Ultrahigh resolution fiber-optic quasi-static strain sensors for geophysical research

A review of our recent work on ultrahigh resolution optical fiber sensors in the quasi-static region is presented, and their applications in crustal deformation measurement are introduced. Geophysical research such as studies on earthquake and volcano requires monitoring the earth's crustal deformation continuously with a strain resolution on the order of nano-strains (nÉ) in static to low frequency region. Optical fiber sensors are very attractive due to their unique advantages such as low cost, small size, and easy deployment. However, the resolution of conventional optical fiber strain sensors is far from satisfactory in the quasi-static domain. In this paper, several types of recently developed fiber-optic sensors with ultrahigh resolution in the quasi-static domain are introduced, including a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogated with a narrow linewidth tunable laser, an FBG based fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) sensor by using a phase modulation technique, and an FFPI sensor with a sideband interrogation technique. Quantificational analyses and field experimental results demonstrated that the FBG sensor can provide nano-order strain resolution. The sub-nano strain resolution was also achieved by the FFPI sensors in laboratory. Above achievements provide the basis to develop powerful fiber-optic tools for geophysical research on crustal deformation monitoring. © 2013 The Author(s).