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This paper presents a low-cost and high-sensitivity temperature sensor based on an isopropanol-sealed multimode microfiber (MMMF). Isopropanol is a kind of material with a high thermo-optic coefficient. Refractive index (RI) of isopropanol changes with the surrounding temperature variation allowing high-sensitivity temperature sensing. By inserting the MMMF into an isopropanol-sealed capillary, a simple and highly sensitive fiber temperature sensor is implemented. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the tapered multimode fiber can efficiently excite high-order cladding modes, the MMMF can enhance the multimode interference and increase the interaction between the evanescent wave and the isopropanol. The characteristics of the measured transmission spectra under different conditions are evaluated. Experimental results demonstrate that the temperature sensitivity increases with the decreasing diameter of MMMF. The maximum temperature sensitivity of −4.12 nm/°C is obtained over the range of 30 °C–50 °C. This packaging technology not only offers a more stable structure but also improves the temperature sensitivity for the thermo-optic effect of isopropanol and the thermal expansion effect of packaging materials.

In this Letter, Autler–Townes splitting and induced transparency windows are observed in a multimode microfiber knot. The microfiber knot is fabricated using tapered single-mode fiber, with the knot position located at the transition area of the tapered fiber. The spectrum, in analogy to Autler–Townes splitting, derives from the mode splitting of two high-order excited modes, which is theoretically explained by the multimode transfer matrix method. Moreover, without adding resonators, two induced transparency windows are realized with the tunable coupling coefficients and phase difference of excited knot modes. The tunable, easily fabricated, compact, and robust microfiber knot has potential applications in optical sensing, filters, slow light, and optical switching.

We propose a high-temperature sensor based on a suspended-core microstructured optical fiber (SCMF). The sensor is constructed by fusion splicing a piece of SCMF between two sections of multimode fibers (MMFs) which act as light beam couplers. The multimode interference is formed by the air cladding modes and the silica core modes in the SCMF. Fast Fourier transform is adapted to filtering the raw transmission spectra of the MMF-SCMF-MMF structure. The wavelength shift of the dominant spatial frequency is monitored as the temperature varies from 50 °C to 800 °C. The sensitivities of 31.6 pm/°C and 51.6 pm/°C in the temperature range of 50 °C-450 °C and 450 °C-800 °C are respectively achieved. Taking advantage of the compact size, good stability and repeatability, easy fabrication, and low cost, this proposed high-temperature sensor has an applicable value.

A mechanical strain tuning of whispering gallery mode (WGM) in a hollow-peanut-shaped optical microresonator (HPSOM) is demonstrated. The HPSOM is fabricated by fusion splicing two hollow bubbles. The central resonator is formed by the solid structure in the middle, and the near end (far end) resonator is formed by the hollow structure on both sides. The hollow microresonator can improve the strain response-ability compared with the solid micro resonant. The resonator structure and strain response characteristics of the HPSOM are researched theoretically and experimentally researched. It is worth noting that due to the elliptical effect of the central resonator during the manufacturing process, the central resonator cannot confine the light field to the equator and form the WGM. In the coupled spectrum, the WGMs of bilateral HPSOM with low Q-mode are easier to distinguish and monitor. Therefore, a low Q-mode is selected for strain measurement. The testing highest sensitivity is 6.96 pm/μɛ in the strain range 0–25 μɛ. Relative to the large-strain dynamic testing, low-strain testing has broad application prospects in geotechnical engineering testing, structural testing, and engineering geophysical prospecting. Being of general interest, our findings pave the way for improved perception of strain.

A hybrid structure sensor based on Michelson and Fabry-Perot fiber-optic interferometer for simultaneous measurement of transverse load and temperature is proposed and experimentally investigated. This structure has the advantages of high sensitivity, low cost and easy fabrication. It consists of lateral offset splicing of single-mode fibers (SMFs) and air-cavity of silica microsphere. The temperature sensitivities of the sensor are 41.5 pm/oC and 12.5 pm/oC in 35 oC-60 oC at two tracking points, respectively. The transverse load sensitivities of the sensor are 0.85 nm/N and 1.09 nm/N in 0 N–3.40 N at two tracking points, respectively. The sensor can be used to concurrently measure transverse load and temperature owing to the different sensitivities of them to the two wavelengths.

We theoretically demonstrate the transmittion spectra and dispersion characteristics based on the electromagnetically induced transparency like effect in the nested fiber double-ring resonator with the transfer matrix theory; the system which are connected by three directional couplers consists of two inner rings, one outer ring and one straight waveguide. The simulation results show that the tunable group delay can be realized by changing the coupling coefficients. In the NDRR coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer system, we obtained fast light and slow light simultaneously. By adjusting appropriate parameters, we can archive flat band group delay curve that has a profound application in optical interferometer, optical buffer, optical filter, optical modulator, dynamic or static optical sensing field.

We investigate the phase and group delay in eye-like ring resonator with the effect of different coupling coefficients and attenuation factors. The eye-like structure is composed of two bus waveguides coupling with the outer ring and the two rings coupling together which have the same perimeters. The eye-like ring resonator has two outputs which have different transmission characteristics. In this paper, we measure the group delay of the two outputs through changing the coupling coefficients and the attenuation factors of the inner and the outer ring. The result shows that the two outputs have reverse group delay (superluminal and slow light) which will have potential use in slow light fiber, optical buffers and optical switches.

A stress-insensitive vector curvature sensor based on a single fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor is easily fabricated by encapsulating an FBG on a thin steel plate with ultraviolet glue. When the FBG deviates from the neutral plane, its effective refractive index and grating constant are changed by bending, therefore, the sensor can realize the curvature measurement. The sensitivity of the sensor in convex bending is 553.65 pm/m−1 in the range of 0.4798–1.3569 m−1. The sensor can realize vector measurement of curvature due to the opposite stress direction on the two sides of the neutral plane during bending. The concave curvature sensitivity of the sensor is −811.19 pm/m−1 in the range of 0.4798–1.3569 m−1. Due to the large stiffness of the thin steel plate, the package of the FBG makes it insensitive to small axial stress. The favorable stability of the sensor facilitates its practical application in the measurement of curvature and inclination. This sensor has the advantage of simple manufacture, low cost, and easy industrial production.

A miniature fiber-optic sensor fabricated by fuse splicing a section of hollow silica tube between two sections of single-mode fiber is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of the liquid refractive index (RI) and temperature. The sensitivities of RI and temperature are measured by linear fitting, respectively, and corresponding detecting resolutions are obtained by the sensitivity matrix. The different response sensitivities of two dips to RI and temperature manifest that the structure proposed can be used for simultaneous measurement. The experimental evidence indicates that the miniature fiber sensor with advantages of easy fabrication, ultracompactness, and robustness is insensitive to axial strain.

In this paper, we propose an add-drop resonator Sagnac interferometer filter to achieve tunable dual-channel function. Not only is just one ring utilized to control two channels but also the reconfiguration is viable by phase difference control. Three methods are put forward to tune the bandwidth, the extinction ratio, and the reconfiguration of the channels. The reconfiguration of the dual channel is realized via controlling the phase difference between the two arms of the Sagnac interferometer, avoiding the traditional method of shifting the resonance wavelength. Furthermore, the channels can be extended by adding add-drop interferometers. The flexible and compact filter can provide potential implications in dense wavelength division multiplexing systems and optical switches.