Simultaneous measurement of strain, temperature and refractive index based on multimode interference, fiber tapering and fiber Bragg gratings

We report the development of an optical fiber sensor capable of simultaneously measuring strain, temperature and refractive index. The sensor is based on the combination of two fiber Bragg gratings written in a standard single-mode fiber, one in an untapered region and another in a tapered region, spliced to a no-core fiber. The possibility of simultaneously measuring three parameters relies on the different sensitivity responses of each part of the sensor. The results have shown the possibility of measuring three parameters simultaneously with a resolution of 3.77 μe, 1.36 °C and 5 × 10−4, respectively for strain, temperature and refractive index. On top of the multiparameter ability, the simple production and combination of all the parts involved on this optical-fiber-based sensor is an attractive feature for several sensing applications.