A Novel MZI Fiber Sensor with Enhanced Curvature and Strain Sensitivity Based on Four-Core Fiber
Xiaojun Zhu,
Feijie Chen,
Haoran Zhuang,
Jiayi Qian,
Hai Liu,
Juan Cao,
Yuechun Shi,
Xia Wang,
Wuming Wu
Affiliations
Xiaojun Zhu
School of Microelectronics and Integrated Circuits (Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Semi. Dev. & IC Design, Package and Test), Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Feijie Chen
School of Information Science and Technology, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Haoran Zhuang
School of Information Science and Technology, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Jiayi Qian
School of Information Science and Technology, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Hai Liu
School of Information and Control Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Juan Cao
School of Information Science and Technology, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Yuechun Shi
Yongjiang Laboratory, Ningbo 315202, China
Xia Wang
School of Microelectronics and Integrated Circuits (Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Semi. Dev. & IC Design, Package and Test), Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Wuming Wu
School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Hunan Institute of Information Technology, Changsha 410151, China
We present a high-sensitivity curvature and strain Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) fiber sensor based on a configuration of no-core fiber (NCF) and four-core fiber (FCF). We used an optical fiber fusion splicer to directly splice a segment of FCF between two segments of NCF, with both the FCF and NCF made of SiO2, where the FCF exhibits multi-path interference characteristics that allow for higher sensitivity. The NCF, with its self-focusing property, excites higher-order modes, which split and transmit it into the four cores of the FCF. The experimental results show that within a curvature range of 0.0104 m−1–0.1515 m−1, the maximum sensitivity can reach −78.04 dB/m−1 with a high linear value of ~0.99. Additionally, the strain response is also experimentally studied. In the range of 0–600 με, the maximum strain sensitivity is −6.49 pm/με. The sensor demonstrates high curvature and strain sensitivity, indicating its potential applications in sensing measurements.
