Photonic crystal fiber microcavity based bend and temperature sensor using micro fiber

We propose a highly sensitive bend and temperature sensor employing a microcavity incorporated solid core PCF (SCPCF) concatenated with tapered single mode fiber (SMF) based on intensity interrogation. The tapered SMF is employed for bend and temperature sensing while the microcavity based PCF is used to modulated the interference pattern for high precision. The cavities in SCPCF are fabricated using a splicer machine while the tapered SMF is fabricated using flame and brush technique. The variation in wavelength of the interference pattern is found to be insensitive to bend and temperature while the intensity of the pattern is found to be sensitive to bend and temperature with sensitivity of 20 dBm/m(-1) and 0.21 dBm/degrees C respectively. Moreover, the resolution of the sensor for bending is found to be 5 x 10(-3) m(-1). This may open a new window for economical and stable sensor for practical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.