High Sensitivity of Taper-Based Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Embedded in a Thinned Optical Fiber for Refractive Index Sensing

Author

J. Yang
Lan Jiang, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
S. Wang
B. Li
M. Wang
Hai Xiao, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Y. Lu
Hai-Lung Tsai, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

A taper-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) embedded in a thinned optical fiber is demonstrated as a highly sensitive refractive index (RI) sensor. A RI sensitivity of 2210:84nm=RIU (refractive index unit) is obtained at the external RI of 1.40, which is ten times higher than that of normal taper- and longperiod fiber grating (LPFG)-based sensors. The sensitivity can be further improved by decreasing the diameter of the thinned fiber and increasing the interferometer length of the MZI. The proposed MZIs have lower temperature sensitivities compared with normal fiber sensors, which is a desirable merit for RI sensors to reduce the cross sensitivity caused by thermal drift. © 2011 Optical Society of America.

Recommended Citation

J. Yang et al., "High Sensitivity of Taper-Based Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Embedded in a Thinned Optical Fiber for Refractive Index Sensing," Applied Optics, Optical Society of America, Jan 2011.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.50.005503

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Second Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1559-128X

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2011 Optical Society of America, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2011