Abstract

A fiber-optic sensing platform based on a transient and traveling long-period grating (LPG) in a single-mode optical fiber has been proposed and demonstrated. The LPG is generated by pulsed acoustic waves that propagate along the fiber. First, we demonstrate the LPG for temperature measurement along the fiber. By coating the fiber with ultrathin ionically self-assembled multilayers, we then show that the LPG is capable of detecting nanometer thickness variations of the fiber. A temperature compensation method is also proposed and demonstrated. Because the acoustically generated LPG travels along the fiber, this advance is expected to yield a highly sensitive fully distributed fiber-optic biochemical sensor.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

Photonic crystal fiber long-period gratings for biochemical sensing

Lars Rindorf, Jesper B. Jensen, Martin Dufva, Lars Hagsholm Pedersen, Poul Erik Høiby, and Ole Bang
Opt. Express 14(18) 8224-8231 (2006)

Fully distributed fiber-optic temperature sensing using acoustically-induced rocking grating

Dorothy Y. Wang, Yunmiao Wang, Jianmin Gong, and Anbo Wang
Opt. Lett. 36(17) 3392-3394 (2011)

Photonic crystal fiber interferometer composed of a long period fiber grating and one point collapsing of air holes

Hae Young Choi, Kwan Seob Park, and Byeong Ha Lee
Opt. Lett. 33(8) 812-814 (2008)

Analysis of optical response of long period fiber gratings to nm-thick thin-film coatings

Zhiyong Wang, J. R. Heflin, Rogers H. Stolen, and Siddharth Ramachandran
Opt. Express 13(8) 2808-2813 (2005)

Highly sensitive refractometer with a photonic-crystal-fiber long-period grating

Lars Rindorf and Ole Bang
Opt. Lett. 33(6) 563-565 (2008)