Fiber Vector Magnetometer Based on Polarization-Maintaining Fiber Long-Period Grating With Ferrofluid Nanoparticles

An opticalfiber vector magnetometer based on a thin-cladding polarization-maintaining fiber (TPMF) long-period fiber grating (LPFG) and magnetic fluid (MF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The non-circular symmetric fiber structure and asymmetric evanescence field distribution of the LPFG induce a vector surrounding refractive index (SRI) response. Based on the magneto-optical properties of the MF nanoparticles and the directional SRI characteristics of the TPMF-LPFG, the resonance dip wavelength shift of the grating is dependent on the angle between the principal axis of TPMF and the external magnetic field direction when being applied to an external magnetic field. The achieved maximum sensitivity of the wavelength shift was −618 pm/mT when the magnetic intensity changes in the range of 0–10.5 mT. The achieved maximum orientation sensitivity of the sensor was 72 pm/degree, but the magnetic orientation can be detected only within the range of 0–90 degree. The minimum magnetic field intensity that can be detected is about 32.3 μT due to the 0.02 nm wavelength resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer. Our study proves that the high birefringence fiber based LPFG combined with MF can be developed as a high-performance vector magnetometer and such type of sensor is anticipated to find potential applications in magnetic or electric field systems.