Fabrication of Hybrid Mach-Zehnder Interferometer based on Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber for Load Measurement

An effective procedure for the fabrication of tunable hybrid Mach-Zehnder interferometer (HMZI) based on micro-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) and Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) for load measurement application has been proposed and experimentally investigated. Also, HMZI was developed with 2 types of in-line fiber interferometers, involving dual air micro-cavity FPI as well as compact MZI, which have been shown via fusion splicing a short section which is related to the hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) to the end of single-mode fiber (SMF). MZI and micro-cavity (in-line fiber FPI) have been fabricated through a certain technique of splicing the photonic crystal fiber (PCF) to the traditional SMF and fused tapering, while its dimensions might be excellently managed through controlling series of parameters like HCPCF length and many parameters of splicing like taper length, overlap regarding the 2 fibers as well as the number of arcs. In addition, the experimental results are showing that the micro-cavities with vertical and horizontal length range from extremely low values (16.33 mu m) to extremely high values (38.54 mu m) fabricated with elevated reproducibility, such process might be used for fabricating the micro-air cavities with any dimensions in such range base on user requirements. Also, the experimental results specified that HMZI depending on HCPCF with the use of 2 micro-cavities with regard to load measurement specified that the tunability range has been (1550.993-1552.051) nm with 0.966 nm/N sensitivity. As a result of the benefits of hybrid structure, it is used majorly in aviation industries and engineering health detection.

Automated summary

This study proposes an effective method for fabricating a tunable hybrid Mach-Zehnder interferometer (HMZI) and investigates its application in load measurement. By fusion splicing a micro-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) and Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) to a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) and a single-mode fiber (SMF), a HMZI with two in-line fiber interferometers is developed. The dimensions of the MZI and micro-cavity FPI can be controlled by adjusting various parameters. The experimental results demonstrate the tunability and sensitivity of the HMZI for load measurement. The hybrid structure shows great potential in the aviation industry and engineering health detection.