Polarimetry, as applied to chemical analysis, deals with the
determination of the extent and direction that an optically
active chemical species will rotate incident linearly
polarized light. Although well developed for physical
sensing, the technique of fiber optic polarimetry for
chemical sensing remains in its infancy. This thesis is
concerned with the design and development of an optical fiber
polarimeter which measures the optical rotation of linearly
polarized light that occurs in a sensing region between two
multi-mode optical fibers. Over short distances, the
polarization preserving capabilities of large-core multi-mode
optical fibers were investigated. Polarimetric analyses were
performed using sucrose and quinine hydrochloride. The
instrument has a resolution of O.O8·, and is an excellent
platform for an LC or FIA detector. Its more intriguing
future lies in evanescent field sensor applications and
studies of chiroptical surface interactions.
next to an author's name indicates that all files or directories associated with their ETD are accessible from the Virginia Tech campus network only.
![[VT]](http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/images/ETD-db/restricted.gif)
