Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on core-cladding mode coupling in single mode fibers

Abstract

In this paper, a novel simple but effective method is presented to construct compact all-fiber Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer based on CO₂-laser-machined micro-notches in single mode fibers. Interference fringes are obtained, and temperature, force, and bending characteristics of the interferometer have been experimentally investigated. Such a compact fiber component with acceptable sensing performances makes it a good candidate for the measurement of numerous physical parameters.

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer / micro-notch / optical fiber sensor / single mode fiber

References

[1] Nguyen L V, Hwang D, Moon D S, Chung Y. Tunable comb-filter using thermally expanded core fiber and ytterbium doped fiber and its application to multi-wavelength fiber laser. Optics Communications, 2008, 281(23): 5793–5796

[2] Nguyen L V, Hwang D, Moon S, Moon D S, Chung Y. High temperature fiber sensor with high sensitivity based on core diameter mismatch. Optics Express, 2008, 16(15): 11369–11375

[3] Lu P, Men L, Sooley K, Chen Q. Tapered fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature. Applied Physics Letters, 2009, 94(13): 131110

[4] Choi H Y, Kim M J, Lee B H. All-fiber Mach-Zehnder type interferometers formed in photonic crystal fiber. Optics Express, 2007, 15(9): 5711–5720

[5] Tian Z, Yam S S H, Loock H P. Single-mode fiber refractive index sensor based on core-offset attenuators. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 2008, 20(16): 1387–1389

[6] Villatoro J, Finazzi V, Badenes G, Pruneri V. Highly sensitive sensors based on photonic crystal fiber modal interferometers. Journal of Sensors, 2009, 2009(2009): 747803

[7] Xia T H, Zhang A P, Gu B, Zhu J J. Fiber-optic refractive-index sensors based on transmissive and reflective thin-core fiber modal interferometers. Optics Communications, 2010, 283(10): 2136–2139

[8] Lee B H, Nishii J. Dependence of fringe spacing on the grating separation in a long-period fiber grating pair. Applied Optics, 1999, 38(16): 3450–3459

[9] Dong X Y, Yang X F, Shum P, Chan C C. Tunable WDM filter with 0.8-nm channel spacing using a pair of long-period fiber gratings. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 2005, 17(4): 795–797

[10] Rashleigh S. Origins and control of polarization effects in single-mode fibers. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 1983, 1(2): 312–331

Acknowledgements

This work was jointly supported by the National Key Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 60736039), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10904075, 11004110, 50802044), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the National Key Basic Research and Development Program of China (No. 2010CB327605).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg