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DSTO - AIP Physics Scholarships

After completing a double honours Bachelors degree in Physics and Mathematics and a Masters degree in Optoelectronics in Ireland, Claire moved to Australia and gained a PhD from Swinburne University.

UV Laser & Bragg Gating writing station, with Dr Alex Mazzolini (Swinburne), Dr Claire Davis (DSTO), Dr Paul Stoddart (Swinburne), Dr Scott Wade (Monash), Dr. Steve Galea (DSTO).

Her PhD work involved the development of an optical fibre sensor for non-invasive monitoring of artificially ventilated neonates in conjunction with the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Following on from her PhD work, she spent three years working as a post-doctoral scientist developing non-destructive optical sensing techniques for a variety of applications. 

"In April 2002 I joined DSTO as a Research Scientist working in the Smart Structures and Advanced Diagnostics group within AVD. The main focus of my work here is to explore new optical fibre based prognostic health monitoring techniques for improved structural management of defence platforms. This work draws on many aspects of physical science including electromagnetic wave theory, optoelectronics, materials science, mechanics and thermodynamics.

"I am currently working on three main research programs; the development of methodologies for strain and temperature profiling of large structures, in-situ health monitoring of composites and techniques for distributed fibre–optic corrosion sensing.

"The first two programs of work utilise Bragg grating sensing technology. A Bragg grating consists of a length of periodically changing refractive index written onto the core of a single-mode optical fibre by an ultraviolet laser. The Bragg grating is designed to reflect only a narrow band of wavelengths propagating in the fibre. The central peak of this band of wavelengths is determined by the period of the index variations. Changes in axial strain or temperature along the fibre will change the period of the index modulation and result in a shift of the reflected Bragg centre wavelength. By monitoring the shift of this reflected wavelength the temperature or strain at the grating can be measured. It is possible to write several hundred gratings with discrete Bragg wavelengths along a single fibre to provide a distributed strain or temperature profile along the length of the fibre.  Optical fibres have the advantage that they are extremely lightweight, durable and typically only about the same thickness as a human hair which makes them easy to embed within composite structures for in-situ strain and temperature monitoring.

"The final program of work is the development of fibre optic fluorescence based sensors. The physical principle behind these sensors is that the evanescent field of light in an optical fibre will interact with the surrounding environment. If the optical fibre is coated with a material that will fluoresce in the presence of a corrosion initiator or by-product then the fibre can be used to collect this fluorescence which will serve as an indicator of the level of a particular contaminant."