A Miniature Fabry Perot Sensor for Twist/Rotation, Strain and Temperature Measurements Based on a Four-Core Fiber

Abstract

In this article, a novel miniature Fabry-Perot twist/rotation sensor using a four core fiber and quadruple interferometer setup is presented and demonstrated. Detailed sensor modeling, analytical evaluation and test measurement assessment were conducted in this contribution. The sensor structure comprises a single lead-in multicore fiber, which has four eccentrically positioned cores, a special asymmetrical microstructure, and an inline semi-reflective mirror, all packed in a glass capillary housing. A four core fiber positioned in front of a special asymmetrical microstructure and the inline semi reflective mirror defines four Fabry-Perot interferometers. Rotation of the sensors’ asymmetrical microstructure around the axis of the in-line four core fibers´ modulates the path lengths of all four interferometers simultaneously. Proper processing of path length changes of all four interferometers allows for unambiguous and temperature independent determination of the sensor’s rotation angle.