A new kind of sensor under development in order to detect high energy X or gamma rays is presented. It is based on a inorganic scintillator optically coupled to a ribbon of fluorescent optical fibers.The basic configuration is first shortly described. Investigations on the principal properties of the fluorescent fibers used for the detector are then reported : the fiber attenuation, the influence of long term bending, the emission and excitation spectra, the radiation resistance tested by mean of a 60Co source and a 18MV linear accelerator, etc. .A detailed characterization of these fibers has been realized and complete experimental results are presented.

A new method is proposed for the measurement of an object position with a fluorescent optical fiber sensor having the structure of an optical potentiometer. A physical model is developed, showing how to combine different measurements to reject the influence of source intensity variations and other drifts also. Experimental results are presented, and good agreement with the model is obtained. Theoretical system resolution determination is also performed. Finally, comments are made about using the configuration in fiber optic sensor networks.

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