Surface Modified Optical Fiber Fabry–Perot Cavity Pressure Sensor With Carbon Film

Abstract

By the method of pulsed laser deposition of a Ni/C bilayer precursor films and annealing in air, amorphous carbon films were prepared on the surface of the capillary used for fabrication of optical fiber Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity pressure sensors. The surface morphologies of the coated and annealed carbon films were investigated through scanning electron microscopy. The images reveal that surface modification smoothes the irregular particles on the capillary surface and releases the stress induced by carbon and nickel deposition and oxy-hydrogen flame welding. Performance tests showed that the surface modified pressure sensors have good linearity for pressure response and the cavity length variations during the full cycle of pressure change is within 31 nm. Furthermore, thanks to the introduction of carbon films, the long-term stability of the cavity length can be kept within 10 nm during the tested 150 days.