Section Of Standard Single-mode Fiber Research Articles

Ultrasensitive magnetic field sensor based on an in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a magnetic fluid component

An ultrasensitive magnetic field sensor based on a compact in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) created in twin-core fiber (TCF) is proposed, and its performance is experimentally demonstrated. A section of TCF was spliced between two sections of standard single-mode fibers, and then a microchannel was drilled through one core of the TCF by means of femtosecond laser micromachining. The TCF with one microchannel was then immersed in a water-based Fe3O4 magnetic fluid (MF), forming a direct component of the light propagation path, and then sealed in a capillary tube, achieving a magnetic sensing element, which merges the advantages of an MZI with an MF. Experiments were conducted to investigate the magnetic response of the proposed sensor. The developed magnetic field sensor exhibits a linear response within a measurement range from 5 to 9.5 mT and an ultrahigh sensitivity of 20.8 nm/mT, which, to our best knowledge, is 2 orders of magnitude greater than other previously reported magnetic sensors. The proposed sensor is expected to offer significant potential for detecting weak magnetic fields.

Low-Threshold, High-Efficiency Random Fiber Laser With Linear Output

In this letter, we numerically study and experimentally achieve a low-threshold, high-efficiency random fiber laser, featuring a linear output as well. The lasing cavity incorporates a section of standard single-mode fiber and a band-selective point reflector placed at the far end of the fiber. The numerical result indicates that most energy is further pushed toward the pump side comparing with the open cavity scheme, producing a high-efficiency output. Then, we analyze the dependence of threshold and slope efficiency on cavity length and pumping wavelength. Most importantly, shorter cavity length would yield higher efficiency, and for different pumping wavelengths, there will be different cavity lengths corresponding to the lowest lasing threshold. Finally, we deliberately choose the parameters and experimentally achieve an 1145-nm random fiber laser with 7.13-W output and >90% slope efficiency (with 10-W pump), while the slope efficiency is almost constant above the 2-W lasing threshold. This letter provides a comprehensive guideline for designing such random fiber lasers with tailored performance.

High-sensitivity strain sensor based on in-fiber improved Fabry–Perot interferometer

We demonstrated a high-sensitivity strain sensor based on an in-fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) with an air cavity, which was created by splicing together two sections of standard single-mode fibers. The sensitivity of this strain sensor was enhanced to 6.0 pm/με by improving the cavity length of the FPI by means of repeating arc discharges for reshaping the air cavity. Moreover, such a strain sensor has a very low temperature sensitivity of 1.1 pm/°C, which reduces the cross sensitivity between tensile strain and temperature.

Ultrahigh dispersion of broadband microwave signals by incoherent photonic processing

We propose and demonstrate a fiber-optic incoherent signal processing scheme to achieve extraordinary dispersion amounts on arbitrary microwave signals with bandwidths over tens of GHz. Using this new scheme, we experimentally achieve microwave dispersion values approaching 24 ns/GHz (equivalent to the dispersion induced by a section of standard single-mode fiber with a length of approximately 185,000 km). The scheme is used for real-time Fourier transformation (linear frequency-to-time mapping) of nanosecond-long microwave signals, including a square-like waveform, a sinusoidal pulse and a double pulse waveform, with bandwidths over 20 GHz.

An optical fiber methane gas sensing film sensor based on core diameter mismatch

An optical fiber evanescent wave methane gas sensor based on core diameter mismatch is reported. The sensor consists of a multimode fiber in which a short section of standard single-mode fiber, coated with the inclusion of cryptophane molecules E in a transparent polysiloxane film, is inserted. The sensing principle is analyzed by optical waveguide theory. For different sensing film thicknesses and interaction lengths, the sensor signal is investigated within the methane concentration range of 0-14.5% (v/v). It is shown that the sensor signal with the thickness of 5 \mu m and the interaction length of 3 mm strengthens linearly with the increasing concentration of methane, with a slope of 0.0186. The best detection limit of the sensor for methane is 2.2% (v/v) with a response time of 90 s. This sensor is suitable for the detection of methane concentration below the critical value of 5%.

Long-period grating fabricated by periodically tapering standard single-mode fiber

We fabricated an asymmetric long-period grating (LPG) by periodically tapering a section of standard single-mode fiber using a resistive filament heating. The LPG exhibits large peak transmission attenuation of -30.31 dB with only 22 periods in a 1.0 cm long optical fiber and possesses unique characteristics for sensing applications. The bending and strain sensitivities are 1.74 nm m and 1.11 pm/mu epsilon, respectively. The polarization dependent loss is large, up to 11.65 dB, which is caused by an asymmetric index profile in the cross section of the tapered LPG.

Low-cost optical fiber refractive-index sensor based on core diameter mismatch

A simple, compact, and low-cost optical fiber refractive-index (RI) sensor is reported. It consists of a multimode fiber in which a short section of standard single-mode fiber (SMF) is inserted. Owing to the core diameter mismatch, the cladding of the SMF guides light. This makes the device sensitive to the external RI. The maximum resolution of the sensor is about 7/spl times/10/sup -5/. The fabrication of the sensor only requires cleaving and fusion splicing; moreover, the device can operate at different wavelengths, which makes it attractive for diverse applications.