High sensitivity optical fiber current sensor based on polarization diversity and a Faraday rotation mirror cavity

A novel high sensitivity optical fiber current sensor (OFCS) based on polarization diversity and a Faraday rotation mirror cavity is proposed and demonstrated. Comparing with single-channel detection in a conventional OFCS, a signal power gain of 6 dB and a signal-to-noise ratio improvement of over 30 dB have been achieved in the new scheme. The cavity amplifies magnetic field-induced nonreciprocal phase modulation, while the Faraday rotation mirrors suppress the reciprocal birefringence. A linear response is obtained for current amplitude as low as several mA at an AC frequency of 1 kHz. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America