Simultaneous measurement of refractive index, strain and temperature using a tapered structure based on SMF

Abstract A novel fiber-optic sensing structure based on miniaturized modal interferometer (MMI) for simultaneous refractive index (RI), strain and temperature measurement is proposed. It is mainly based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and formed by introducing a down taper between two adjacent up tapers in one single mode fiber (SMF). Experimental results demonstrate a RI sensitivity of 131.93 nm/RIU, a strain sensitivity of 0.0007 nm/ μ e and a temperature sensitivity of 0.0878 nm/°C respectively. The sensor is merely made of SMF which is cheap and available, and the whole fabrication process contains only cleaving and splicing and can be well controlled by a commercial fiber splicer.