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Highlights • An optical fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer has been proposed. • The RI and temperature can be measured without the cross-sensitivity. • The sensitivities are −18.1764 nm/RIU and 0.0733 nm/°C, respectively. • The advantages of cost effectiveness, robustness and easy fabrication. Abstract A Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on single-mode-multimode-thin-core-single-mode fiber structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for measuring refractive index and temperature simultaneously. The transmission dips of the sensor will shift when the ambient refractive index and temperature change, so it is possible to measure the refractive index and temperature by monitoring the wavelength shifts of the two transmission dips due to different interference orders. The experimental results show that the sensing sensitivities of refractive index and temperature are −18.1764 nm/RIU and 0.0733 nm/°C within the refractive index range from1.3105 to 1.3517 and the temperature range from 25 °C to 50 °C, respectively. Its cost effectiveness, robustness and easy fabrication will have attractive potential applications in chemical and biological sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An in-line fiber sensor for simultaneous measurement of refractive index (RI) and temperature is proposed and demonstrated. The sensor head is composed of an asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which is combining the single mode-multimode-single mode (SMS) fiber structure and a peanut-shape structure. The transmission dips of the sensor will shift as the ambient RI or temperature variation due to the phase changing. The different wavelength transmission dips formed by the cladding modes interfering with the core mode have different sensitivity responses, so the simultaneous measurement of the RI and temperature can be achieved by monitoring the wavelength shifts of the two transmission dips. The experimental results show that the sensing sensitivities of RI and temperature are −86.7434 nm/RIU and 0.0590 nm/°C in the RI range from 1.3105 to 1.3517 and temperature range from 25 °C to 85 °C, respectively. The novel sensor processes easy fabrication, low cost, and high sensitivity, making it offers high potential applications in physical, biological and chemical sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fiber optic sensor coated with molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2) hydrogel is firstly proposed for the detection of lead ion (Pb2+). By splicing a dispersion-compensating fiber (DCF) between two single-mode fibers (SMFs) to form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), and using a fusion splicer to discharge the SMF input and output to form a thick waist cone to act as a coupler. A portion of the DCF cladding is etched to excite higher order cladding patterns and a hydrogel sensing film is applied to the etched area, the sulfur atoms in the sensing film form coordination bonds with Pb2+ and change the refractive index (RI) of the sensing film, which further leads to the wavelength shift of the resonant dip. The production process is simple and environmentally friendly. By monitoring the wavelength shift, the adsorption of Pb2+ is continuously monitored, and the sensor has a sensitivity of 3.25 × 108 nm/(mol/L) in the range of 0–1.1 × 10−8 mol/L Pb2+ in aqueous solution. The theoretical detection limit of Pb2+ concentration is 6.15 × 10−11 mol/L at a spectrometer resolution of 0.02 nm. In addition, the experimental results show that the sensor has good repeatability , selectivity and stability, and has a broad application prospect in the field of Pb2+ detection in industry and agriculture. • A SMF-DCF-SMF structure fiber sensor coated with molybdenum disulfide hydrogel is proposed for the detection of lead ion. • A sensitivity of 3.25×108 nm/(mol/L) is achieved and the theoretical detection limit of lead ion is 6.15×10-11 mol/L. • The characteristics of the sensor show applications in the field of lead ion detection in industry and agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An all-fiber comb filter with flat-top spectral response based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) cascading a Michelson interferometer (MI) is proposed. The proposed filter consists of a rotatable polarizer, two 3-dB couplers, and two fiber Faraday rotator mirrors (FRMs). The numerical simulation results show that the birefringence of the single mode fiber (SMF) can be neglected when the polarization state of linearly polarized incident light respect to one principle axe of fiber. By selecting the path difference of the MZI and MI and adjusting the rotation angle of the two FRMs, the flat-top comb spectral response can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A graphene oxide-coated in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) formed with a multimode fiber-thin core fiber-multimode fiber (MMF-TCF-MMF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for ammonia gas (NH3) sensing. The MZI structure is composed of two segments of MMF of length 2 mm, with a flame-tapered TCF between them as the sensing arm. The MMFs act as mode couplers to split and recombine light owing to the core diameter mismatch with the other fibers. A tapered TCF is formed by the flame melting taper method, resulting in evanescent wave leakage. A layer of graphene oxide (GO) is applied to the tapered region of the TCF to achieve gas adsorption. The sensor operates on the principle of changing the effective refractive index of the cladding mode of a fiber through changing the conductivity of the GO coating by adsorbed NH3 molecules, which gives rise to a phase shift and shows as the resonant dip shifts in the transmission spectrum. So the concentration of the ammonia gas can be obtained by measuring the dip shift. A wavelength-shift sensitivity of 4.97 pm/ppm with a linear fit coefficient of 98.9% is achieved for ammonia gas concentrations in the range of 0 to 151 ppm. In addition, we performed a repetitive dynamic response test on the sensor by charging/releasing NH3 at concentration of 200 ppm and a relative humidity test in a relative humidity range of 35% to 70%, which demonstrates the reusability and stability of the sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]