Temperature-insensitive fiber twist sensor based on elliptical-core few-mode fiber

A highly sensitive fiber optics twist sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated using elliptical-core few-mode fiber (e-FMF). With the help of a fixed-phase plate for conversion from LP11 to LP01 mode, the twist angle can be linearly mapped to the spatial rotation of LP11 mode profile and consequently discriminated by monitoring the optical power variation at the standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) output. When the optical power at the e-FMF output is 10 mW, the twist angle within the range of +/- 39 degrees can be successfully detected with a sensitivity of more than 20 mu W/degrees. Meanwhile, the twist direction can be identified simultaneously. In particular, when the twist angle ranges from -12.5 degrees to 20.1 degrees, the sensitivity is higher than 100 mu W/degrees. Both temperature-insensitive operation from 20 degrees C to 150 degrees C and e-FMF length insensitive operation are experimentally verified. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America