Simultaneous Curvature and Temperature Sensing Based on a Novel Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

Abstract

A novel fiber inline Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed for simultaneous measurement of curvature and temperature. The sensor composes of single mode-multimode-dispersion compensation-multimode-single mode fiber (MMF-DCF-MMF) structure, using the direct fusion technology. The experimental results show curvature sensitivities of −12.82 nm/m⁻¹ and −14.42 nm/m⁻¹ in the range of 0–0.65 m⁻¹ for two resonant dips, as well as temperature sensitivities of 57.6 pm/°C and 74.3 pm/°C within the range of 20 °C–150 °C. In addition, the sensor has unique advantages of easy fabrication, low cost, high fringe visibility of 24dB, and high sensitivity, which shows a good application prospect in dual-parameters of sensing of curvature and temperature.

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometer / curvature sensing / temperature sensing / simultaneous sensing

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