Multicore photonic crystal fiber thermal sensors

A sensing configuration based on commercially available triple-core photonic crystal fibre (PCF) for the image based optical collection of thermal information is presented. Detection of thermal phenomena on the micro and nano scale is important for monitoring thermodynamic processes and cooling mechanisms for the microelectronic packaging industry. The thermal characteristics of the fiber combined with couple mode theory principles are used to construct and simultaneously measure heat flux and temperature with a three core PCF with a 1-D core arrangement for the first time. The PCF sensor demonstrated high detection sensitivity (<;1°C) and fast response times (<;30μs) which is a significant improvement to current commercial standards.