Sensing interrogation technique for fiber-optic interferometer type of sensors based on a single-passband RF filter

In this paper, a sensing interrogation system for fiber-optic interferometer type of sensors by using a single-passband radio-frequency (RF) filter has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The fiber-optic interferometer based sensors can give continuous optical sampling, and along with dispersive medium a single-passband RF frequency response can be achieved. The sensing parameter variation on the fiber-optic interferometer type of sensors will affect their free spectrum range, and thus the peak frequency of the RF filter. By tracking the central frequency of the passband the sensing parameter can be demodulated. As a demonstration, in our experiment a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (FMZI) based temperature sensor has been interrogated. By tracking the peak frequency of the passband the temperature variation can be monitored. In our experiment, the sensing responsivity of 10.5 MHz/degrees C, 20.0 MHz/degrees C and 41.2 MHz/degrees C, when the lengths of sensing fiber are 1 m, 2 m and 4 m have been achieved. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America