Effects of linear birefringence inside sensing head upon bulk glass current sensors’ sensitivity

The effects of the linear birefringence inside a bulk glass current sensing element and the incident polarizing angle upon the performance of a bulk glass optical current sensor are derived and analyzed theoretically. The investigation results show that the linear birefringence will modify the scale factor of the system with a sample function; it can also affect the extent of the influence of the incident polarizing angle, at the same time. When the incident polarizing angle has some special values such as 0, 45, or 90, its effect on the system will be zero. These results might provide some useful reference to the researchers and designers of bulk glass optical current sensors.