Bubble microcavity strain and gravity sensor with temperature and bending insensitivity using an ultra-thin core optical fiber. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Hailiang; Zheng, Yu; Li, Baocheng; Liu, Yundong; Zhang, Yingyue; Ma, Mingjian; Shum, Perry Ping
• Is Part Of: Optics & laser technology. Volume 142(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Optical fiber -- Bubble microcavity -- Strain -- Gravity; Optics -- Periodicals; Lasers -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 621.366
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2021.107193
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0030-3992

Abstract

Highlights: A bubble microcavity in an ultra-thin core optical fiber was fabricated to form a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The size of the bubble decreased gradually with further arc discharges, which was inverse to the reported literature. The bubble microcavity in the ultra-thin core optical fiber showed a strain sensitivity of 2.08 pm/με and a gravity sensitivity of 2.908 nm/N in a large measurement range. The bubble microcavity in the ultra-thin core optial fiber was insensitive to temperature and bending, which was benefit to avoid the cross influences. Abstract: Recent progress in optical fiber sensors based on Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPIs) has achieved much attention. In this paper, we designed and fabricated an FPI sensor by building a bubble in an ultra-thin core optical fiber. The size of the bubble decreased gradually with further arc discharges, which was inverse to the bubble fabrication in standard single mode fibers and multimode fibers. The bubble microcavity in the ultra-thin core optical fiber demonstrated a strain sensitivity of 2.08 pm/με in the range of 0–5000 με and a gravity sensitivity of 2.908 nm/N in the range of 0–4.89 N with high linear responses. Meanwhile, the bubble microcavity sensor was insensitive to temperature and bending, which was benefit to avoid the cross influences. The FPI sensor based on a bubble microcavity in an ultra-thin core optical fiber possesses the properties of easy to fabricate, small size, robustness, and high sensitivity.