Precision Optical Current Sensor

Optical current sensing has been in development for over a decade, and is beginning to grow in commercial popularity. Fiber optic current sensors developed at Honeywell, based on the Sagnac interferometer have demonstrated accuracy of better than 300 ppm over the temperature range -40 to +60 deg. C. This Technology has been made available to Precision Lightwave Instruments. In this program, we will build on this technology base, using the sensor architecture to realize a device that senses both rotation in inertial space and electrical currents flowing through a fiber optic sensing coil. By having a device that responds to both stimuli, we can tie the measurement of electrical current to the measurement of rotation. The final goal of this program is to construct a new optical current check standard for currents in the range 1 A to 10kA with uncertainties less than 10 ppm. The goals of phase 1 are to build, test, and deliver a prototype capable of achieving 100 ppm stability,and to complete error analysis and design modifications for a phase 2 build of a 10 ppm sensor.