Fiber Optic O₂ Meter

The measurement principle of the sensor system is based on the detection of oxygen concentration as a function of luminescence lifetime, either in dissolved or gaseous phase environments.

• Oxygen is not consumed during the experiment
• Immune to electrical and magnetic interference
• Excellent long-term stability
• No lengthy polarization necessary (like Clark-type O₂ electrodes)
• Fast response time <0.5 s for microTip sensors
• Probe size of MicroTip sensors as small as 50 µm
• Measurement is feasible in dry gas
• Optical isolation of sensor tip available for fluorescent or photosynthetically active samples
• The sensors are not included within the system

Benefits: Unaffected by light source stability and intensity fluctuations, because it is based on luminescence lifetime detections, compact, portable meters may be used inside or outside.

Applications: Process control like bottling plant in breweries and quality control of packages (OxyMini), biotechnology like control of cell culture media and non-invasive control of bioreactors (OxyMini), implantation of oxygen sensors into soil and trees (OxyMini), oxygen profiles of marine sediment, soils, or tissue (OxyMicro), implantation in living tissue like heart or muscle tissue (OxyMicro), control of cell culture media in Biotechnology (OxyMicro).

Conventional fiberoptic oxygen sensor systems based on intensity measurements are limited in their accuracy by light source stability and ambient light fluctuations. Using a luminescence lifetime detection, measurements are not affected by light source stability, intensity fluctuations caused by fiber bending or changes of the optical properties of the sample (turbidity, refractive index, coloration, etc.).

Calibration: The sensors can be calibrated by a simple two point calibration, 100% air-saturation and 0% air saturation.

The OxiMini and OxyMicro fiber optic oxygen meters are compact, easy to transport. Designed for in/outdoor use, they can be connected to a PC via a RS232 interface. Data can be visualized, analyzed and stored with supplied software. A full range of sensors are available.

The OxyMini is a one channel fiber optic O₂ meter for fiber optic O₂ minisensors. These sensors are based on 2 mm polymer optical fibers and have a length of 2.5 m.