Technology Overview

Stratophase's technology is based on using light to perform the measurement, regardless of what the measurement type is. There are two components to any Stratophase system, a control unit and a measurement head.

So how does Stratophase's technology work?

Information is transmitted between the two components encoded within the wavelength of light (colour) — this information cannot be corrupted by external influences. The control unit emits broadband light down the optical fibre (the same as used for phone calls and broadband) towards the optical microchip sensor.

The sensor then reflects back very precise wavelengths of light that correspond to the measurement taken by the optical microchip sensor. Regardless of parameter to be measured, (e.g. refractive index, temperature or presence of e.coli) the measurement is encoded and transmitted back to the control unit as a colour of light. The control unit then tracks the wavelengths returned and converts this into measurement specific responses.

So how does the optical microchip sensor work?

Stratophase's optical microchip technology is all based on the concept of integrated optical circuits. These circuits are very small flat devices (millimetres square) that can route and channel light to different locations of the circuit according to a specific design. Once the light is at a specific location on the chip, it interacts with a very specific wavelength reflector. The reflectors (known as Bragg gratings) will reflect one wavelength of light and let all other wavelengths pass through unaffected. The wavelength of light reflected is defined at the manufacturing stage, allowing the specific colour of light to be correlated to an exact location on the chip.

The optical chip is designed such that changes on or around the reflector subtly change the reflected wavelength. By tracking the slight change of reflected light these changes can be correlated to a particular reflector element. Currently, the reflector element is designed to respond to either the temperature, or the refractive index of the liquid. The signals are transmitted using wavelengths of light, multiple reflectors can be located on a single chip, with all the signals travelling down a single optical fibre.

Does that make the optical microchip sensor expensive?

No! The sensor microchips are fabricated in-house using Stratophase's patented manufacturing process. The manufacturing technique combines state-of-the art optical techniques, with traditional computer controlled engineering to get the best of both worlds — a high accuracy, scalable and efficient production system.