Simultaneous Measurement of Refractive Index and Temperature Based on Modal Interference

A simple optical fiber sensor configuration for simultaneous measurement of refractive index (RI) and temperature based on modal interference is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensing configuration is formed by splicing two multimode fibers among three single mode fibers. Due to the different sensitivity responses of the two wavelength transmission dips formed by the cladding modes interfering with the core mode, it is possible to measure the RI and temperature by monitoring the wavelength shifts of the two transmission dips. The experimental results indicate that the sensing sensitivities of RI and temperature are -37.9322 nm/RIU and 0.0522 nm/°C within the RI range from 1.3105 to 1.3517 and the temperature range from 25°C to 85°C, respectively. The proposed sensor configuration features the advantages of easy to fabricate, robust, cost effective, and high sensitivity, making it exhibit potential applications in physical, biological, and chemical sensing.

[1]  Perry Ping Shum,et al.  Power-referenced refractometer with tilted fiber Bragg grating cascaded by chirped grating , 2014 .

[2]  Zhaobing Tian,et al.  Refractive Index Sensing With Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Based on Concatenating Two Single-Mode Fiber Tapers , 2008, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[3]  S. Campopiano,et al.  Nonuniform thinned fiber Bragg gratings for simultaneous refractive index and temperature measurements , 2005, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[4]  Jia-Rong Zhao,et al.  A Fresnel-reflection-based fiber sensor for simultaneous measurement of liquid concentration and temperature , 2009 .

[5]  Di Wu,et al.  Refractive index sensing based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer formed by three cascaded single-mode fiber tapers , 2011, International Conference on Optical Fibre Sensors.

[6]  Rajan Jha,et al.  Ultrastable in reflection photonic crystal fiber modal interferometer for accurate refractive index sensing , 2008 .

[7]  Xiaoyi Bao,et al.  Application of spectrum differential integration method in an in-line fiber Mach-Zehnder refractive index sensor. , 2010, Optics express.

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

[9]  Ruohui Wang,et al.  Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Based on a Sandwich Fiber Structure for Refractive Index Measurement , 2012, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[10]  Rajan Jha,et al.  Refractometry based on a photonic crystal fiber interferometer. , 2009, Optics letters.

[11]  Di Wu,et al.  All Single-Mode Fiber Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Based on Two Peanut-Shape Structures , 2012, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[12]  Xu Guang Huang,et al.  Fresnel-reflection-based fiber sensor for on-line measurement of solute concentration in solutions , 2007 .

[13]  Deming Liu,et al.  Simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature using thinned fiber based Mach–Zehnder interferometer , 2012 .

[14]  Qiang Wu,et al.  High sensitivity SMS fiber structure based refractometer--analysis and experiment. , 2011, Optics express.

[15]  Chunhua Tan,et al.  Fiber Bragg grating-based fiber sensor for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature , 2010 .

[16]  A. Zhang,et al.  Fiber-optic refractive-index sensors based on transmissive and reflective thin-core fiber modal interferometers , 2010 .

[17]  Chongxiu Yu,et al.  Fiber refractometer based on a fiber Bragg grating and single-mode-multimode-single-mode fiber structure. , 2011, Optics letters.

[18]  Lecheng Li,et al.  In-line fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature based on thinned fiber , 2012 .

[19]  Y Wang,et al.  Fiber In-Line Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Embedded in FBG for Simultaneous Refractive Index and Temperature Measurement , 2010, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[20]  Shecheng Gao,et al.  Long-Period Fiber Grating Cascaded to an S Fiber Taper for Simultaneous Measurement of Temperature and Refractive Index , 2013, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[21]  Lecheng Li,et al.  All-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometers for sensing applications. , 2012, Optics express.

[22]  Tao Wei,et al.  Long-Period Grating Inscribed on Concatenated Double-Clad and Single-Clad Fiber for Simultaneous Measurement of Temperature and Refractive Index , 2012, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[23]  C. C. Chan,et al.  Power-Referenced Optical Fiber Refractometer Based on a Hybrid Fiber Grating , 2011, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[24]  Sailing He,et al.  Simultaneous Measurement of Refractive Index and Temperature by Using Dual Long-Period Gratings With an Etching Process , 2007, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[25]  Chi Chiu Chan,et al.  Miniature refractometer based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer with waist-enlarged fusion bitaper , 2013 .

[26]  Sumei Wang,et al.  Ultra-Abrupt Tapered Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors , 2011, Sensors.

[27]  Deming Liu,et al.  A compact all fiber refractive index sensor based on modal interference , 2012, 2012 IEEE Sensors.

[28]  K. Sooley,et al.  Tapered fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature , 2009 .

[29]  Perry Ping Shum,et al.  Humidity Sensor With a PVA-Coated Photonic Crystal Fiber Interferometer , 2013, IEEE Sensors Journal.