Materials Discovery for High Temperature Sensors

During Phase I, Lambda Instruments proposes to extend these initial sapphire optical fiber sensor demonstrations to single-crystal, yttria-stabilized zirconia (Y203-ZrO2). While already demonstrated sapphire optical fiber-based sensors can withstand temperatures as high as 3600 ºF, stabilized zirconia-based sensors offer the possibility of implementing sensors in corrosive environments at temperatures as high as 4700 ºF. Lambda has assembled a highly-qualified development team consisting of combustion engineers, material scientists, and business specialists within Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) and Pratt & Whitney (East Hartford, CT) who were carefully chosen to complement Lambda's strong in-house optoelectronic sensor capabilities. The development team proposes to perform an ambitious but achievable Phase I feasibility study designed with an appropriate balance of scientific innovation and break-through engineering. Scientific innovation will be required for the in-house fabrication of stabilized-zirconia waveguides which are currently not commercially available anywhere in the world. To balance the technical risk inherent in transforming raw cubic zirconia into high-quality, micrometer-scale optical waveguides, we propose a parallel effort during Phase I to study techniques for packaging optical-quality, commercially-available sapphire optical fibers into a functional sensor arrangement for measurement of strain, temperature, and pressure.