In this letter, a strain sensor with high sensitivity enhancement using a special case of Vernier effect is presented. The sensor configuration is composed of two-fiber loop mirrors in a cascaded configuration with opposite strain responses when individually characterized. Thus, the enhanced Vernier effect is explored, which is the most sensitive of three possible cases Vernier effect. Here, the Vernier response depends on the difference between the sensitivities of each Hi-Bi optical fiber. In addition to this, the fundamental and the first harmonic were also explored. The results obtained are a strain sensitivity of (13.3 ± 0.3) pm/με for the carrier, (80.0 ± 0.3) pm/με or the Vernier envelope of the fundamental case and (120 ± 1) pm/με for the Vernier envelope of the first harmonic. The first harmonic could achieve a magnification factor of 8. Considering that the optical interrogation system allows a minimum resolution of 0.02 nm, the minimum measurement step achievable is 0.2 με. This work proves the possibility of applying the concept of enhanced Vernier effect to fiber loop mirrors, obtaining higher sensitivity than a standard fiber loop mirror alone. Besides, the sensitivity can be increased through the usage of harmonics of the Vernier effect. Moreover, the use of large interferometers allows a better discretization of the envelope, which implies a greater ease of analysis.

In this work, a colossal enhancement of strain sensitivities through the push-pull deformation method in interferometry is reported for the first time. For the demonstration of the new method, two cascaded interferometers in a fiber loop mirror are used. Usually, strain is applied at the fiber end of the interferometers. In this work, we propose applying strain at the middle of the two cascaded interferometers whereas the fiber ends of the sensor are fixed. Strain is then applied in the fusion region between the two-cascaded interferometers in a push-pull configuration, thus ensuring simultaneously the extension of one interferometer and the compression of the other. Although the carrier signal is maintained constant, the proposed technique induces a colossal enhancement of sensitivity in the envelope signal. Strain sensitivities up to 10000 pm/με are achieved.

We present a giant sensitivity displacement sensor combining the push-pull method and enhanced Vernier effect. The displacement sensor consists in two interferometers that are composed by two cleaved standard optical fibers coupled by a 3 dB coupler and combined with a double-sided mirror. The push pull-method is applied to the mirror creating a symmetrical change to the length of each interferometer. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the Vernier effect has a maximum sensitivity of two-fold that obtained with a single interferometer. The combination of the push-pull method and the Vernier effect in the displacement sensors allows a sensitivity of 60 ± 1 nm/μm when compared with a single interferometer working in the same free spectral range. In addition, exploring the maximum performance of the displacement sensors, a sensitivity of 254 ± 6 nm/μm is achieved, presenting a M-factor of 1071 and M_Vernier of 1.9 corresponding to a resolution of 79 pm. This new solution allows the implementation of giant-sensitive displacement measurement for a wide range of applications.

This letter presents a new optical fiber structure with the capability of measuring nano-displacement. This device is composed by a cleaved fiber and a drop-shaped microstructure that is connected to the fiber cladding. This optical structure is responsible for the light beam division and the formation of new optical paths. The operation mode consists of the Vernier effect that allows achieving higher sensitivity than the currently sensors. During the experimental execution, displacement sensitivities of 1.05 ± 0.01 nm/μm, 15.1 ± 0.1 nm/μm, 24.7 ± 0.3 nm/μm and 28.3 ± 0.3 nm/μm, were achieved for the carrier, the fundamental of the envelope, the first harmonic and the second harmonic, respectively. The M-factor of 27 was attained, allowing a minimum resolution of 0.7 nm. In addition to displacement sensing, the proposed optical sensor can be used as a cantilever enabling non-evasive measurements.

This paper presents a new type of phase-shifted Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG): the sliced-FBG (SFBG). The fabrication process involves cutting a standard FBG inside its grating region. As a result, the last grating pitch is shorter than the others. The optical output signal consists of the overlap between the FBG reflection and the reflection at the fiber-cleaved tip. This new fiber optic device has been studied as a vibration sensor, allowing for the characterization of this sensor in the frequency range of 150 Hz to 70 kHz. How the phase shift in the FBG can be controlled by changing the length of the last pitch is also shown. This device can be used as a filter and a sensing element. As a sensing element, we will demonstrate its application as a vibration sensor that can be utilized in various applications, particularly in monitoring mechanical structures.

This work presents an experimental framework for offshore seismic monitoring that combines Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) with ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS). The study was conducted in the Azores region – Faial, where an HDAS interrogator prototype was connected to dark fiber submarine fiber-optic cable, complemented by the installation of two Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) for calibration and validation of DAS technology. The main objective is to demonstrate that seismic observations obtained by DAS from seafloor cables can provide essential information similar to OBS and particularly in areas where land-based monitoring stations are limited.