Optical current monitor

Patent · 03 August 2021

OSTI ID:1840313

Laughlin, Daric Gray; Marchman, Christopher Scott

An optical current monitor for detecting a current traveling through conductive material. The optical current monitor comprises a light source for emitting light at an output level; a lens configured to receive the light; Faraday material positioned near the conductive material and configured to receive light that has passed through the lens, thereby producing rotated light; a polarizer configured to polarize the rotated light; a photodetector configured to receive the rotated light and output a signal as a function of the rotated light; and a feedback system. The feedback system is configured to receive the signal from the photodetector and modify the output level of the light source based on the signal so that the signal remains at a reference level when the current is not traveling through the conductive material.

• Research Organization: Kansas City Plant (KCP), Kansas City, MO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: NA0002839
• Assignee: Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, LLC (Kansas City, MO)
• Patent Number(s): 11,079,412
• Application Number: 16/244,317
• OSTI ID: 1840313
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English