In this paper, we proposed a multi-parameter sensing system based on a polarimetric multilongitudinal-mode fiber laser sensor and beat frequency signal interrogation technique. The polarimetric fiber laser consists two fiber Bragg gratings and a piece of Erbium-doped-fiber. Since the linear birefringence exists in any real fiber duo to its core deviating from a circular shape, two types of beat frequency signals exist in the fiber laser: longitudinal mode beat frequency and polarization mode beat frequency signals. They have different sensing characteristic to external perturbations such as temperature or strain change, so the polarimetric fiber laser can distinguish simultaneously the change of strain, temperature and the birefringence change. We theoretically analyzed the principle for measurement of temperature, strain and fiber birefringence, and experimentally studied the sensing performance of temperature, strain and fiber birefringence. The proposed multi-parameter sensing system just consists a polarimetric fiber laser sensor and a beat frequency demodulation equipment, so it shows the advantages of simple structure, portability, high sensitivity, and low cost.
In this paper, a multi-parameter optical fiber system is developed and demonstrated by using a single polarimetric fiber ring laser sensor and beat frequency demodulation technique. The polarimetric fiber ring laser is formed by a fiber Bragg grating, a piece of Erbium doped fiber and a 3 dB fiber coupler. Since the fiber laser cavity is long enough, there are many longitudinal modes in the laser cavity. For each order longitudinal mode, two orthogonal polarization modes will experience slightly mode splitting due to the intrinsic fiber birefringence. As a result, in this polarimetric fiber ring laser, there exists two kinds of beat frequency signals, i.e. longitudinal mode beat frequency and polarization mode beat frequency signals. When the fiber laser cavity suffers from external perturbations, such as temperature change, strain change, and the fiber birefringence change, these two kinds of beat frequency signals will experience different response and can be used to measure multiple parameters simultaneously. We have theoretically analyzed the principle of measurement temperature, strain and fiber birefringence and experimentally measured these parameters in the test. The proposed multi-parameter sensing system just uses a single polarimetric fiber ring laser sensor and one beat frequency demodulation equipment. It will be promising in many application fields due to its advantages of simple structure, portability, high sensitivity, and low cost.
The 16-channel multi-longitudinal mode fiber laser sensor array is investigated experimentally by the wavelength/frequency division multiplexing technique. In the proposed sensing system, a 4×4 sensor array is established by a few different coupling-ratio couplers, and four different fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) with different center wavelengths are used as four different sensing units. In each sensor unit, four parallel fiber laser sensors have the same operating wavelengths FBGs, but their effective laser cavity lengths slightly different from each other. Every cavity is formed by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) serving as one reflection mirror, a piece of erbium-doped fiber (EDF) acting as the gain medium, and a Faraday rotator mirror (FRM) serving as other reflection mirror. When the pump power is higher than threshold value, the 16-channel fiber laser sensor array is stimulated stably. The frequency of the beat signal of the fiber laser sensor with different cavity lengths is used to realize frequency division multiplexing, and the wavelength division multiplexing is realized according to the operation wavelength of the fiber laser. The beat frequency signals are generated on a photodetector(PD), and monitored by a frequency spectrum analyzer(FSA). By tracking the shift of the beat frequency, all of the 16 laser sensors can be demodulated and real-time discriminated. The result of the experiment shows that different channels can be demodulated independently. The applications of the sensor array for strain and temperature measurements are also investigated. The strain or temperature information can be extracted from the change of the beat frequency signals according to the wavelength-frequency division multiplexing and the beat signal demodulation. The proposed hybrid multiplexing system can greatly reduce the weight, volume, and cost of the fiber laser sensors system while increasing the amount of the sensors multiplexable, which making it very competitive in some applications fields requiring large scale arrays such as space vehicles, marine infrastructure systems and constructional engineering.
We present an in-fiber Mach-Zehnder type interferometer (MZI) in single mode fiber based on lateral offset splicing
technique. The MZI relies on the interference between the fundamental core mode and a co-propagating cladding mode. To build an in-fiber MZI, we need one element or device which excites two co-propagating modes and another one to recombine them. In our case, the excitation and recombination of modes is realized by two cascaded lateral offset splicing joints. The effects of the lateral offset amount, the interferometer cavity length, and the fusion splicing
parameters on the property and performance of the in-fiber MZI were investigated experimentally. By choosing an
appropriate lateral offset amount, the MZIs with good interference fringe contrast and low insertion loss can be
fabricated. Several in-fiber MZIs with different interferometer lengths were built and it is found that the interference
peak wavelength spacing is inversely proportional to the interferometer length L. The potential applications of the
proposed in-fiber MZI were further investigated as strain sensors.
We report a compact in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) made along a hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber
(HC-PBF). The MZI uses a long period grating (LPG) and an offset-splice joint (OSJ) which act as beam splitter and
combiner respectively. The LPG was produced by use of a high frequency pulsed CO2 laser, and the OSJ was made in
serial with the LPG by using a commercial fusion splicer. The interference is between the fundamental core mode (FCM)
and a high-order core mode (HOCM). The proposed interferometer was experimentally tested for temperature and strain
measurements, and the sensitivities of the interference fringe dip wavelength to temperature and strain are 107.5 pm/
(°C-m) and -1.24 pm/με, respectively.
A fiber distributed feedback laser accelerometer base on the double flexure strips structure is designed and
experimentally studied. In this paper, the vibration response of this double flexure strips structure is theoretically
analyzed and simulated. The ripple response of the proposed sensor is less than 1dB from 50 Hz to 350 Hz. The
experimental results show that the sensor has a higher sensitivity of 1591rad/g at 400Hz by introducing a 3x3 coupler
combining with an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder fiber interferometer demodulator. Signal-to-Noise and cross-sensitivity
coefficient of the sensor signal are about 43 dB and 10 dB respectively.
A novel interrogation method with multi-switches channels for time-division multiplexing Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG)
sensor system is introduced. An electric switches array controlled by a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) is
used in this scheme to monitoring simultaneously each sensor of the FBG array according to the different transmition
times of each sensor grating. In this paper, More than 10 FBG sensors are interrogated and demodulated simultaneously
base on unbalanced Michelson interferometer. The sensing sensitivity of this system is 1.658 Deg per micro-strain,
experimentally. The interrogation frequency of the system could reach 1 KHz.
Multi-channel output of time division multiplexed fiber Bragg grating sensing network was realized using a cascaded electrical switches array. The emission of a broadband light source modulated by an electro-optic modulator was injected into a four-element fiber Bragg grating sensor array spaced 10m apart. The clock-signal, which is the same as the modulating signal from the electro-optic modulator, was exploited to control the secondary cascaded switches. The signal outgoing from switches was allocated by the pulses and reflected by the sensor elements into a cascade electrical switches array. The sensor signal was then transmitted to the corresponding parallel linking switch that was controlled by the time-delay signal generator on the basis of the time delay of the sensor signal, arriving at the cascaded electrical switches array. By using demodulation with the unbalanced Michelson interferometer, which converted the wavelength shift to phase changes, the measurand was attained by the phase meter. Performance of the proposed system with a sensing sensitivity at the wavelength of 1560 nm found to be 1.654 Deg per micro-strain, which has good agreement with theoretical estimation of 1.673 Deg per micro-strain.
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