Interferometric Fiber Optic Sensors
23 Feb 2012-Sensors (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI))-Vol. 12, Iss: 3, pp 2467-2486
TL;DR: Each type of interferometric sensor is reviewed in terms of operating principles, fabrication methods, and application fields and some specific examples of recently reported interferometeric sensor technologies are presented in detail to show their large potential in practical applications.
Abstract: Fiber optic interferometers to sense various physical parameters including temperature, strain, pressure, and refractive index have been widely investigated. They can be categorized into four types: Fabry-Perot, Mach-Zehnder, Michelson, and Sagnac. In this paper, each type of interferometric sensor is reviewed in terms of operating principles, fabrication methods, and application fields. Some specific examples of recently reported interferometeric sensor technologies are presented in detail to show their large potential in practical applications. Some of the simple to fabricate but exceedingly effective Fabry-Perot interferometers, implemented in both extrinsic and intrinsic structures, are discussed. Also, a wide variety of Mach-Zehnder and Michelson interferometric sensors based on photonic crystal fibers are introduced along with their remarkable sensing performances. Finally, the simultaneous multi-parameter sensing capability of a pair of long period fiber grating (LPG) is presented in two types of structures; one is the Mach-Zehnder interferometer formed in a double cladding fiber and the other is the highly sensitive Sagnac interferometer cascaded with an LPG pair.
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TL;DR: In this article, an all-silica Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) was demonstrated for high-temperature pressure monitoring, which can work stably under 600°C atmosphere.
Abstract: An all-silica Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) is demonstrated for high-temperature pressure monitoring. The pressure sensor is fabricated with single mode fiber and silica capillary by CO2 laser. Owing to slight mismatch of thermal expansion coefficient in all-silica structure, it can work stably under 600°C atmosphere. The influence of the temperature on the pressure sensor was investigated within a temperature range from 25°C to 700°C and a pressure range from standard atmosphere pressure to 4 MPa. The experimental results show that the wavelength shift versus the pressure at each temperature is linear, which indicates the proposed FPI pressure sensor has potential applications in industrial reactors, oil and gas wells, and so on.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a distributed optical fiber sensing (DOFS) system based on a bidirectional sensing structure and filtering effect of an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer is proposed and demonstrated.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , a diaphragm-based hermetic optical fiber Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavity is proposed and demonstrated for pressure sensing, which has a linear response to the change in pressure, with a sensitivity of −2.02 nm/MPa in the range of 0 to 4 MPa.
Abstract: A diaphragm-based hermetic optical fiber Fabry–Pérot (FP) cavity is proposed and demonstrated for pressure sensing. The FP cavity is hermetically sealed using one-step CO2 laser welding with a cavity length from 30 to 100 μm. A thin diaphragm is formed by polishing the hermetic FP cavity for pressure sensing. The fabricated FP cavity has a fringe contrast larger than 15 dB. The experimental results show that the fabricated device has a linear response to the change in pressure, with a sensitivity of −2.02 nm/MPa in the range of 0 to 4 MPa. The results demonstrate that the proposed fabrication technique can be used for fabricating optical fiber microcavities for sensing applications.
2 citations
18 Nov 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, a novel fabrication technique for polymer-based Fabry-Perot (F-P) optical fiber sensors is presented, which is based on microbubbles generated in the polymer by means of a microheater fiber probe.
Abstract: We report on a novel fabrication technique for polymer based Fabry-Perot (F-P) optical fiber sensors. The F-P interferometers are based on microbubbles generated in the polymer by means of a microheater fiber probe. Upon inserting the probe and a cleaved single-mode fiber in a capillary tube containing the polymer, a microbubble can be readily generated which can serve as a reflective surface. A F-P cavity is thus formed by the microbubble and the single-mode fiber tip and temperature or strain deforming the bubble can be detected upon monitoring the FP resonances. The fabrication and performance of these devices as a temperature sensor is presented in this paper.
2 citations
References
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21 Dec 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a comprehensive and engaging introduction to optics for intermediate and upper level undergraduate physics and engineering students, which allows instructors to select specialized content to suit individual curricular needs and goals.
Abstract: Introduction to Optics is now available in a re-issued edition from Cambridge University Press. Designed to offer a comprehensive and engaging introduction to intermediate and upper level undergraduate physics and engineering students, this text also allows instructors to select specialized content to suit individual curricular needs and goals. Specific features of the text, in terms of coverage beyond traditional areas, include extensive use of matrices in dealing with ray tracing, polarization, and multiple thin-film interference; three chapters devoted to lasers; a separate chapter on the optics of the eye; and individual chapters on holography, coherence, fiber optics, interferometry, Fourier optics, nonlinear optics, and Fresnel equations.
927 citations
TL;DR: A detailed mechanism of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique for sensing purposes has been discussed in this paper, where different new techniques and models in this area that have been introduced are discussed in quite a detail.
Abstract: Since the introduction of optical fiber technology in the field of sensor based on the technique of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), fiber-optic SPR sensors have witnessed a lot of advancements. This paper reports on the past, present, and future scope of fiber-optic SPR sensors in the field of sensing of different chemical, physical, and biochemical parameters. A detailed mechanism of the SPR technique for sensing purposes has been discussed. Different new techniques and models in this area that have been introduced are discussed in quite a detail. We have tried to put the different advancements in the order of their chronological evolution. The content of the review article may be of great importance for the research community who are to take the field of fiber-optic SPR sensors as its research endeavors.
824 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an approach to achieve simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature is proposed by using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer realized on tapered single-mode optical fiber.
Abstract: An approach to achieve simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature is proposed by using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer realized on tapered single-mode optical fiber. The attenuation peak wavelength of the interference with specific order in the transmission spectrum shifts with changes in the environmental refractive index and temperature. By utilizing S-band and C/L-band light sources, simultaneous discrimination of refractive index and temperature with the tapered fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer is demonstrated with the corresponding sensitivities of −23.188 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) and 0.071 nm/ °C, and −26.087 nm/RIU (blueshift) and 0.077 nm/°C (redshift) for the interference orders of 169 and 144, respectively.
551 citations
"Interferometric Fiber Optic Sensors..." refers background in this paper
...By tapering a fiber at two points along the fiber, we can form an effective in-line MZI as shown in Figure 7(f) [55,56]....
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TL;DR: In this article, a fiber-based Fabry-Perot cavity with CO2 laser-machined mirrors was realized, which combines very small size, high finesse, small waist and mode volume, and good mode matching between the fiber and cavity modes.
Abstract: We have realized a fiber-based Fabry-Perot cavity with CO2 laser-machined mirrors. It combines very small size, high finesse F>=130000, small waist and mode volume, and good mode matching between the fiber and cavity modes. This combination of features is a major advance for cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED), as shown in recent CQED experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates enabled by this cavity [Y. Colombe et al., Nature 450, 272 (2007)]. It should also be suitable for a wide range of other applications, including coupling to solid-state emitters, gas detection at the single-particle level, fiber-coupled single-photon sources and high-resolution optical filters with large stopband.
418 citations
"Interferometric Fiber Optic Sensors..." refers background in this paper
...Since it can utilize high reflecting mirrors, the extrinsic structure is useful to obtain a high finesse interference signal [23]....
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TL;DR: As potential applications of the all-PCF interferometer, strain sensing is experimentally demonstrated and ultra-high temperature sensing is proposed.
Abstract: We propose simple and compact methods for implementing all-fiber interferometers. The interference between the core and the cladding modes of a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is utilized. To excite the cladding modes from the fundamental core mode of a PCF, a coupling point or region is formed by using two methods. One is fusion splicing two pieces of a PCF with a small lateral offset, and the other is partially collapsing the air-holes in a single piece of PCF. By making another coupling point at a different location along the fiber, the proposed all-PCF interferometer is implemented. The spectral response of the interferometer is investigated mainly in terms of its wavelength spectrum. The spatial frequency of the spectrum was proportional to the physical length of the interferometer and the difference between the modal group indices of involved waveguide modes. For the splicing type interferometer, only a single spatial frequency component was dominantly observed, while the collapsing type was associated with several components at a time. By analyzing the spatial frequency spectrum of the wavelength spectrum, the modal group index differences of the PCF were obtained from 2.83×10-3 to 4.65 ×10-3 . As potential applications of the all-PCF interferometer, strain sensing is experimentally demonstrated and ultra-high temperature sensing is proposed.
418 citations
"Interferometric Fiber Optic Sensors..." refers background or methods in this paper
...However, in this case, coupling to several cladding modes was observed and controlling the number of involved modes was not so simple [51]....
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...Even with PCF, an MZI can be formed by simply fusion-splicing a piece of PCF between fibers with a small intentional deviation [51]....
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...In reference [51], as low as 2 dB splicing loss was achieved by making the mode coupling to dominantly one cladding mode of the PCF....
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