Demodulation of a polarization‐maintaining photonic crystal fiber load sensor with high resolution using a microwave photonic filter.

A new demodulation technique for polarization‐maintaining photonic crystal fiber pressure sensor with high resolution based on a simple photonic microwave filter has been proposed and demonstrated. Unlike the conventional methods that use optical interferometry and optical spectrum analysis, the proposed method adopts microwave photonics technique. The relationship between load and the notch frequency of the filter is studied. By measuring the notch frequency of the filter, the pressure can be determined and the sensing sensitivity is greatly increased. The sensitivity is as high as 15.625 MHz/N which satisfied well with the theoretical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]