All fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer for simultaneous measurement of temperature and refractive index

An all fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometric (MZI) sensor for measuring temperature and refractive index (RI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The proposed sensor is fabricated with a coreless–few mode–coreless fiber structure. Variations in ambient temperature and RI cause changes in phase differences between the fundamental mode and the higher-order modes, leading to shifts in interference spectrum. The two resonance dips shifts within the wavelength spectrum are used to investigate the temperature and RI characteristics of the sensor. Experimental results show that the two dips have different responses to temperature and RI, indicating that the sensor can realize simultaneous measurement of temperature and RI; the maximum sensing sensitivities are 0.0739 nm/°C and −25.29 nm/RIU, respectively. The proposed sensor has potential applications in physical, biological, and chemical sensing owing to its low cost, good linearity, and simple fabrication.