title: Asymmetrical in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for curvature measurement.
abstract: We demonstrated a compact and highly-sensitive curvature sensor based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer created in a photonic crystal fiber. Such a Mach-Zehnder interferometer consisted of a peanut-like section and an abrupt taper achieved by use of an optimized electrical arc discharge technique, where only one dominating cladding mode was excited and interfered with the fundamental mode. The unique structure exhibited a high curvature sensitivity of 50.5 nm/m-1within a range from 0 to 2.8 m-1, which made it suitable for high-sensitivity curvature sensing in harsh environments. Moreover, it also exhibited a temperature sensitivity of 11.7 pm/°C.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yijian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Changrui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Guolu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yinjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jiangtao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yiping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003460:Crystallization; D007368:Interferometry / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D055100:Optical Fibers; D017785:Photons