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A Photonic Crystal Fiber and Fiber Bragg Grating-Based Hybrid Fiber-Optic

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Article  in  IEEE Sensors Journal · January 2012

DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2011.2114650

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IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 12, NO. 1, JANUARY 2012
A Photonic Crystal Fiber and Fiber Bragg
Grating-Based Hybrid Fiber-Optic Sensor System
Ginu Rajan, Manjusha Ramakrishnan, Yuliya Semenova, Karolina Milenko, Piotr Lesiak, Andrzej W. Domanski,
Tomasz R. Wolinski, Member, IEEE, and Gerald Farrell
Abstract—A hybrid sensor that operates in the intensity domain
by converting the polarization and wavelength information from
the photonic crystal fiber sensor and fiber Bragg grating (FBG)
sensor, respectively, into intensity variation is presented in this
paper. The hybrid fiber-optic sensor system involves a combina-
tion of a polarimetric sensor based on a photonic crystal fiber
and a FBG sensor and is used for simultaneous strain and tem-
perature measurement. The strain sensitivity of the polarization
maintaining photonic crystal fiber at different lengths and the
corresponding slope required for the edge filter which converts
the FBG wavelength information into intensity are studied and
presented in this paper. The proposed sensor configuration has a
wide range of applications in smart fiber-optic sensing.
Index Terms—Fiber Bragg grating (FBG), hybrid sensor, polari-
metric sensor.
I. INTRODUCTION
IBER BRAGG GRATINGs (FBGs) have great potential
F for strain and temperature sensing in a large range of
applications [1]. However, one of the most significant limita-
tions of FBG strain sensors is their high intrinsic temperature
cross-sensitivity and their inability to measure strain and
temperature simultaneously. Highly birefringent (HB) polar-
ization-maintaining (PM) fiber-based fiber-optic sensors are a
new generation of sensors known as polarimetric fiber sensors
which utilize polarization (phase) modulation within fibers to
sense external perturbations [2]. HB polarimetric sensors can
be made temperature insensitive but to measure strain they
require a means of setting a zero strain reference.
To overcome the limitations of a single FBG sensor many
schemes for simultaneous measurement of strain and tempera-
ture are reported which are based on either superimposed FBGs,
twisted FBGs or long period gratings (LPG) [3], [4]. Hybrid ap-
proaches by combining FBGs and LPGs [5] and also an FBG
together with an extrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer sensor [6]
Manuscript received November 07, 2010; revised January 21, 2011; accepted
January 29, 2011. Date of publication February 14, 2011; date of current ver-
sion November 29, 2011. This work was supported in part by Enterprise Ireland
under the International Research Grant MATERA ERA-NET. The associate ed-
itor coordinating the review of this paper and approving it for publication was
Prof. Jose Santos.
G. Rajan, M. Ramakrishnan, Y. Semenova, and G. Farrell are with the
Photonics Research Centre, School of Electronic and Communications En-
gineering, Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street, Dublin 8, Ireland
(e-mail: ginu.rajan@dit.ie).
K. Milenko, P. Lesiak, A. W. Domanski, and T. R. Wolinski. are with Optics
and Photonics Division, Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology,
Koszykowa 75, Warsaw, Poland.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JSEN.2011.2114650
1530-437X/$26.00 © 2011 IEEE
39
have also been reported. Sensing systems based on photonic
crystal fiber (PCF) and FBGs for strain and temperature discrim-
ination have been proposed, including a PCF modal interferom-
eter used together with FBGs [7] and a fiber loop mirror using a
small core microstructured fiber [8]. Sensor systems with grat-
ings written in micro structured fibers have also been used for
discrimination between strain and temperature [9], [10].
In this paper, we propose a new method for simultaneous
strain and temperature measurement by using a hybrid approach
which involves an FBG sensor and a PM-PCF polarimetric
sensor. The advantage of PM-PCF over conventional PM fiber
is that the polarimetric sensor based on PM-PCF can give a
linear response for a wide range of applied strain and insen-
sitivity to temperature variation. This novel hybrid approach
to sensing has not been utilized before and overcomes the
limitations of the individual sensors. Another advantage of the
proposed sensing scheme compared to other approaches is that
the system operates in the intensity domain by converting the
wavelength and polarization information into intensity varia-
tions. The principle of operation of the hybrid sensor system
and its experimental demonstration are presented in this paper.
II. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
A symmetric deformation effect in a single-mode fiber influ-
ences the propagation constant in every mode because of the
changes in fiber length ( ) and the refractive indices of the core
and the cladding, which leads to changes in phase difference
between the polarization states of the fundamental mode .
Under the influence of the longitudinal strain at a constant
temperature, the change in phase difference can be written as
(1)
In the case of PM-PCFs (such as PM-1550-01), the influence
of temperature on the birefringence of the fiber is very low [11]
and can be neglected and hence the phase change in such a po-
larimetric sensor will only originate from the induced strain.
The strain sensitivity of such a HB fiber of length can be
written as [2]
(2)
where is an experimental parameter describing the amount
of strain required to induce a phase shift in the polarized
light. In polarimetric optical fiber sensors, the light intensity at
the output, for a wavelength , can be described by the formula
(3)
40 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 12, NO. 1, JANUARY 2012

The FBG sensor system and the polarimetric sensor system

are calibrated for strain and temperature independently. The
slope of the edge filter used in the interrogation system is chosen
in such a way that the variation in intensity due to the applied
strain to the FBG matches the intensity variation due to the ap-
plied strain for the polarimetric sensor. Thus, for the same ap-
plied strain both the sensors will give the same intensity varia-
tion within the linear range of the polarimetric sensor.
Assuming is the strain sensitivity for both the polarimetric
and FBG sensors and as the temperature sensitivity for the
FBG sensor, the corresponding intensity variations due to strain
and temperature for both sensors can be written in the form of
the characteristic matrix below

(6)

The inverse of the above matrix will yield the strain and tem-
perature information simultaneously. Equation (6) can also be
used for sensors with different strain sensitivity by including a
sensitivity factor.

III. EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE

HYBRID SENSOR SYSTEM
Fig. 1. Schematic of the hybrid polarimetric-FBG sensor system.
A. Experimental Setup
An experimental arrangement as shown in Fig. 1 was set up
From the above equation, it is clear that the output signal of a
to demonstrate the hybrid sensor. A 3 dB coupler is used to split
polarimetric sensor is a periodic function of the external strain
the signals between the FBG sensor and the polarimetric sensor.
and the period of this function can be adjusted by choosing
The PM-PCF used was a buffer stripped PM-1550-01 and the
an appropriate length for the sensing fiber. Thus, by choosing
polarized output of the PM-PCF was observed at a wavelength
the appropriate length of the PM-PCF a linear transmission re-
of 1550 nm with the use of a wavelength drop filter. The fiber
sponse with strain can be obtained within the certain range of
ends of the PM-PCF were spliced to standard single mode fibers
interest which is also independent of temperature. To obtain the
(SMF28) by means of a conventional fusion splicer and the loss
temperature information an FBG sensor is used as a comple-
for both splices was approximately 2 dB per splice. A polar-
mentary sensor to the polarimetric sensor. The schematic of the
izer and an analyzer at the input and output were used to obtain
hybrid polarimetric-FBG sensor system is shown in Fig. 1. The
the strain and temperature induced change in the state of polar-
output of the FBG sensor, i.e., the wavelength shifts due to the
ization. The peak wavelength of the FBG used was 1560 nm
strain and temperature are converted into intensity changes by
and the length was 1 cm. A fiber circulator was used to di-
means of an optical fiber edge filter [12].
rect the reflected signal from the FBG to the edge filter. The
The transmission response of an edge filter which converts
edge filter used to convert the strain and temperature induced
the strain and temperature information from the FBG sensor into
wavelength variation from the FBG into intensity changes was
intensity variation can be expressed, respectively, as
a macrobend fiber-based edge filter [12]. Two photodiodes at the
outputs were used to measure the intensity variation. National
(4) Instruments LabVIEW 8.0 software was used for real-time post-
processing to obtain the strain and temperature information si-
(5) multaneously. The use of PM fibers as connection fibers in the
polarimetric sensor part of the system could increase the sta-
bility of the sensor, but in this experiment we have used stan-
where is the peak reflected wavelength of the FBG at a con-
dard single-mode fibers as connection fibers. Hence, the en-
stant temperature and zero strain and and are the wave-
tire system was fixed rigidly on an optical table to avoid any
lengths corresponding to the Bragg peak shifts due to the ap-
external perturbations on the system during the course of the
plied maximum strain and temperature. , , and
experiments.
are the intensities corresponding to those wavelengths. From
(4) and (5), it is clear that the strain and temperature induced
B. Strain Sensitivity of the PM-PCF
wavelength shifts of the reflected signal can be converted into
a linear intensity variation within the range of the operating Studies of the dependence of the strain sensitivity of PM-PCF
wavelengths. fiber with different lengths are important since the length of the
RAJAN et al.: A PHOTONIC CRYSTAL FIBER AND FIBER BRAGG GRATING-BASED HYBRID FIBER-OPTIC SENSOR SYSTEM
Fig. 2. Polarimetric sensor strain sensitivity versus length of the PM-PCF.
PM-PCF defines the strain resolution and compactness of the
hybrid sensor. Fig. 2 shows the effect of length of PM-PCF on
the strain sensitivity. From the figure, it is evident that the strain
sensitivity is a linear function of the polarimetric sensor length
and the sensitivity increases with the increase in PCF length.
For a point strain measurement a compact sensor is needed so a
small length of PCF is preferred. Hence, there is a tradeoff be-
tween the strain sensitivity and spatial resolution for point strain
measurements. However, for average strain measurement over a
length of PM-PCF higher lengths can be used. The strain sensi-
tivity of the system can be improved by using other temperature
independent high birefringent fibers such as side-hole polariza-
tion maintaining fiber.
To demonstrate the advantage of using PM-PCF over conven-
tional PM fibers, the phase change induced by applied strain in
the case of PM-PCF 1550-01 and a Panda fiber PM-PF-15-04
were also measured for a 20 cm long fiber. We have observed
that for the Panda fiber the linear range (phase change up to ) very high baseline loss and, hence, the system will require very
is limited to 750 while for the PM-PCF the phase change of
will occur only when the strain value exceeds 2500 [13].
Thus, by using a PM-PCF, a larger measurable strain range can
be achieved. The Panda fiber has higher strain sensitivity, but its
limited linear measureable strain range and its temperature de-
pendent nature makes the PM-PCF more attractive to use as the
polarimetric sensor in the proposed hybrid sensor system.
C. Slope Selection of the Edge Filter
A macrobending fiber-based edge filter converts the strain
induced Bragg wavelength variation of the FBG into an inten-
sity variation. For hybrid sensing both the FBG sensor and the
polarimetric sensor systems should ideally provide the same
strain sensitivity. The strain sensitivity of a typical FBG is
1.2 . One approach is to use a sensitivity correction
factor in the characterization matrix to effectively achieve com-
parable strain sensitivities. The value of this correction factor
depends on the strain sensitivity of the polarimetric sensor and
the slope of the edge filter. In this experimental demonstration,
a macrobend fiber with 20 turns and 10.5 mm bend radius is
used. This filter gives a slope of approximately 0.25 dB/nm. The
41
Fig. 3. Slope of the macrobend fiber edge filter with different bend radii and
with different number of bend turns.
length of PM-PCF used to demonstrate the working principle
of the system was 13 cm. The estimated strain sensitivity of
the 13 cm PM-PCF was approximately 0.0012 which
is four times higher than that of the strain value converted into
intensity by the edge filter with a slope of 0.25 dB/nm. Hence,
in the present experiment, a sensitivity correction factor of four
is included in the characterization matrix to compensate this.
For short lengths of PM-PCF (30–60 mm) since the polari-
metric strain sensitivity is low, a correction factor may not be re-
quired and a match between sensor sensitivities can be achieved
solely by adjusting the edge filter slope. The slope of the mac-
robend edge filter can be varied by changing the number of
turns and bend radius [12]. Fig. 3 shows the slope of the edge
filter for different bend radii and for different number of bend
turns. However, it should be noted from the figure that a high
wavelength/strain sensitivity requires small bend radius or large
number of bend turns for the edge filter. Such a filter will have a
high sensitivity power meters to measure the output power. In
this case, the use of correction factor is essential.
D. Simultaneous Measurement of Strain and Temperature
Using the Hybrid Sensor System
The strain response slope of the intensity spectra of both the
FBG sensor and the polarimetric sensor are equalized. A slope
of 0.25 dB/nm for the edge filter together with a sensitivity cor-
rection factor of four converts the wavelength information from
the FBG sensor whose peak wavelength is at 1560 nm. The mea-
sured change in intensity for both the FBG sensor and the po-
larimetric sensor with applied strain are shown in Fig. 4(a). The
strain step of 192 was limited by the resolution of the trans-
lation stage used to apply strain. From the figure, it is clear that
for both the sensors the intensity variation is monotonic and also
has the same magnitude.
To measure the temperature response, the sensors are attached
to a Peltier cooler which is controlled by a temperature con-
troller. The temperature of the sensor is varied from 20 C to
70 C at intervals of 5 C. The intensity outputs of both the sen-
sors are also monitored and in Fig. 4(b) the measured change
42 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 12, NO. 1, JANUARY 2012

on intensity measurements, input intensity referencing would

further increase the accuracy of the system. This can be im-
plemented by choosing a fiber coupler with three output ports
instead of two and using the extra port as a reference arm so
that the system measures the power ratio of the two sensor arms
with respect to the reference arm instead of measuring absolute
individual intensities. Furthermore, the proposed hybrid sensor
system has the advantage of increased reliability as partial
information about the strain or temperature can be obtained
even in the event of failure of one of the sensors.

IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a hybrid sensor is proposed and demonstrated
by combining a PM-PCF-based polarimetric sensor and an FBG
sensor. In the demonstrated system, the polarization and wave-
length information are converted into the intensity domain and,
hence, the sensor system has the potential to be economic as
the intensity-based interrogation systems are cheaper than the
wavelength-based ones. The strain sensitivity of the PM-PCF
polarimetric sensor for different lengths was studied and com-
pared with that of conventional PM fiber and it is proved that
a wider linear strain range without the influence of temperature
can be achieved by using the PM-PCF. The edge filter slope
selection to convert the wavelength information from the FBG
sensor into the intensity domain was also discussed. The hybrid
sensing system is calibrated for a range of strain and tempera-
ture and the operation of the system is demonstrated experimen-
tally. The proposed configuration can be utilized in applications
related to smart fiber sensing.

Fig. 4. (a) Changes in the output intensity for the individual sensors for a strain
range from 0 to 1600 ". (b) Change in intensity of the individual sensors with
change in temperature from 0 C to 70 C at an interval of 5 C.
in intensity for both the sensors due to the temperature varia-
tion at constant intervals of 5 C is presented. The strain ap-
plied to both sensors was zero. From the figure, it is clear that
the PM-PCF-based polarimetric sensor is insensitive to temper-
ature. For the hybrid sensor system used in the experimental
demonstration, with a 13 cm long PCF and an edge filter of slope
0.25 dB/nm, the sensitivity matrix is calculated as
(7)
From the results, it can be concluded that the FBG sensor is
sensitive to both strain and temperature, while the PM-PCF po-
larimetric sensor can be considered as a temperature insensitive
strain sensor.
In summary, it has been proved that by configuring both
the sensors together as a hybrid sensor system both strain and
temperature can be measured simultaneously. The PM-PCF
polarimetric sensor provides the strain information and from
the difference between the change in the output intensity of the
PM-PCF sensor and the FBG sensor, temperature information
can be derived using the matrix (6). Since the system is based
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[11] D. H. Kim and J. U. Kang, “Analysis of temperature-dependent bire-
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Ginu Rajan received the B.Sc. degree in physics
from the University of Kerala, Kerala, India, and
the M.Sc. degree in applied physics from Mahatma
Gandhi University, Kerala, in 2000 and 2002, respec-
tively, and the Ph.D. degree from Dublin Institute of
Technology (DIT), Dublin, Ireland, in 2009, in the
area of fiber sensors.
He worked as a Research Trainee at the Indian In-
stitute of Astrophysics during the period 2003–2005.
He is currently a Research Associate at the Photonics
Research Centre of DIT. He has published over 50
articles in journals and conferences. His research areas includes optical fiber
sensors and its applications, fiber edge filters, FBG interrogation systems, fast
wavelength measurement techniques, photonic crystal fiber sensors, and smart
structures.
Manjusha Ramakrishnan received the M.Sc.
degree in physics from Kannur University, Kerala,
India, and the M.Tech. degree in optoelectronics
and laser technology from Cochin University of
Science and Technology, Kerala, in 2005 and 2008,
respectively. Currently, she is working towards the
Ph.D. degree in engineering from the Photonics
Research Center, Dublin Institute of Technology,
Dublin, Ireland.
She served as a Research Scientist in the
Opto-Electronic Division (OED), Society for Ap-
plied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER), an
autonomous R&D Laboratory at Mumbai under the then Department of
Information Technology, Government of India, in 2008 to 2009. She holds
one Indian patent related to the fiber-optic gyroscope, and has authored and
coauthored ten papers in international journals and conferences.
Yuliya Semenova received the B.Sc. degree in elec-
tronic engineering from Lviv Polytechnic National
University, Lviv, Ukraine, in 1992. She subsequently
undertook research leading to a Ph.D. degree in
physics of molecular and liquid crystals from the
Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine,
in 1999.
From 1997 and 2001, she worked as a Researcher
at the Faculty of Electrophysics, Lviv Polytechnic
National University. Since 2001, she has been a Re-
searcher and Lecturer at the School of Electronic and
Communications Engineering, Dublin Institute of Technology. She is currently
the Principal Investigator and a Senior Researcher at the Photonics Research
Centre. She has published over 110 articles in journals and conferences.
Her research interests include physics of liquid crystals, their applications in
photonics and fiber-optic sensing.
Karolina Milenko, photograph and biography not available at the time of
publication.
Piotr Lesiak, photograph and biography not available at the time of publication.
View publication stats
43
Andrzej W. Domanski received the M.Sc. degree in
electronic engineering in 1967, the Ph.D. degree in
physics in 1975, and the D.Sc. degree in physics-op-
tics in 2005 from Warsaw University of Technology,
Warsaw, Poland.
From 1988 to 1989, he was with the Optoelec-
tronics Laboratory, University of Québec at Hull,
Canada, as a Visiting Scientist. Since 1967, he has
been an Assistant, Associate Professor and Professor
with the Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of
Technology, Warsaw, Poland, where he heads the
Optoelectronic Laboratory. He is co-founder and main owner of the Sensomed
Company established in 1990 as a producer of optoelectronic equipment for
oncology hospitals, as well as for industrial and university laboratories. He has
authored more than 200 scientific papers and technical publications including
two chapters in Optical Sensors and Microsystems-New Concepts, Materials,
Technologies (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2000) and
also including over 50 peer reviewed papers in international journals. He is
also listed on fifteen patents in the U.S., Canada, and Poland. His current
research interests include optical polarization and depolarization phenomena
for partially coherent light in crystals, optical fibers, magneto-optical materials
and liquid crystals, as well as optical tomography based on Mueller matrix
polarimetry.
Dr. Domanski was the SPIE Poland Chapter Treasurer and Member of Board
from 1998 to 2007. He is also a Fellow of the SPIE—the International Society
for Optical Engineering. He is Treasurer and Member of the Board of the Pho-
tonics Society of Poland.
Tomasz R. Wolinski (M’92) received the M.Sc.
degree (cum laude) in applied physics in 1980, the
Ph.D. degree (cum laude) in physics in 1985, and
the D.Sc. degree in physics-optics in 1995 from the
Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.
He was a Full Professor (2008) with the Faculty
of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, and
Head of its Optics and Photonics Division (1997).
Current research interests include polarization phe-
nomena in optical fibers, photonic (liquid) crystal
fibers and fiber-optic sensors and systems. He is
author of over 280 papers, 7 patents in the U.S., Canada, and Poland; three
review chapters (Progress in Optics, Enc. of Optical Engineering, Springer) and
more than 90 peer-reviewed (ISI) journal papers; invited and plenary speaker
at several international conferences devoted to Optics of Liquid Crystals and
Photonic Crystal Fibers.
Dr. Wolinski was the Photonics Society of Poland President (2008), Chair
of the Optoelectronics Section, Committee of Electronics and Telecommuni-
cations of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2007), Vice-Chair of the Polish
Committee of Optoelectronics (2003), SPIE Fellow (2004), and a member of
OSA. He is an Associate Editor of the Springer Journal Opto-Electronics Re-
view, Publisher of Photonics Letters of Poland http://photonics.pl/; Laureate of
the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) “Mistrz” Program in the field of Pho-
tonic Liquid Crystals Fibers (2010–2012).
Gerald Farrell graduated with a Degree (Hon)
in electronic engineering from University College
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, in 1979 and the Ph.D.
degree from Trinity College Dublin for research in
all-optical synchronization using self-pulsating laser
diodes.
He spent a number of years as a communications
systems design engineer developing optical fiber
transmission systems before joining the DIT. He
is the Principal Investigator and Director of the
Photonics Research Centre, Dublin Institute of
Technology. He is also Head of School of the School of Electronic and Com-
munications Engineering, DIT, since 2001. He has over 180 publications in the
area of photonics and holds several patents. Between 1997 and 2003 he was a
Director of the startup company PX Instrument Technology, focusing on optical
fiber system test and measurement systems. His current research interests
lie in several areas of optical sensing including FBG interrogation systems,
the modeling and applications of fiber bend loss to optical sensing, SMS and
other fiber structures for sensing applications, PCF sensors for environmental
sensing and for sensing strain in composite materials and medical devices, LC
infiltrated PCF sensors, and micro-fiber and nanowire sensors for biosensing.