Silicone Rubber Coated Non-Adiabatic Tapered Fiber Combined With Online Vernier Interferometer for Temperature Detection

A simple, robust, compact, and highly sensitive temperature sensor based on silicone rubber-sealed non-adiabatic tapered fiber (SR-NATF) is proposed and demonstrated. By combining with the fast Fourier transform (FFT) method, an online Vernier reference interferometer (OVRI) is constructed to enhance the temperature sensitivity. The temperature sensitivity is −1.30 nm/°C for the single SR-NATF in the temperature range of 35 °C – 40 °C. After utilizing the FFT method and cascading an OVRI, the temperature sensitivity can obtain 6.26 nm/°C, which is 4.82 times as that of a single SR-NATF. The proposed sensor is robust, soft and easy-fabrication which can be applied in human body temperature detection. In addition, the proposed method is efficient and convenient for the construction of an online reference arm based on Vernier-amplified sensitivity.