In-Line Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with D-Shaped Fiber Grating for Temperature-Discriminated Directional Curvature Measurement

A high-sensitivity curvature sensing configuration is implemented by using a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with D-shaped fiber Bragg grating (FBG). A segment of D-shaped fiber is fusion spliced into a single mode fiber at both sides, and then a short FBG is inscribed in the D-shaped fiber. The fiber device yields a significant spectrum sensitivity as high as 87.7 nm/m^-1 to the ultralow curvature range from 0 to 0.3 m^-1, and can distinguish the orientation of curvature experienced by the fiber as the attenuation dip producing either a blue or red wavelength shift, by virtue of the asymmetry of D-shaped fiber cladding. In addition, by tracking both resonant wavelengths of the MZI and embedded FBG, the temperature and curvature can be measured simultaneously.