Fiber-optic temperature sensor based on interference of selective higher-order modes

A fiber-optic temperature sensor based on the interference of selective higher-order modes in circular optical fibers is described. The authors demonstrate that by coupling the LP01 mode in a standard single-mode fiber to the LP0m modes in a multimode fiber, and utilizing the interference of the higher-order modes, a fiber-optic temperature sensor which has an extremely simple structure and is suitable for high-temperature measurements can be constructed. The sensing principle, temperature measurement experiments, and results are presented. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.