The last decade has been of great significance for the development of slow light technology. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), coherent population oscillation (CPO), stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), soliton collision, and photonic crystal waveguides have been used to slow down the velocity of light. In this paper, some important theoretical and technical developments of slow light technology that occurred over the last decade are discussed. Novel technologies for slowing down the velocity of light and their primary applications are introduced in detail. In addition, the future developing trends of slow light and its potential applications, especially in optical fiber sensors, are also forecasted and proposed in this paper.

Based on near-infrared spectral absorption and fiber-optic sensor technology, an experimental setup for low-water-content measurement of crude oil is developed. The advantages of this method include fast measurement, high accuracy, keeping the measured oil free of pollution, and being suitable for long-term on-line continuous monitoring. This technology can be used for those applications that require high-quality water-in-oil measurement and process control. The measurement resolution for water content is better than 0.005% in the range from zero to 2% by volume. Measurement errors are estimated to be

A free active element bulk-modulus-based fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor for down-hole pressure and temperature measurement is presented. With a differential measurement method and an isosceles triangle cantilever structure, problems of cross-sensitivity and chirped-signal in FBG sensors are solved. Simulation results indicate that the measurement sensitivity in measuring pressure and temperature is estimated to be ～8. 5 pm/MPa in a range from standard atmosphere pressure to 100 MPa and～27.5 pm/℃ from 20 to 200℃, respectively.

High-pressure measurement is made by demodulating Bragg grating peak splitting caused by transverse stress differences in the core of a high-birefringence (HB) single-mode fiber, which is bonded on the exterior surface of a free active element bulk modulus. The two orthogonally polarized signals reflected from the HB fiber Bragg grating (FBG) can be independently detected with a simple FBG interrogation system, which is based on the light intensity measurement method. In addition, the cross-sensitivity of the FBG sensor can be self-compensated by this method. The measurement principle is introduced, and preliminary experimental results indicate that the measurement sensitivity is estimated to be～12 pm/N in a linear measurement range from 0 to 120 N.