volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

A Fabry-Perot interferometer sensor based on a fiber-tip bubble-structure micro-cavity is proposed, fabricated, and demonstrated for transverse load sensing. The micro-cavity is fabricated by using arc discharge at the end of a multimode fiber which has been processed with chemical etching. A transverse load sensitivity of 3.64 nm/N and a relative low temperature sensitivity of about 2 pm/°C are experimentally demonstrated for the proposed fiber-tip bubble-structure micro-cavity sensor. The sensor has the advantages of low-cost, ease of fabrication and compact size, which make it a promising candidate for transverse load sensing in harsh environments.

1. Kersey, A. D., M. A. Davis, H. J. Patrick, M. LeBlanc, K. P. Koo, C. G. Ashins, M. A. Putnam, and E. J. Friebele, "Fiber grating sensors," J. Lightw. Technol., Vol. 15, 1442-1463, 1997.
doi:10.1109/50.618377 Google Scholar

2. Culshaw, B., "Optical fiber sensor technologies: Opportunities and --- perhaps --- pitfalls," J. Lightw. Technol., Vol. 22, 39-50, 2004.
doi:10.1109/JLT.2003.822139 Google Scholar

3. Kumar, S., G. Sharma, and V. Singh, "Sensitivity modulation of surface plasmon resonance sensor configurations in optical fiber waveguide," Progress In Electromagnetics Research Letters, Vol. 37, 167-176, 2013.
doi:10.2528/PIERL12122801 Google Scholar

4. Pandey, G., E. T. Thostenson, and D. Heider, "Electric time domain reflectometry sensors for non-invasive structural health monitoring of glass fiber composites," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 137, 551-564, 2013.
doi:10.2528/PIER13020611 Google Scholar

5. Chen, D. and X. Cheng, "Hydrostatic pressure sensor based on a gold-coated fiber modal interferometer using lateral offset splicing of single mode fiber," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 124, 315-329, 2012.
doi:10.2528/PIER11122307 Google Scholar

6. Wei, T., Y. Han, Y. Li, H. Tsai, and H. Xiao, "Temperature-insensitive miniaturized fiber inline Fabry-Perot interferometer for highly sensitive refractive index measurement," Opt. Exp., Vol. 16, 5764-5769, 2008.
doi:10.1364/OE.16.005764 Google Scholar

7. Liao, C. R., T. Y. Hu, and D. N. Wang, "Optical fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer cavity fabricated by femtosecond laser micromachining and fusion splicing for refractive index sensing," Opt. Exp., Vol. 20, 22813-22818, 2012.
doi:10.1364/OE.20.022813 Google Scholar

8. Tian, J., Y. Lu, Q. Zhang, and M. Han, "Microfluidic refractive index sensor based on an all-silica in-line Fabry-Perot interferometer fabricated with microstructured fibers," Opt. Exp., Vol. 21, 6633-6639, 2013.
doi:10.1364/OE.21.006633 Google Scholar

9. Zhao, J. R., X. G. Huang, W. X. He, and J. H. Chen, "High-resolution and temperatureinsensitive fiber optic refractive index sensor based on Fresnel reflection modulated by Fabry-Perot interference," J. Lightw. Technol., Vol. 28, 2799-2803, 2010.
doi:10.1109/JLT.2010.2065215 Google Scholar

10. Murphy, K. A., M. F. Gunther, A. M. Vengsarkar, and R. O. Claus, "Fabry-Perot fiber-optic sensors in full-scale fatigue testing on F-15 aircraft," Appl. Opt., Vol. 31, 431-433, 1992.
doi:10.1364/AO.31.000431 Google Scholar

11. Shi, Q., F. Lv, Z. Wang, L. Jin, J. J. Hu, Z. Liu, G. Kai, and X. Dong, "Environmentally stable Fabry-P′erot-type strain sensor based on hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., Vol. 20, 237-239, 2008.
doi:10.1109/LPT.2007.913335 Google Scholar

12. Liu, S., Y. Wang, C. Liao, G. Wang, Z. Li, Q. Wang, J. Zhou, K. Yang, X. Zhong, J. Zhao, and J. Tang, "High-sensitivity strain sensor based on in-fiber improved Fabry-Perot interferometer," Opt. Lett., Vol. 39, 2121-2124, 2014.
doi:10.1364/OL.39.002121 Google Scholar

13. Choi, H. Y., K. S. Park, S. J. Park, U. C. Paek, B. H. Lee, and E. S. Choi, "Miniature fiber-optic high temperature sensor based on a hybrid structured Fabry-Perot interferometer," Opt. Lett., Vol. 33, 2455-2457, 2008.
doi:10.1364/OL.33.002455 Google Scholar

14. Duan, D. W., Y. J. Rao, W. P. Wen, J. Yao, D. Wu, L. C. Xu, and T. Zhu, "In-line all-fibre Fabry-Perot interferometer high temperature sensor formed by large lateral offset splicing," Electron. Lett., Vol. 47, 1702-1705, 2011. Google Scholar

15. Wang, J., B. Dong, E. Lally, J. Gong, M. Han, and A. Wang, "Multiplexed high temperature sensing with sapphire fiber air gap-based extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometers," Opt. Lett., Vol. 35, 619-621, 2010.
doi:10.1364/OL.35.000619 Google Scholar

16. Wang, X., J. Xu, Y. Zhu, L. K. Cooper, and A. Wang, "All-fused-silica miniature optical fiber tip pressure sensor," Opt. Lett., Vol. 31, 885-887, 2006.
doi:10.1364/OL.31.000885 Google Scholar

17. Wang, W., N. Wu, Y. Tian, C. Niezrecki, and X. Wang, "Miniature all-silica optical fiber pressure sensor with an ultrathin uniform diaphragm," Opt. Exp., Vol. 18, 9006-9014, 2010.
doi:10.1364/OE.18.009006 Google Scholar

18. Donlagic, D. and E. Cibula, "All-fiber high-sensitivity pressure sensor with SiO₂ diaphragm," Opt. Lett., Vol. 30, 2071-2073, 2005.
doi:10.1364/OL.30.002071 Google Scholar

19. Ma, J., J. Ju, L. Jin, and W. Jin, "A compact fiber-tip micro-cavity sensor for high-pressure measurement," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., Vol. 23, 1561-1563, 2011.
doi:10.1109/LPT.2011.2164060 Google Scholar

20. Jauregui-Vazquez, D., J. M. Estudillo-Ayala, A. Castillo-Guzman, R. Rojas-Laguna, R. Swlvas-Aguilar, E. Vargas-Rodrigues, J. M. Sierra-Hernandez, V. G. V. Guzman-Ramos, and A. Flores-Balderas, "Highly sensitive curvature and displacement sensing setup based on an all fiber micro Fabry-Perot interferometer," Opt. Commun., Vol. 308, 289-292, 2013.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2013.07.041 Google Scholar

21. Villatoro, J., V. Finazzi, G. Coviello, and V. Pruneri, "Photonic-crystal-fiber-enabled micro-Fabry-Perot interferometer," Opt. Lett., Vol. 34, 2441-2443, 2009.
doi:10.1364/OL.34.002441 Google Scholar

22. LeBlanc, M., S. T. Vohra, T. E. Tsai, and E. J. Friebele, "Transverse load sensing by use of pi-phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings," Opt. Lett., Vol. 24, 1091-1093, 1999.
doi:10.1364/OL.24.001091 Google Scholar

23. Shu, X., K. Chisholm, I. Felmeri, K. Sugden, A. Gillooly, Z. Lin, and I. Bennion, "Highly sensitive transverse load sensing with reversible sampled fiber Bragg gratings," Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 83, 3003-3005, 2003.
doi:10.1063/1.1618367 Google Scholar

24. Silva-Lopez, M., W. MacPherson, C. Li, A. Moore, J. Barton, J. Jones, D. Zhao, L. Zhang, and I. Bennion, "Transverse load and orientation measurement with multicore fiber Bragg gratings," Appl. Opt., Vol. 44, 6890-6897, 2005.
doi:10.1364/AO.44.006890 Google Scholar

25. Jewart, C., K. P. Chen, B. McMillen, M. M. Bails, S. P. Levitan, J. Canning, and I. V. Avdeev, "Sensitivity enhancement of fiber Bragg gratings to transverse stress by using microstructural fibers," Opt. Lett., Vol. 31, 2260-2262, 2006.
doi:10.1364/OL.31.002260 Google Scholar

26. Geernaert, T., G. Luyckx, E. Voet, T. Nasilowski, K. Chah, M. Becker, H. Bartelt, W. Urbanczyk, J. Wojcik, W. De Waele, J. Degrieck, H. Terryn, F. Berghmans, and H. Thienpont, "Transversal load sensing with fiber Bragg gratings in microstructured optical fibers," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., Vol. 21, 6-8, 2009.
doi:10.1109/LPT.2008.2007915 Google Scholar

27. Lium, Y., L. Zhang, and I. Bennion, "Fibre optic load sensors with high transverse strain sensitivity based on long-period gratings in B/Ge co-doped fibre," Electron. Lett., Vol. 35, 661-663, 1999.
doi:10.1049/el:19990457 Google Scholar

28. Braginsky, V. B., M. L. Gorodetsky, and S. P. Vyatchanin, "Thermo-refractive noise in gravitational wave antennae," Phys. Lett. A, Vol. 271, 303-307, 2000.
doi:10.1016/S0375-9601(00)00389-3 Google Scholar

Dr. Xiaogang Jiang

Dr. Daru Chen