Transverse load sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer constructed by a bowknot type taper

Abstract A transverse load fiber sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer constructed by a Bowknot-type taper between a single mode fiber (SMF) and a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) was proposed. Due to the polarization maintaining fiber’s birefringence, intensities of the two peaks which are corresponding to the fast and slow axis modes changed with the transverse load applied on the PMF. The experimental results showed that the structure with a 2 cm-long PMF has the sensitivities of 104.52 and −102.94 dB/(N/mm) for the fast and slow axis spectral dip wavelengths of 1485 and 1545 nm in the interference pattern, respectively, which are almost 7 times higher than that of the current similar existing transverse load sensor.