Reliable optical sensors engineering is a key transversal technology to support innovation and digitization in various application fields. They are potentially applicable in harsh context, thanks to their robustness to electromagnetic disturbances and the use of glasses make the systems resistant to chemical attach and usable on large temperature ranges.

The competencies of IFN are related to the fabrication and assessment of:

• mechanochromic sensors for chemical and mechanical sensing based on different photonic platforms: 1D photonic, photonic crystal fibers, direct and inverse opals.
• All-optical gas sensors fabricated with glass based thin films, Photonic bang gap structure, or photorefractive glass ceramic waveguides that allows for either local or distributed sensing.
• Flexible waveguides and photonic crystals for strain sensors with optical readout.
• Metallo dielectric photonic structures such as infiltrated artificial opal for sensing application.