Compact and wide range polarimetric strain sensor based on polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber

We demonstrated a polarimetric fiber strain sensor based on Sagnac birefringence interferometer, which had a compact sensing element and wide measurement range. A short polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-PCF), the length of which was similar to 2.0 cm, was employed as a sensor head. The length of the PM-PCF was reduced approximately by half, compared with the shortest one in the previous works. In particular, the measurement range was extended to 16 m epsilon with a strain sensitivity of similar to 1.01 pm/mu epsilon comparable to those of fiber Bragg gratings. Furthermore, the dependence of strain sensitivity on the wavelength shift of fringe dips was investigated to facilitate the practical use of the proposed sensor. 0 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.