A polarization maintaining fiber sensor for simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain

A fiber sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer(MZI)for simultaneously measuring temperature and strain is proposed in this paper. The fiber sensor is constructed by sandwiching a straight section of the polarization maintaining fiber between two peanut structures. Experiment results indicate that wavelength sensitivity to the temperature of two dips are 19.56 pm/degrees C and 31.74 pm/degrees C at the range of 25-75 degrees C. and wavelength sensitivity to the strain of two dips are -0.794 pm/mu e and -2.22 pm/mu epsilon at the range of 0-1568 mu epsilon, respectively. This sensor has good potential applications in robotic arms, mechanical engineering and biological sensing. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.