Performance enhancement of long period fiber gratings for strain and temperature sensing

We will discuss performance optimization of strain and temperature sensors based on long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) through control of the temperature sensitivity of the resonant peak shifts. Distinction between the effects of strain and temperature is a major concern for applications to communication and sensing. This was achieved in this work by suppressing or enhancing the temperature sensitivity by adjusting the doping concentrations of GeO2 and B2O3 in the core or cladding. The LPFGs were fabricated with a CO2 laser by the mechanical stress relaxation and microbending methods. The optimized temperature sensitivities were 0.002 nm/degrees C for the suppressed case and 0.28nm/degrees C for the enhanced case, respectively. These LPFGs were used for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature. The result indicates the rms errors of 23 mu strain for the strain and 1.3 degrees C for the temperature.