Simultaneous independent measurement of strain and temperature based on long-period fiber gratings inscribed in holey fibers depending on air-hole size.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a simple and flexible scheme for the simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature using long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) based on versatile holey fibers (HFs) with different air-hole sizes. The strongly resonant LPFGs (as much as approximately 24 dB) can be successfully achieved. The LPFGs inscribed in the HFs have similar temperature sensitivities regardless of air-hole size because of the same material composition. The strain sensitivities of the LPFGs, however, are different, since holey fibers have different cross-sectional areas depending on the air-hole size. The strain sensitivities of the HF-based LPFGs are enhanced by a factor larger than 2 as the air-hole size increases.

Bending sensitivity of long-period fiber gratings inscribed in holey fibers depending on an axial rotation angle.

We discuss bending properties of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) inscribed into a holey fiber (HF) depending on an axial rotation angle. High quality of the HF-based LPFG with a high extinction ratio of more than 20 dB is achieved. The proposed HF-based LPFG has bending insensitivity under a certain range of the bending curvature. As the bending curvature is higher than 4 m(-1), the center wavelength of the grating is shifted into the shorter wavelength. Bending sensitivity of the HF-based LPFG is changed by an axial rotation angle, which shows its dependence on the rotational orientation. We measure the transmission characteristics of the HF-based LPFG with the ambient index change. The HF-based LPFG has ambient index insensitivity because of the air holes in the inner cladding.