Strain Sensor Based on Fiber Ring Cavity Laser With Photonic Crystal Fiber In-Line Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

We experimentally demonstrated a strain sensor based on fiber ring cavity laser with a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) in-line Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) structure, which is used as an optical band-pass filter and acts as the strain sensing component. The fiber ring cavity laser plays the role of enhancing the visibility of the resonant spectrum and narrowing the corresponding 3-dB bandwidth, thus improving the comprehensive sensing performance. The induced axial strain on the structure is measured by monitoring the central wavelengths of the laser output. A high strain sensing sensitivity of 2.1 pm/με is successfully achieved in the linear strain range of 0-2100 με. A parameter Q value describing the overall sensing performance is introduced by including the strain sensing sensitivity, sensing sensitivity relative to 3-dB bandwidth of the resonant spectrum and the corresponding visibility. Comparing with the reported strain measurements based on a PCF in-line MZI structure, the experimental results based on fiber ring cavity laser sensor present more than nine times larger Q value.

[1]  S. Selleri,et al.  Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Backscattered Intensity Using Ferrofluid , 2013, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[2]  Peiguang Yan,et al.  Temperature and index insensitive strain sensor based on a photonic crystal fiber in line Mach–Zehnder interferometer , 2013 .

[3]  Ning Wang,et al.  Magnetic field sensing based on singlemode-multimode-singlemode fiber structures using magnetic fluids as cladding. , 2013, Optics letters.

[4]  Byeong Ha Lee,et al.  Photonic crystal fiber interferometer composed of a long period fiber grating and one point collapsing of air holes. , 2008, Optics letters.

[5]  Yong Zhao,et al.  Fiber optic SPR sensor for liquid concentration measurement , 2014 .

[6]  J. Meunier,et al.  Strain and Temperature Sensing Characteristics of Single-Mode–Multimode–Single-Mode Structures , 2009, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[7]  H. Choi,et al.  All-fiber Mach-Zehnder type interferometers formed in photonic crystal fiber. , 2007, Optics express.

[8]  Liang Gao,et al.  Multimode fiber laser for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature based on beat frequency demodulation. , 2012, Optics express.

[9]  Xinyong Dong,et al.  An Optical Fiber Curvature Sensor Based on Two Peanut-Shape Structures Modal Interferometer , 2014, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[10]  Bo Dong,et al.  Temperature Insensitive All-Fiber Compact Polarization-Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fiber Based Interferometer and Its Applications in Fiber Sensors , 2010, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[11]  Yan Liu,et al.  A Static Axial Strain Fiber Ring Cavity Laser Sensor Based on Multi-Modal Interference , 2013, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[12]  Young-Geun Han,et al.  Simultaneous Measurement of Strain and Temperature by Using a Micro-Tapered Fiber Grating , 2012, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[13]  Shengchun Liu,et al.  Multilongitudinal mode fiber laser for strain measurement. , 2010, Optics letters.

[14]  Q. Han,et al.  Fiber ring laser interrogated zeolite-coated singlemode-multimode-singlemode structure for trace chemical detection. , 2012, Optics letters.

[15]  C. Liao,et al.  Simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature by employing fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer. , 2014, Optics express.

[16]  Stephen C Warren-Smith,et al.  Exposed core microstructured optical fiber Bragg gratings: refractive index sensing. , 2014, Optics express.

[17]  P. De Natale,et al.  Localized strain sensing with fiber Bragg-grating ring cavities. , 2013, Optics express.

[18]  Tao Wei,et al.  Polymer optical fiber for large strain measurement based on multimode interference. , 2012, Optics letters.

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

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

[21]  Gang-Ding Peng,et al.  Highly sensitive force sensor based on optical microfiber asymmetrical Fabry-Perot interferometer. , 2014, Optics express.

[22]  Yuliya Semenova,et al.  Strain sensor based on a pair of single-mode-multimode-single-mode fiber structures in a ratiometric power measurement scheme. , 2010, Applied optics.

[23]  G. Farrell,et al.  All-fiber multimode-interference-based refractometer sensor: proposal and design. , 2006, Optics letters.

[24]  B. Eggleton,et al.  Chalcogenide fiber-based distributed temperature sensor with sub-centimeter spatial resolution and enhanced accuracy. , 2014, Optics express.

[25]  Youngjoo Chung,et al.  High temperature fiber sensor with high sensitivity based on core diameter mismatch. , 2008, Optics express.

[26]  P. Russell,et al.  Measuring mechanical strain and twist using helical photonic crystal fiber. , 2013, Optics letters.

[27]  C. Liao,et al.  Microfiber in-line Mach-Zehnder interferometer for strain sensing. , 2013, Optics letters.