Two-dimensional displacement (bending) sensor based on cascaded Fabry–Perot interferometers fabricated in a seven-core fiber

Abstract

We demonstrated a two-dimensional vector displacement (bending) sensor with high angular resolution based on Vernier effect generated by two cascaded Fabry–Perot interferometers (FPI) in a seven-core fiber (SCF). To form the FPI, plane-shaped refractive index modulations are fabricated as the reflection mirrors in the SCF using slit-beam shaping and femtosecond laser direct writing. Three pairs of cascaded FPIs are fabricated in the center core and the two non-diagonal edge cores of the SCF and applied to the vector displacement measurement. The proposed sensor exhibits high displacement sensitivity with significant direction dependence. The magnitude and direction of the fiber displacement can be obtained via monitoring the wavelength shifts. Moreover, the source fluctuations and the temperature cross-sensitivity can be referenced out by monitoring the bending-insensitive FPI of the center core.