Temperature–Magnetic Field Dual-Parameter Sensor Based on Circular Lattice Photonic Crystal Fiber

Abstract

This paper proposed and investigated a sensor that could simultaneously measure temperature and magnetic fields. The key component of this sensor was a photonic crystal fiber with a length of only 1 cm, whose air holes were arranged in a circular lattice symmetry. In order to increase the birefringence of the fiber, we introduced well-designed point defects into the photonic lattice. The deficient pores were filled with a magneto-fluidic material (MF) that sensed temperature and magnetic fields through changes in its refractive index. The outer layer of the fiber cladding was coated with a thin film of Indium tin oxide (ITO), which was in direct contact with ethanol. The surface plasmon resonance created by ITO was used to achieve dual-parameter demodulation and solve the cross-sensitivity problem. The photonic crystal fiber and other optical components made up a Sagnac interferometer, which was used to measure the transmission spectrum of the Sagnac interference. At the same time, the loss spectrum due to the surface plasmon resonance was measured. The variation in temperature and magnetic field was directly related to the shift in the resonance wavelengths of the transmission and loss spectra, thus enabling simultaneous dual-parameter measurements. We investigated the sensing performance of the sensor numerically. The results showed a wavelength sensitivity of 7.6 nm/°C and 0.75 nm/mT, with a resolution of 1.316 × 10−3 °C and 1.333 × 10−3 mT for temperature and magnetic field, respectively. Compared with other sensors, the key component of the proposed sensor is only 1 cm in length, which makes it compact and easy to manufacture. The geometric parameters, such as the position and radius of the pores, are less likely to deviate from the ideal values, which helps to reduce the impact of manufacturing tolerances on the sensing performance.