Sensitivity-enhanced fiber strain sensing system based on microwave frequency scanning with the Vernier effect

Abstract A sensitivity enhanced fiber-optic strain sensing system based on microwave frequency scanning is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The strain sensor consists of two cascaded fiber rings which are composed of just standard single-mode fibers. Since the two fiber rings are set to have almost same free spectra ranges, Vernier effect is generated in the transmission spectrum. The experimental results show that the strain sensitivity has been improved over 20 times higher than that of a single fiber ring. Moreover, owing to the high speed and small frequency resolution of the microwave frequency scanning in our system, micro-strain can be fast detected within several milliseconds with nano-strain resolution, which is hard for using a traditional grating-based optical spectrum analyzer.

[1]  Xudong Fan,et al.  On the performance quantification of resonant refractive index sensors. , 2008, Optics express.

[2]  Polarization-based fast-swept optical spectrum analyzer , 2009, 2009 Conference on Optical Fiber Communication - incudes post deadline papers.

[3]  Hwa-Yaw Tam,et al.  A strain sensor based on in-line fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer in twin-core photonic crystal fiber , 2013 .

[4]  Peer Fischer,et al.  Ring-resonator-based frequency-domain optical activity measurements of a chiral liquid. , 2006, Optics letters.

[5]  P. Bienstman,et al.  Improving the detection limit of conformational analysis by utilizing a dual polarization Vernier cascade. , 2016, Optics express.

[6]  Tiegen Liu,et al.  Temperature Self-Compensation High-Resolution Refractive Index Sensor Based on Fiber Ring Laser , 2017, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[7]  Vittoria Finazzi,et al.  Temperature-insensitive photonic crystal fiber interferometer for absolute strain sensing , 2007 .

[8]  Zhenfeng Gong,et al.  Fiber Ring Laser-Based Displacement Sensor , 2016, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[9]  M.S. Demokan,et al.  Temperature-insensitive Interferometer using a highly birefringent photonic Crystal fiber loop mirror , 2004, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[10]  Do-Hyun Kim,et al.  Sagnac loop interferometer based on polarization maintaining photonic crystal fiber with reduced temperature sensitivity. , 2004, Optics express.

[11]  Jun Chang,et al.  Fiber-ring laser-based intracavity photoacoustic spectroscopy for trace gas sensing. , 2017, Optics letters.

[12]  Yuan Luo,et al.  Sensitivity-enhanced temperature sensor with cascaded fiber optic Sagnac interferometers based on Vernier-effect , 2015 .

[13]  A. Willner,et al.  Real-time optical spectrum analysis of a light source using a polarimeter. , 2008, Optics express.

[14]  Xuekun Bai,et al.  Strain Sensor Based on Fiber Ring Cavity Laser With Photonic Crystal Fiber In-Line Mach–Zehnder Interferometer , 2014, IEEE Photonics Journal.

[15]  Sailing He,et al.  Temperature Compensated Strain Sensor Based on Cascaded Sagnac Interferometers and All-Solid Birefringent Hybrid Photonic Crystal Fibers , 2012, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[16]  Songnian Fu,et al.  Cascaded fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometers with Vernier effect for highly sensitive measurement of axial strain and magnetic field. , 2014, Optics express.

[17]  Jianquan Yao,et al.  Fiber Ring Laser Temperature Sensor Based on Liquid-Filled Photonic Crystal Fiber , 2017, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[18]  H. Fu,et al.  Sensitivity enhanced fiber sensor based on a fiber ring microwave photonic filter with the Vernier effect. , 2017, Optics express.

[19]  Mingran Quan,et al.  Ultra-high sensitivity Fabry-Perot interferometer gas refractive index fiber sensor based on photonic crystal fiber and Vernier effect. , 2015, Optics letters.