Bending Direction Detective Fiber Sensor for Dual-Parameter Sensing Based on an Asymmetrical Thin-Core Long-Period Fiber Grating

Abstract

An asymmetrical thin-core long-period fiber grating (ATC-LPFG) cascaded with an inline Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) for dual-parameter sensing has been demonstrated. In addition, bending direction is also determined at the same time. A section of thin-core fiber (TCF) is fusion spliced between two single-mode fibers (SMFs). ATC-LPFG is 4 cm away from the first splicing point to form an inline MZI. The transmission spectrum consists of four dominant resonant wavelengths generated by multimode interference and loss peaks of ATC-LPFG. Two resonant wavelengths are the main loss peaks of ATC-LPFG, and additional two resonant wavelengths are caused by multimode interference. Bending direction is determined by former two resonant wavelengths; curvature and temperature sensitivities are measured by the resonant wavelength of multimode interference and ATC-LPFG. Cross sensitivity can be overcome because the resonant wavelength is generated by different mechanisms. The experimental results indicate that the sensitivities of curvature and temperature are 28.82 dB/m−1 and 67.3 pm/°C, respectively.