Enhancing Temperature Sensitivity for The SMS Fiber Structure Temperature Sensor

Abstract

The single mode – multimode – single mode (SMS) fiber structures have been utilized for various temperature sensor applications. In this paper, we investigated a way to enhance the temperature sensitivity of SMS fiber structure as a sensor. Application of packaging material in the optical fiber sensor can induce strain due to a temperature variation. Three types of material, namely steel, aluminum, and PTFE were used as the packaging material in a bar shape. The SMS fiber structure was glued on the packaging material at two points of the bar. A coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of packaging material plays important role in designing the sensor. A modal propagation analysis (MPA) is used to analyze the light propagation in the SMS fiber structure, taken into account the CTE of packaging material. It is shown that the use of packaging can enhance the temperature sensor sensitivity of SMS fiber structure.