Influence of temperature on the refractive index sensor based on a core-offset in-line fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Abstract The influence of temperature on a refractive index (RI) sensor based on an in-line fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) was investigated in both simulation and experiment. The RI sensing performance of the sensor was investigated at different temperature (25–60 °C) over an RI range of 1.33–1.37, and the RI sensitivity of the sensor was around −20.00 nm/RIU at different temperature. The results showed that the temperature variation led to a RI deviation in the RI measurement, but hardly affect the RI sensitivity. To eliminate the RI deviation in the measurement, the RI correction was given.