Helical Fiber Interferometer Using Flame-Heated Treatment for Torsion Sensing Application

An interferometer using a single-mode fiber helix (SFH) was fabricated by the flame-heated treatment for torsion sensing application. For the first time to the best of our knowledge, this kind of interferometer was designed and experimentally demonstrated. By launching a linear polarized beam into the SFH, the interference was formed at the output of the structure because of the fiber bending-induced birefringence. Theoretical analysis shows that the geometrical change will bring a resonant dip wavelength shift when torsion is applied to the sensor part. Additionally, by adjusting the helix radius and pitch, the torsion sensitivity can be further optimized. From the experiment data, the torsion sensitivity reaches 1.691 nm·m /rad from -9.39 to 13.42 rad/m for the SFH with a radius of 0.89 mm and a pitch of 2.04 mm.

[1]  S. Rashleigh,et al.  Acoustic sensing with a single coiled monomode fiber. , 1980, Optics letters.

[2]  Linlin Xu,et al.  Semicircular fiber-based high-sensitivity displacement sensor. , 2013, Optics letters.

[3]  J. N. Ross.  The rotation of the polarization in low birefringence monomode optical fibres due to geometric effects , 1984 .

[4]  Cicero Martelli,et al.  Hydrostatic Pressure Sensing with High Birefringence Photonic Crystal Fibers , 2010, Sensors.

[5]  Dong Bo,et al.  Liquid-level sensor with a high-birefringence-fiber loop mirror. , 2006, Applied optics.

[6]  H. Tam,et al.  Pressure sensor realized with polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber-based Sagnac interferometer. , 2008, Applied optics.

[7]  Analytical Computation of the Electromagnetic Field Produced by an Optical Fiber Helix , 2009 .

[8]  Jens Kobelke,et al.  Temperature- and strain-independent torsion sensor using a fiber loop mirror based on suspended twin-core fiber. , 2010, Optics letters.

[9]  W. Eickhoff,et al.  Temperature sensing by mode-mode interference in birefringent optical fibers. , 1981, Optics letters.

[10]  W. Clarkson,et al.  Simple and reliable light launch from a conventional single-mode fiber into a helical-core fiber through an adiabatically tapered splice. , 2012, Optics express.

[11]  O. Frazao,et al.  Temperature-Independent Strain Sensor Based on a Hi-Bi Photonic Crystal Fiber Loop Mirror , 2007, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[12]  O. Frazão,et al.  Temperature independent torsion sensor using a high-birefringent Sagnac loop interferometer , 2012 .

[13]  S. Rashleigh,et al.  Bending-induced birefringence in single-mode fibers. , 1980, Optics letters.

[14]  Li Wang,et al.  Fiber torsion sensor based on a twist taper in polarization-maintaining fiber. , 2015, Optics express.

[15]  J K Sahu,et al.  Efficient single-mode operation of a cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped helical-core fiber laser. , 2006, Optics letters.

[16]  J.L. Santos,et al.  Fiber-Optic Interferometric Torsion Sensor Based on a Two-LP-Mode Operation in Birefringent Fiber , 2009, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.