Few-mode fiber-embedded long-period fiber grating for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature

All-fiber sensor for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature based on hole-assisted three-core fiber

A hole-assisted three-core fiber (HATCF) has been proposed as a sensor for simultaneous measurement of refractive index (RI) and temperature. An 8 mm long HATCF is fused between two single mode fibers (SMFs). One air hole of the HATCF is opened by femtosecond laser ablation technique to expose a suspended core to the external environment. Due to the same diameters of the two suspended cores, the resonance couplings between the center core and the two suspended cores occur at the same wavelength, which leads to a strong resonance dip. When the solution is filled into the open air hole, the resonance dip is split in two dips because the phase matching wavelength between center core and the suspended core in the open air hole is changed. Simultaneous measurement of RI and temperature can be achieved by monitoring the wavelengths of the two dips. The measured RI and temperature sensitivities are 1369 nm/RIU in the range of 1.333-1.388 and 83.48 pm/°C in the range of 25-70 °C. The proposed sensor has outstanding advantages such as simple structure, high integration and dual parameter measurement, making it a potential application in the field of biological detection.

Strain, bending, refractive index independent temperature sensor based on a graded index multimode fiber embedded long period fiber grating

A novel embedded ultra-long period fiber grating (EULPFG) based on a graded index multimode fiber (GI-MMF) is proposed for temperature measurement. Due to the small RI difference of the modes near the GI-MMF self-imaging point, the resonant peak of transmission spectrum is wavelength-insensitive to refractive index (RI), strain and bending. However, the sensor is sensitive to temperature. The experimental results show that the temperature sensitivity of the EULPFG is 90.77 pm/°C. The sensitivities of other physical parameters are suppressed, and the suppressed sensitivities are at least one order of magnitude less than those of similar sensors. The EULPFG with anti-interference from other parameters is expected to be used in ocean monitoring systems to measure the temperature of the seawater.

Recent Advancement of Anti-Resonant Hollow-Core Fibers for Sensing Applications

Specialty fibers have enabled a wide range of sensing applications. Particularly, with the recent advancement of anti-resonant effects, specialty fibers with hollow structures offer a unique sensing platform to achieve highly accurate and ultra-compact fiber optic sensors with large measurement ranges. This review presents an overview of recent progress in anti-resonant hollow-core fibers for sensing applications. Both regular and irregular-shaped fibers and their performance in various sensing scenarios are summarized. Finally, the challenges and possible solutions are briefly presented with some perspectives toward the future development of anti-resonant hollow-core fibers for advanced sensing.