Recent progress in fiber-optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors

Fiber-optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot (EFPI) sensors have been successfully used for a wide range of applications. The recent progress in EFPI sensors is reviewed in this paper. First, the optical amplification technology is adopted into the EFPI sensor system to enhance the interferometric signal considerably. Second, both spatial-frequency multiplexing and coarse-wavelength-division multiplexing technologies are demonstrated for multiplexing of a modified EFPI sensor called the Fizeau sensor. Finally, the EFPI sensor is integrated with other fiber-optic sensing elements to realize the measurement of multiple parameters, for example, the EFPI is integrated with the in-fiber Bragg-grating (FBG) or the long-period-fiber-grating (LPFG) to achieve simultaneous strain and temperature measurement. Furthermore, simultaneous measurement of displacement, transverse load, static strain, temperature, and vibration can be achieved by using the combination of EFPI/FBG/LPFG, (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.