A Loop All-Fiber Current Sensor Based on Single-Polarization Single-Mode Couplers

Hao Zhang; Junzhen Jiang; Yu Zhang; Huaixi Chen; Na Zhao; Lingyan Lin; Yishen Qiu

doi:10.3390/s17112674

A Loop All-Fiber Current Sensor Based on Single-Polarization Single-Mode Couplers

Sensors (Basel). 2017 Nov 20;17(11):2674. doi: 10.3390/s17112674.

Authors

Hao Zhang¹, Junzhen Jiang², Yu Zhang³, Huaixi Chen⁴, Na Zhao⁵, Lingyan Lin⁶, Yishen Qiu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronic Information Science, Fujian Jiangxia University, Fuzhou 350007, China. 1698091502181@fjjxu.edu.cn.
² Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China. jzjiang@fjnu.edu.cn.
³ Department of Electronic Information Science, Fujian Jiangxia University, Fuzhou 350007, China. zhangyu@fjjxu.edu.cn.
⁴ Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China. hxchen@fjirsm.ac.cn.
⁵ Academy of OPTO-electronics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100094, China. zhaona@aoe.ac.cn.
⁶ Department of Electronic Information Science, Fujian Jiangxia University, Fuzhou 350007, China. lingyanlin@fjjxu.edu.cn.
⁷ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China. ysqiu@fjnu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Low current sensitivity and insufficient system stability are two key problems in all-fiber current sensor (AFCS) studies. In order to solve the two problems, a novel AFCS combining single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) couplers and a loop structure is presented in this paper with a design that incorporates the advantages of both SPSM couplers and a loop structure. SPSM couplers are shown to simplify the AFCS system and reduce the risk of interference, and the loop structure can enhance the current sensitivity. Both theory and experiment prove that the new AFCS can simultaneously overcome two prevalent obstacles of low current sensitivity and low stability.

Keywords: fiber current sensors; fiber loop; ortho-conjugate retroreflector; single-polarization single-mode; system stability.