A high sensitivity temperature sensor based on balloon-shaped bent SMF structure with its original polymer coating

Ke Tian, Gerald Farrell, Elfed Lewis, Xianfan Wang, Haidong Liang, Pengfei Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A high sensitivity optical fibre temperature sensor is demonstrated based on a balloon-shaped bent single-mode (BSBS) fibre structure where the fibre retains its original protective polymer coating. The BSBS fibre structure can be simply realized by bending a coated straight single-mode fibre into the balloon shape using a section of silica capillary tube. By adjusting the bending radius of the balloon-shaped fibre section, a modal interferometer between the core mode and the coating mode can be effectively implemented at a suitable bending radius. Considering the intrinsically high thermo-optical coefficient and thermal expansion coefficient of the polymer coating, the BSBS fibre structure offers excellent temperature sensing performance. Experimental results show that the temperature sensitivity is as high as -2465 pm C-1 with a resolution of 0.008 C over the temperature range of 20.7 C-31.7 C. Based on its simple fabrication process, very low cost, and experimentally determined high sensitivity coupled with good repeatability, the temperature sensor described in this article could be a competitive candidate in many temperature sensing applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number085104
JournalMeasurement Science and Technology
Volume29
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jun 2018

Keywords

  • fibre bend
  • modal interferometer
  • polymer coating
  • temperature measurement

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