High sensitivity optical fiber strain sensor using twisted multimode fiber based on SMS structure

A low-cost way of achieving a high sensitivity optical fiber strain sensor by introducing higher-order interference modes using a torsional multimode fiber (MMF) instead of normal MMF based on single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS) structure is proposed and the coupling mechanism of twist fiber is investigated theoretically. The sensor is fabricated by simple process of heating and twisting a small region of MMF. According to this method, the shift of multimode interference spectrum caused by an axial strain will be greatly magnified. Different strain sensitivities can be easily realized by controlling the torsional number of circles. The experimental results indicated a high strain sensitivity of 42.5 pm/με at most.