Refractive index sensors based on the fused tapered special multi-mode fiber

In this paper, a novel refractive index (RI) sensor is proposed based on the fused tapered special multi-mode fiber (SMMF). Firstly, a section of SMMF is spliced between two single-mode fibers (SMFs). Then, the SMMF is processed by a fused tapering machine, and a tapered fiber structure is fabricated. Finally, a fused tapered SMMF sensor is obtained for measuring external RI. The RI sensing mechanism of tapered SMMF sensor is analyzed in detail. For different fused tapering lengths, the experimental results show that the RI sensitivity can be up to 444.517 81 nm/RIU in the RI range of 1.334 9—1.347 0. The RI sensitivity is increased with the increase of fused tapering length. Moreover, it has many advantages, including high sensitivity, compact structure, fast response and wide application range. So it can be used to measure the solution concentration in the fields of biochemistry, health care and food processing.     

An optical fiber magnetic field sensor based on fiber spherical structure interferometer coated by magnetic fluid

A novel magnetic field sensor based on optical fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) coated by magnetic fluid (MF) is proposed. The MZI consists of two spherical structures formed on standard single mode fiber (SMF). The interference wavelength and the power of the sensing structure are sensitive to the external refractive index (RI). Since RI of the MF is sensitive to the magnetic field, the magnetic field measurement can be realized by detecting the variation of the interference spectrum. Experimental results show that the wavelength and the power of interference dip both increase with the increase of magnetic field intensity.     

High-sensitivity refractive index sensors based on fused tapered photonic crystal fiber

In this paper, a novel liquid refractive index (RI) sensor based on fused tapered photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed. It is fabricated by fusing and tapering a section of PCF which is spliced with two single-mode fibers (SMFs). Due to the fused biconical taper method, the sensor becomes longer and thinner, to make the change of the outside RI has more direct effects on the internal optical field of the PCF, which finally enhances the sensitivity of this sensor. Experimental results show that the transmission spectra of the sensor are red-shifted obviously with the increase of RI. The longer the tapered region of the sensor, the higher the sensitivity is. This sensor has the advantages of simple structure, easy fabrication, high performance and so on, so it has potential applications in RI measurement.     

长周期光纤光栅三层结构折射率梯度响应特性研究

基于模式耦合理论和传输矩阵法,使用三层结构圆光波导模型对长周期光纤光栅(LPFG)包层模(HE14)的响应特性进行仿真和分析。通过对比分析外部环境折射率呈梯度分布时与呈均匀分布时的LPFG透射谱,发现谱线中除了损耗峰发生漂移以外,主峰左侧旁瓣深度增加,主峰右侧旁瓣深度减小,且随外部环境折射率的升高,这种变化趋势愈加明显,分析了透射谱发生相应变化的原因。研究结果对使用LPFG进行折射率梯度传感设计具有一定意义。     

基于光纤内双开口F-P干涉腔的折射率传感器

为了实现高灵敏度液体折射率传感器的高效制备,采用飞秒激光直写技术,在光纤末端刻蚀出矩形凹槽,辅以光纤熔接方法,制备出一种基于光纤内双开口法布里-珀罗(F-P)干涉腔的折射率传感器。该传感器的液体折射率传感灵敏度达到1107.76nm/RIU。讨论了温度对该传感器性能的影响,温度串扰小于0.0025nm/℃;基于海水含盐浓度与折射率的线性关系,探讨了该传感器在海水含盐浓度传感测量方面的应用,灵敏度为0.171nm/(mgmL-1)。结果表明,基于光纤内双开口F-P干涉腔的折射率传感器具有干涉谱对比度高、线性响应良好、灵敏度高、不易受温度串扰、结构紧凑、制备简单高效等优点,在生物、医疗、化学、环境等领域中有着广泛的应用前景。     

Design and analysis of a refractive index sensor based on dual-core large-mode-area fiber

We present a novel co-axial dual core large-mode-area (LMA) fiber design for refractive index sensing. In a dual-core fiber there is resonant coupling between the two cores, which is strongly affected by the refractive index (RI) of the outermost region. The transmittance of the fiber, therefore, varies sharply with the refractive index of surrounding medium. This characteristic of the proposed structure has been utilized to design a RI sensor. We have analyzed the structure by using the transfer matrix method. Our numerical results show that the proposed sensor is highly sensitive with the resolution of 2.0 × 10⁻⁶ around n_ex = 1.44376. Effect of design parameters on sensitivity of the proposed sensor has also been investigated.     

基于拉锥单模-多模-单模光纤结构的高灵敏折射率传感器

文章介绍基于拉锥单模-多模-单模(SMS)光纤结构的模间干涉仪,当拉伸长度为35mm时形成自由光谱区(FSR)为1.3nm的干涉透射谱,消光比达到10dB。此时拉锥多模光纤的腰椎平坦区直径约为3.85μm,具有较强的倏逝场,可用作高灵敏折射率传感器。实验证明,此拉锥SMS结构在折射率范围1.35-1.36内的灵敏度高达771nm/RIU,能精密监测溶液溶质扩散现象。     

Temperature and refractive index sensing characteristics of an MZI-based multimode fiber–dispersion compensation fiber–multimode fiber structure

We proposed an optical fiber sensor with simple multimode fiber (MMF)–dispersion compensation fiber (DCF)–multimode fiber structure based on Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) and researched its temperature and refractive index (RI) sensing characteristics. The sensing principle is based on the interference between core and cladding modes of DCF due to the large core diameter mismatch. Spectral analyses demonstrate that the transmission spectrum is mainly formed by the interference between the dominant excited cladding mode and core modes. The experimental results show that the proposed sensor has high temperature sensitivity of 0.118 nm/°C in the range of 20–250 °C and RI sensitivity of 66.32 nm/RIU within the linear sensing range of 1.33–1.39 RIU. Therefore, the characteristics of compact size, low cost, easy fabrication, high sensitivities, and good anti-interference ability make this sensor have extensive application prospects.     

基于单模异芯光纤结构的液位传感器

提出了一种新颖的光纤液位传感器。在普通单模光纤(SMF)中间熔接一段细芯单模光纤(TCSMF),构成共轴光纤马赫曾德尔干涉仪(MZI)。液位的变化引起包层模与芯模的相位差发生改变,从而导致干涉仪的透射光谱发生改变。对传感器的工作原理和测量灵敏度及精度进行了理论分析,实验结果显示透射光谱中特征峰波长漂移量跟液位变化量呈较好的线性关系,且灵敏度随待测液体折射率的增大而增高,与理论分析结果相一致。测量得到纯水和饱和氯化钠溶液的测量灵敏度分别为0.160 nm/mm和0.228 nm/mm。该传感器采用全光纤结构,制备简单、测量精度高,可适用于折射率低于光纤包层折射率液体的高精度液位测量。     

基于飞秒激光制备的光纤Fabry-Perot折射率传感器

在对光纤Fabry-Perot(F-P)传感器多光束干 涉原理仿真分析的基础上,利用波长为800nm的飞秒 激光脉冲在普通单模光纤(SMF)上制备微型传感器,并对其折射率响应性能进行了实验测试 。理论分析表明,在低、高折射率区域,F-P传感器的反射谱对比度随着折射率的增加分别 呈现先降低后增加的趋势(折射率高低分界点1．457)。飞秒激光 的制备方法通过计算机控制腔长等可以进行参数可选择的微型光纤F-P传感器的制作。利用 制备的传感器对一系列不同折 射率的溶液进行了折射率响应测试实验,测试结果表明,传感器反射谱对比度对低折射率物 质(折射率小于 1.457)的灵敏度为27.65dB/RI,对高折射 率 物质(折射率大于1.457)的灵敏度为3.50dB /RI,且均具有良好的线性响应。     

基于双锥形光子晶体光纤的折射率传感器

设计了一种基于光子晶体光纤的双锥形马赫-曾德尔干涉仪,并对其折射率传感特性进行了研究。在FDTD Solutions光学仿真平台中建立了干涉仪结构模型,研究了该结构的透射光谱对环境折射率的响应。仿真结果表明,透射光谱随环境折射率的增加发生红移,灵敏度为95.906nm/RIU。利用熔接与拉锥工艺制备了干涉仪样品,搭建了实验系统,在不同浓度甘油溶液中对其透射谱进行了检测,实验结果表明,折射率在1.3222~1.3538范围内,透射谱偏移灵敏度为121.95nm/RIU。该传感器具有体积小、重量轻、易于制备、灵敏度高等优点,适用于生化和物理传感领域。     

Intermodal interference based refractive index sensor employing elliptical core photonic crystal fiber

A refractive index (RI) sensor based on elliptical core photonic crystal fiber (EC-PCF) has been proposed. The asymmetric elliptical core introduces the polarization-dependent characteristics of the fiber core modes. The performances of intermodal interference between the intrinsic polarization fiber core modes are investigated by contrast in two interferometers based on the Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) and Sagnac interference model. In addition, the RI sensing characteristics of the two interferometers are studied by successively filling the three layers air holes closest to the elliptical core in the cladding. The results show that the M-Z interference between LP01 and LP11 mode in the same polarized direction is featured with the incremental RI sensing sensitivity as the decreasing interference length, and the infilled scope around the elliptical core has a weak correlation with the RI sensing sensitivity. Due to the high birefringence of LP11 mode, the Sagnac interferometer has better RI sensing performance, the maximum RI sensing sensitivity of 12 000 nm/RIU is achieved under the innermost one layer air holes infilled with RI matching liquid of RI=1.39 at the pre-setting EC-PCF length of 12 cm, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the M-Z interferometer with the same fiber length. The series of theoretical optimized analysis would provide guidance for the applications in the field of biochemical sensing.     

Fiber in-line magnetic field sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer integrated with magnetic fluid

In this paper, magnetic fluid (MF), a new type of optical functional nanomaterial with interesting optical characteristics under the external magnetic field, is adopted to form a novel fiber-optic magnetic field sensor. The proposed sensor is based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and has a multimode-singlemode-multimode (MSM) fiber structure. The MSM structure was fabricated by splicing a section of uncoated single mode fiber (SMF) between two short sections of multimode fibers (MMFs) using a fiber fusion splicer. The magnetic field sensing probe was made by inserting the fiber-optic structure in an MF-filled capillary tube. Variations in an external magnetic field is seen to cause changes in the refractive index of MF. This tunable change in the refractive index with magnetic field strengths between 0.6 mT to 21.4 mT produces a shift in the peak position of the wavelength. The shift of the valley wavelength with magnetic field intensity has a good linearity of up to 99.6%. The achieved sensitivity of the proposed magnetic field sensor is 0.123 nm/mT,which is improved by several folds compared with those of most of the other reported MF-based magnetic field sensors. Furthermore, we build the corresponding circuit-based measurement system, and the experimental results show that the voltage change indirectly reflects the change of the external magnetic field strength. Therefore, this provides the potential to fiber-based magnetic field sensing applications.     

分布式光纤传感技术在蜗壳模型试验中的应用

分布式光纤传感器与传统应变片和光纤光栅传感器相比,具有分布式测量的显著特点,成为传感器领域的研究热点。随着技术的进步,基于瑞利散射的光频域反射技术(OFDR)得到了迅速的发展。该文介绍了OFDR的测量原理,并将分布式光纤传感器应用于蜗壳模型试验中。为检验蜗壳充水后的变形规律,检查蜗壳和混凝土的整体安全性和设计的合理性,对蜗壳试验过程中外围混凝土应变进行监测。通过分布式光纤传感器在每级水压加载下产生的应变,获得蜗壳模型外部变形以及裂缝发展的情况。实验结果表明,分布式光纤传感器能够真实地反应结构物的应变分布,及时准确地监测蜗壳模型在加压作用下混凝土变形及开裂情况,对结构的损伤进行识别。     

修饰不同金纳米颗粒的极大角倾斜光纤光栅折射率传感特性研究

研究了分别使用大尺寸金纳米壳与星型金纳米颗粒修饰极大角倾斜光纤光栅(ExTFG)的局域表面等离子体共振(LSPR)传感器,实验对比了这两种ExTFG-LSPR传感器的折射率传感特性。实验结果表明:修饰星型金纳米颗粒的ExTFG传感器,其TM、TE模的基于波长变化的折射率灵敏度分别提升约15.52和12.8nm/RIU,但共振吸收效应不明显;而修饰大尺寸金纳米壳的ExTFG传感器,在大尺寸金纳米壳的LSPR作用下,其TM、TE模的基于波长变化的折射率灵敏度分别提升约31.1和26.99nm/RIU,同时,TM与TE模在C-L波段表现出强烈的共振吸收,基于归一化强度变化的折射率灵敏度分别约为185.18%/RIU和251.83%/RIU。     

Research on Michelson interference refractive index sensing technique based on double-core microfiber

We propose a novel refractive index sensor based on Michelson interferometer by using double-core microfiber. Through the reflection of the end and taper of double-core fiber (DCF), the Michelson interference spectrum is formed. Owing to the structure characteristic of double-core microfiber, this interferometer can achieve the measurement of refractive index (RI) and temperature. The experimental results show that the refractive index sensitivity of the interferometer is 2 377.80 nm/RIU at the diameter of the taper waist of 8.76 µm. In the temperature ranges from 30 °C to 60 °C, the temperature sensitivity is 0.070 48 nm/°C. This sensor has the advantage of high refractive index sensitivity.     

Modeling of two core photonic crystal fiber modal interferometer for refractive index measurement by equalization wavelength

We propose a modification structure model of in-fiber sensor based on intermodal interference in two core photonic crystal fiber for external refractive index measuring. Essential characteristics and influences of the structure are investigated. Formation of an extreme (equalization wavelength) in phase constant spectral dependence is presented and its using for simple external refractive index determination.     

四电极含芯压电纤维简谐振动传感特性研究

受到水黾等动物能感知身体振动的毛发感受器的启发,设计了一种能感知外部振动的仿生纤维振动传感器。采用模具干压成型法制备了含铂金芯的压电陶瓷纤维胚体,经过高温烧结、涂镀表面电极、极化后,制成表面四电极含金属芯压电纤维(MMPF)振动传感器。并建立了悬臂梁结构,2对表面电极用作传感电极的传感器理论模型。把纤维固定在基体上,验证传感器对基体结构受到简谐激励的传感性能。结果表明,MMPF能够感知基体结构受到简谐激励的频率、幅值和方向。这种具有感知幅值和方向的仿生纤维振动传感器将有广泛的应用前景。     

Single-Mode Fiber Refractive Index Sensor Based on Core-Offset Attenuators

Mach-Zehnder and Michelson interferometers using core-offset attenuators were demonstrated. As the relative offset direction of the two attenuators in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer can significantly affect the extinction ratio of the interference pattern, single core-offset attenuator-based sensors appear more robust and repeatable. A novel fiber Michelson interferometer refractive index (RI) sensor was subsequently realized by a single core-offset attenuator and a layer of ~ 500-nm gold coating. The device had a minimum insertion loss of 0.01 dB and maximum extinction ratio over 9 dB. The sensitivity (0.333 nm) of the new sensor to its surrounding RI change (0.01) was found to be comparable to that (0.252 nm) of an identical long period gratings pair Mach-Zehnder interferometric sensor, and its ease of fabrication makes it a low-cost alternative to existing sensing applications.     

Highly Sensitive Photonic Crystal Fiber-Based Refractive Index Sensing Using Mechanical Long-Period Grating

We experimentally demonstrate a novel refractive index (RI) sensor with the measurand infiltrated into the air channels of a single mode photonic crystal fiber (PCF). A tunable long-period grating is formed in a short length of PCF by use of the periodic mechanical pressure. Resonance shift with the change of the infiltrated liquid is observed with a sensitivity of ${hbox{4.1}} times {hbox{10}}^{-6}$ RI unit in a refractive index range from 1.32 to 1.39. The thermal stability of the pure-silica-based PCF device shows a three times better performance compared with conventional single mode fiber.