Highly Sensitive Curvature Sensor Using an In-Fiber Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

A highly sensitive curvature sensor using an in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor has a simple configuration—a short section of single-mode fiber is sandwiched between two short sections of multimode fibers to achieve a compact in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The wavelength shift of selected dip in the Mach–Zehnder interference spectrum responds linearly with curvature and shows a high sensitivity up to <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${-}{\rm 14.40}{\pm}{\rm 0.02}~{\rm nm}^{\ast}{\rm m}$</tex></formula>.

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