Refractive index sensor based on etched eccentric core few-mode fiber dual-mode interferometer

A compact and high sensitivity refractive index (RI) sensor has been theoretically and experimentally demonstrated based on dual-mode interferometer (DMI) in an eccentric core few-mode fiber (ECFMF). The DMI is fabricated by fusion splicing a piece of ECFMF etched by hydrofluoric acid (HF) and two single mode fibers (SMFs) with a lateral-offset. The interference is formed by LP01 and LP11 modes in the eccentric core of ECFMF. The etched ECFMF-DMI based on core-core mode interference exhibits a higher RI sensitivity than the DMI based on core-cladding mode interference. The sensitivity reaches up to 2565.2 nm/RIU around the RI of 1.4. Both of the etched and unetched ECFMF-DMIs have low temperature sensitivities of 9.6 pm/degrees C and 33.1 pm/degrees C, respectively. The etched ECFMF-DMI based on the core-core mode interference possesses tremendous superiority for RI measurement due to its high RI sensitivity and low temperature cross, therefore the proposed sensor has great potentials in chemical and biological fields. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement