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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how electronic components can be utilized and integrated into polymeric optical fibre (POF) textiles to refine the design aesthetic, tactile quality and initiate the interaction of textiles with the users; and to study the design process of interactive products by using a novel design process model.

Fashion and textile design methods, textile technology are used in combination with modern technologies such as laser engraving, sensing, short-distance communication technology, throughout the entire process of development of interactive photonics creations.

The results of evaluation indicate that the engineered prototypes can enhance the interactive function of interior furnishing. The usability of interactive POF cushions is optimized by innovative design methods considering both design and technology.

This research explores to combine knowledge from different disciplines, including textile, electronics, sensor and laser to create interactive soft furnishings. The inter-disciplinary research provides a new perspective on how POF fabric can be utilized as a new media to change the way people interact with their living surroundings. The interior soft furnishings are no longer unresponsive to people, but can react to them, adapt to their behaviors, change color according to their preferences and therefore merge into our daily life. The developed prototypes reshape interior soft furnishing, and therefore have both theoretical and practical significance.

The aim of this paper is to show the effectiveness of the finite element method (FEM) to study the properties of different kinds of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), presenting results which highlight the FEM flexibility, exploited according to the particular PCF feature under investigation.

The FEM has been applied to a new emerging class of optical fibers, the so‐called PCFs, also known as microstructured or holey fibers.

It has been shown how to design and customize the PCF cross‐section to achieve desired values of dispersion, confinement loss, nonlinear or amplification properties. Reported examples prove the FEM ability to deal with complex geometries, arbitrary refractive index steps and distribution, and to be integrated with other approaches for a better and accurate analysis of the considered fiber.

Limitation in the FEM use can be given by the required computation effort in terms of memory occupancy and time, even if computational power of modern workstations can attenuate this aspect.

The FEM can be a very powerful tool to investigate and design actual structures to be used in several fields, as telecom, sensing, fiber lasers, spectroscopy.

The novelty of the paper is given by the exploitation of the FEM feature to design a new emerging class of optical fibers, considering all numerical aspects given by the unusual characteristics of the domain and problem under investigation.

This paper investigates new technological devices to be utilised in future optical communications, by means of variational method (FEM) and multipole scattering approach (Rayleigh method). This last one provides interesting asymptotic results in the long‐wavelength limit. The so‐called photonic crystal fibres (PCF) possess radically different guiding properties due to photonic band gap guidance: removing a hole within a macro‐cell leads to a defect state within the gap. In the case of multi‐core PCF, the localised modes start talking to each other which possibly leads to a new generation of multiplexer/demultiplexers.

In this paper, we study a new class of optical fibers to be utilized in future optics and optoelectronics. These so‐called photonic band gap (PBG) waveguides can be classified into a fundamentally different way to all optical waveguides and possess radically different guiding properties due to PBG guidance, as opposed to guidance by total internal reflection.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of research performed at the Communications Research Centre Canada on sensing applications of femtosecond infrared laser‐inscribed Bragg gratings.

By using fibre Bragg gratings induced with ultrafast infrared radiation, inscription of high temperature stable sensors in standard and exotic optical waveguides is investigated for a variety of novel applications.

Generally, femtosecond laser‐induced gratings are effective sensors that can be applied in situations and environments where most fibre optic sensors are not effective.

The paper is a review of existing work already published in the literature and provides an overview of this technology to the reader.

The purpose of this paper is to look at fibreoptic sensing techniques and applications.

The paper provides information on fibreoptic sensing technologies, instrumentation, advantages and applications.

Fibreoptic sensing, especially fibreoptic Bragg gratings, provide a highly effective means of monitoring internal changes in structural and other components that were previously impossible or very difficult to detect. Such systems are now approaching full commercialisation.

The paper provides a useful overview of how fibreoptic sensors work, and the advantages they provide when used in instrumentation applications ranging from compact devices to large and complex structures, where they may be structurally integrated.

The paper aims to provide a technical review of the application of quantum dot (QD) technology to sensors.

Following a brief introduction to QD technology, this paper considers recent research on QD‐based physical, chemical and gas sensors.

This shows that QDs are being exploited in a range of experimental sensors for detecting physical variables, notably radiant/electromagnetic quantities and temperature; chemical compounds, such as metals and many species of clinical interest; and a variety of gases and vapours. Prospects also exist to develop improved sources and detectors for use in optical gas sensors.

The paper does not consider biomedical uses of QDs such as cellular imaging, bioassays and biosensors.

This provides a detailed insight into recent research on physical, chemical and gas sensors based on QD technology.

This paper aims to review various techniques used in computational electromagnetism such as the treatment of open problems, helicoidal geometries and the design of arbitrarily shaped invisibility cloaks. This seemingly heterogeneous list is unified by the concept of geometrical transformation that leads to equivalent materials. The practical set‐up is conveniently effected via the finite element method.

The change of coordinates is completely encapsulated in the material properties.

The most significant examples are the simple 2D treatment of helicoidal geometries and the design of arbitrarily shaped invisibility cloaks.

The paper provides a unifying point of view, bridging several techniques in electromagnetism.

This study aims to address the issue of high-precision measurement of AC electric field. An electro-optical sensor with high sensitivity is proposed for this purpose.

The proposed sensor combines electromagnetic induction and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing techniques. It is composed of a sensing probe, a piece or stack of piezoelectric ceramics (PZT) and an FBG. A signal processing circuit is designed to rectify and amplify the induced voltage. The processed signal is applied to the PZT and the deformation of PZT is detected by FBG. Theoretical calculation and simulation are conducted to verify the working principle of the probe. The sensor prototype is fabricated and its performance is tested.

The results of this study show that the sensor has good linearity and repeatability. The sensor sensitivity is 0.061 pm/Vm⁻¹ in the range from 250 to 17,500 V/m, enabling a measurement resolution of electric field strength of 16.3 V/m. The PZT stack is used to enhance the sensor sensitivity and the resolution can be improved up to 3.15 V/m.

A flexure hinge lever mechanism is used to amplify the deformation of PZT for further enhancement of sensitivity. The results show that the proposed sensor has high sensitivity and can be used for the accurate measurement of an electric field. The proposed sensor could have potential use for electric field measurement in the power industry.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a technical review of recent nanosensor research.

This paper describes a number of nanosensor research themes and recent development activities, with an emphasis on work conducted or reported since 2006. It considers a range of emerging nanosensing technologies and two specific areas of application.

This paper shows that nanosensor technology is developing rapidly and is the subject of a global research effort. Technologies such as nano‐electromechanical system, nano‐opto‐electromechanical system, nanophotonics and the combination of nanotechnology with microtechnology offer prospects to yield sensors for a wide range of chemical, biochemical and physical variables in applications which include healthcare, defence and homeland security, environmental monitoring and light sensing and imaging.

This paper provides a technically detailed, up‐to‐date account of recent nanosensor research.