TITLE:
Small-Force Measurement by Photo-Elastic Transducer
AUTHORS:
Naceur-Eddine Khelifa
KEYWORDS:
Induced Birefringence; Photo-Elastic Effect; Solid-State Laser; Small Force Sensor; Sensor Sensitivity
JOURNAL NAME:
Optics and Photonics Journal,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: The use of stress-induced changes in a crystal of a
monolithic solid-state laser
by external force as a way for micro-force detection and measurement is
described. In fact, the application of an unknown force on the resonator-amplifier
crystal of a solid-state laser leads to a measurable change in the frequency of
the beat note associated with the orthogonal polarisation components of the
oscillating laser mode. Here we report our first measurements of the
sensitivity of a photo-elastic force sensor, realised with a monolithic (4 × 4) mm
plano-convex cylindrical crystal, and compare them with the results obtained by other authors
for different configurations and dimensions of the laser sensor. The reported results are in a good mutual agreement but show notable discrepancies with theoretical predictions,
especially for high sensitivities obtained when the dimensions
of the laser sensor are small.