Fused Optical Railgun Diagnostic Sensor

To address the Navy need for wide-bandwidth sensors capable of measuring magnetic/electric/temperature fields and assess the equipment health of an electromagnetic launcher, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Fused Optical Railgun Diagnostic (FORD) Sensor based on the novel sensor fusion technique using three fiber optic sensors. The proposed technique uniquely integrates electro-optic sensing elements with polarization-maintaining optical fibers, which will enable the FORD sensor system to simultaneously measure magnetic fields (as high as 30 Tesla), electric fields, and temperature with the bandwidth of at least 1 MHz. The sensoring heads are based on optical transducer design using rugged materials, which allows operation at high temperatures of up to 300 degrees celsius, and will allow fabrication of an all-optical magnetic sensor immune to the electromagnetic interference. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the FORD sensor technology by designing, analyzing performance, and building a breadboard prototype which will survive static magnetic fields of 30 Tesla and temperature of 300 degrees celsius. In Phase II, POC plans to fabricate a rugged, stand-alone, FORD sensor prototype system with electronics and data acquisition to be tested in transient environment similar to the railgun.