Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Exposure of an Electro-optic System to External Magnetic Field (Case Study: The Input Laser and the Output Detector Are Separately and Concurrently Exposed)

This research was conducted with the aim to compare the difference in the electro-optical system’s output signal when the laser and photo detector in the system are concurrently exposed to the magnetic field relative to those transducers individually subjected to the field. To demonstrate the difference in the effect, an experimental setup was prepared in the laboratory using a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) and a PIN photo detector. Then experiments were carried out by applying a stationary magnetic field with an amplitude of (0–1000 mT) in parallel (B┴n) and perpendicular (B//n) to the active region of the input laser and output photo detector at around room temperature (20 °C), and the output is measured and logged at different magnetic field strength while the laser and photo detector are individually as well as simultaneously subjected to the field. The results measured when the laser and photo detector are concurrently exposed to the magnetic field compared with the result measured when both transducers are independently exposed. Our experimental results showed that for B//n alignment to the VCSEL, the output voltage increased by 6.8%, but for B┴n, no change in output voltage was observed. Regarding the PIN photo detector, for both B//n and B┴n alignment of the magnetic field, an output voltage increased by 6.7% and 13%, respectively. Overall, when both VCSEL and PIN photo detector are simultaneously exposed to the field, the output voltage increased by 71%.