This is an article that appeared in The Australian about my brothers research, his supervisor, and the School of Chemistry & Physics’ Centre of Expertise in Photonics.
Defence sees the light in optic sensors
Verity Edwards
July 05, 2006
THE University of Adelaide’s Tanya Monro is dedicating her working life to bending light, and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation is sitting up and taking notice.
The professor of photonics in the school of chemistry and physics recently opened the Centre of Expertise in Photonics, enabling her team to develop fibre-optic technology to aid the DSTO and the defence industry.
The DSTO has provided a $400,000 grant for buildings and equipment.
“The vast majority of discoveries that have been made have been made in telecommunications,” Professor Monro told the HES.
“We’re focusing on applications beyond telecommunications to applications in defence and sensing to detect chemicals or explosives or biological molecules.“
Photonics allows the generation and control of light using glass fibre optics.
The centre is working to design, fabricate and develop a new class of optical fibres – soft glass microstructure fibres – that have significant benefits over the conventional silica-based optical fibres.
Professor Monro was recruited to Adelaide University last year after spending more than six years researching new classes of optical fibres at the University of Southampton in Britain. Working with a research group, Professor Monro is developing new fibres for laser-based infra-red countermeasures, which would allow aircraft to jam incoming missiles.
By using the soft glass microstructures, Professor Monro said it would be possible to transport the infra-red light efficiently within the aircraft, something that cannot be done with existing optical fibres.
“It basically confuses the target system of missiles,” she said. “Our contribution is to try to create fibre optics that transmit this type of light, that aren’t available commercially at the moment.“
Professor Monro’s team is also working on a range of sensing projects that involve new kinds of fibres that transmit light within air holes within the cables, rather than by the usual internal reflection within a glass tube.
“If a significant fraction of the light guided by the optical fibre is located within the air holes, it can interact with any material that is located in the holes,” she said.
“So if we fill the air holes within the cable with a sample of water containing bio-molecules, we can detect the biological material by its interaction with light.“
She said the defence industry could potentially use the soft glass fibre-optic sensors to monitor structures; for example, to detect faults in submarines or other craft.
The centre is part of a strategic alliance between Adelaide University and the DSTO, with additional support from the South Australian Government. In addition to the $400,000 initial grant, the centre will receive $400,000 a year for up to five years, plus research funding of up to $1 million.
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