Simultaneous measurement of RI and temperature based on the combination of Sagnac loop mirror and balloon-like interferometer

A novel composite interference structure constructed with the combination of Sagnac loop mirror and balloon-like interferometer for simultaneous measurement of refractive index (RI) and temperature is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) is embedded into the Sagnac loop structure to form a Sagnac loop interferometer, which is highly sensitive to external temperature variations. The balloon-like structure is built with a bend single mode fiber (SMF) to form a modal interferometer, which is sensitive to both external RI and temperature variations. As the two sensing structures are based different interference principles, the two interference spectra do not interfere with each other. By optimizing the bending diameter of the balloon-like interferometer and the length of PMF in the Sagnac loop mirror, separate different resonance wavelengths can be well formed. Hence, the simultaneous measurement of RI and temperature can be realized by monitoring the shift of different resonance wavelengths. Experimental results show that the optimal sensitivities of the RI and temperature can reach up to 218.56 nm/RIU and 1.7 nm/°C, respectively.