyze the main proposals to date of optical-angle sensors based on the critical-angle effect, focusing on their maximum sensitivity and their polarization dependence in practical conditions. We propose and analyze theoretically a novel and simple angle-sensitive device for sensing optical-beam deflections with very low polarization dependence and a maximum sensitivity close to the diffraction limit when used with typical laser beams. We discuss the basic principles for designing this type of device, provide numerical results, and point out a convenient fabrication procedure.

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We propose and study a novel optoelectronic device for thermal characterization of materials. It is based on monitoring the photothermal deflection of a laser beam within a slab of a thermo-optic material in thermal contact with the sample under study. An optical angle sensor is used to measure the laser deflection providing a simple and experimental arrangement. We demonstrate its principle and a simple procedure to measure thermal effusivity of liquids. The proposed device could be implemented into a compact sensor head for remote measurements using electrical and fiber optic links.

Abstract.A novel cantilever-type fiber Bragg grating (FBG) mechanical vibration sensor has been proposed with an excellent sensitivity through the use of the mechanical axial property of a suspended optical fiber with two fixed ends, enhancing the sensitivity and the resonant frequency. The experimental results show a resolution of 0.006 (where represents the gravitational acceleration of 1 9.81 m/s 2 ), a resonant frequency of 227.3 Hz and a working bandwidth range of 10-210 Hz. The linearity and relative sensitivity errors are 1.9 % and ±4.4 %, respectively.