| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1537452 | Optics Communications | 2011 | 5 Pages |
Optical fiber bend sensor with photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is demonstrated experimentally. The results show that the PCF-based MZI is sensitive to bending with a sensitivity of 3.046 nm/m−1 and is independent on temperature with a sensitivity of 0.0019 nm/°C, making it the best candidate for temperature insensitive bend sensors. To that end, another kind of bend sensor with higher sensitivity of 5.129 nm/m−1 is proposed, which is constructed by combining an LPFG and an MZI with zero offset at the second splice mentioned above.
Research Highlights► We fabricated a PCF-based MZI which has smooth and regular interference fringe. ► The PCF-MZI is sensitive to external bending with sensitivity of 3.046 nm/m–1. ► Such a device is insensitive to temperature with sensitivity of only 0.0019 nm/°C. ► Another MZI is constructed by combining a LPFG and a PCF-based MZI with zero offset. ► Such a device has a relative high bending sensitivity of 5.129 nm/m–1.
