Experimental Demonstration of Low-Uncertainty Calibration Methods for Bragg Grating Interrogators.

In this paper we propose and demonstrate two alternative methods for the high-precision calibration of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogators. The first method is based on the direct comparison between the wavelength measurements of the interrogator under test and a calibrated wavemeter, while analyzing a simulated symmetric Bragg grating constructed by a tunable filter and a fiber mirror. This first method is applicable to most commercial systems but presents an uncertainty limited by the spectral width and the wavelength stability of the tunable filter.

Synthesizing microcapsules with controlled geometrical and mechanical properties with microfluidic double emulsion technology.

Using lithography-based microfluidic technology, we produce monodisperse single-core microcapsules with UV-cured TPGDA (triprophylene glycol diacrylate) shells. We show that the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the microcapsules can be predicted on a quantitative basis and tuned by varying the flow conditions. Shell thicknesses are varied by changing the flow rates of the inner or intermediate phases, according to mass conservation constraint.