Hysteresis and Viscoelastic Modeling of a Piezo-Optic Voltage Sensor

There is growing interest in sensor technology that is immune to electro-magnetic interference. By nature, development of this technology covers multiple physical domains including electronics, optics, mechanics and materials. This paper discusses development of a mathematical model to compensate for the hysteresis and viscoelastic effects of a piezo-optic voltage sensor. The sensor utilizes piezoelectric fibers with interdigitated electrodes coupled to an optical wave guide via a dielectric matrix. The unknown voltage energizes the piezoelectric fibers to deform fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) on the waveguide. Therefore, a measurable change in wavelength is related to the unknown voltage. The hysteresis model is based on Rayleigh’s Law of magnetization that is adapted for the coupled piezoelectric and optic response, and the viscoelastic model is based on the standard linear solid model using springs and dashpots in combination. Model results compare favorably with experimental results.