This paper describes a planar Doppler velocimetry (PDV) technique that is capable of measuring the three, instantaneous and time average components of velocity over two spatial dimensions using a single pair of signal and reference cameras. The three views required to obtain three-component velocity information are guided from the collection optics to a single imaging plane using flexible fibre imaging bundles. These are made up of a coherent array of single fibres and are combined at one end as the input plane to the measurement head. Measurements of the velocity field of a rotating disk are used in the development of the technique and initial results of the instantaneous velocity field of a jet are presented.

This paper describes the development of a Mach-Zehnder interferometric filter based planar Doppler velocimetry (MZI-PDV) flow measurement technique. The technique uses an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) to convert Doppler frequency shifts into intensity variations. The free spectral range of the interferometric filter can be selected by adjusting the optical path difference of the MZI. This allows the velocity measurement range and resolution to be varied. In contrast to molecular filter based PDV any laser source with single-frequency operation and a narrow linewidth can be used as the requirement for a suitable absorption line is no longer necessary. The processing methods used to extract the velocity information are described and discussed. The construction of a MZI-PDV system that incorporates a phase-locking system designed to stabilize the filter is described and example measurements made on the velocity field of a rotating disc and an axis-symmetric air jet are presented.

A planar Doppler velocimetry (PDV) system has been designed which is able to generate two beams from a single source separated in frequency by 690 MHz. This allows a common-path imaging head to be constructed, using a single imaging camera instead of the usual camera pair. Both illumination beams can be derived from a single laser and a set of acousto-optic modulators used to affect the frequency shifts. One illumination frequency lies on an absorption line of gaseous iodine, and the other in a region of zero absorption. The beams sequentially illuminate a plane within a seeded flow and Doppler-shifted scattered light passes through an iodine vapor cell onto the camera. The reference beam that lies in a zero absorption region is unaffected by passage through the cell, and provides a reference image. The signal beam, the frequency of which coincides with an absorption line, encodes the velocity information as a variation in transmission dependent upon the Doppler shift. Images of the flow under both illumination frequencies are formed on the same camera, ensuring registration of the reference and signal images. This removes a major problem of a two-camera imaging head, and cost efficiency is also improved by the simplification of the system. The dual illumination technique has been shown to operate successfully with a spinning disc as a test object and is currently achieving a velocity resolution of about +/−2 ms−1, limited by the quality of the light sheet generated from the multimode fiber. Automatic superposition of the signal and reference images is achieved, and polarization errors caused by the beam splitter in the conventional system are eliminated. Measurements have also been made on an axisymmetric air jet, seeded with a commercial smoke generator, which has maximum velocities of ∼100 ms−1. A comparison with data obtained simultaneously, using a conventional two camera PDV arrangement has been made and the difference between the measurements found to be within a few m/s.

Fiber imaging bundles have been investigated for use in endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems, to obviate the requirement for scanning components within the endoscope probe section. Images have been acquired using several optical configurations, two of which are common path in design. Configurations have been selected as having potential for miniaturization and inclusion in endoscopic-type systems, since the advantages of employing imaging bundles are most clearly seen in this type of system. The various types of bundle available are described, and the properties of the leached bundles used here are discussed in detail, with reference to their effect upon the performance of OCT systems. Images are displayed from measurements made on a range of samples.

Several optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems are proposed using optical-fibre components and based around Fizeau sensing interferometers. The theoretical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is calculated for each of the proposed configurations, using a constant set of assumed values for illumination and detection parameters. The SNR values obtained are compared with values calculated for typical existing configurations based around Michelson interferometers. Fizeau-based systems incorporating a secondary processing interferometer offer the advantage over current interferometer configurations of down-lead insensitivity, which prevents signal fading and reduces thermal fringe drift. The most basic form of the Fizeau system makes inefficient use of optical power, and has a low SNR compared with the widely used Michelson configuration. However, the results of the analysis described in this paper show that the SNR for more sophisticated Fizeau configurations, incorporating optical circulators and balanced detection systems, can be as high as the value for the most sensitive existing fibre-based OCT systems. Fizeau configurations therefore offer the combined advantages of optimized SNR and down-lead insensitivity, indicating their suitability for use in relatively poorly controlled environments such as in-vivo measurements.