The optical analog of the Vernier effect applied to fiber interferometers is a recent tool to enhance the sensitivity and resolution of optical fiber sensors. This effect relies on the overlap between the signals of two interferometers with slightly detuned interference frequencies. The Vernier envelope modulation generated at the output spectrum presents magnified sensing capabilities (i.e., magnified wavelength shift) compared to that of the individual sensing interferometers that constitute the system, leading to a new generation of highly sensitive fiber sensing devices. This review analyses the recent advances and developments of the optical Vernier effect from a fiber sensing point‐of‐view. Initially, the fundamentals of the effect are introduced, followed by an extensive review on the state‐of‐the‐art, presenting all the different configurations and types of fiber sensing interferometers used to introduce the optical Vernier effect. This paper also includes an overview of the complex case of enhanced Vernier effect and the introduction of harmonics to the effect.

The optical Vernier effect magnifies the sensing capabilities of an interferometer, allowing for unprecedented sensitivities and resolutions to be achieved. Just like a caliper uses two different scales to achieve higher resolution measurements, the optical Vernier effect is based on the overlap in the responses of two interferometers with slightly detuned interference signals. Here, we present a novel approach in detail, which introduces optical harmonics to the Vernier effect through Fabry–Perot interferometers, where the two interferometers can have very different frequencies in the interferometric pattern. We demonstrate not only a considerable enhancement compared to current methods, but also better control of the sensitivity magnification factor, which scales up with the order of the harmonics, allowing us to surpass the limits of the conventional Vernier effect as used today. In addition, this novel concept opens also new ways of dimensioning the sensing structures, together with improved fabrication tolerances.

Holographic, multimode fibre (MMF) based endoscopes envision high-quality in-vivo imaging inside previously inaccessible structures of living organisms, amongst other perspective applications. Within these instruments, a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) is deployed in order to holographically synthesise light fields which, after traversing the multimode fibre, form foci at desired positions behind the distal fibre facet. When applied in various imaging modalities, the purity and sharpness of the achieved foci are determinant for the imaging performance. Here we present diffraction-limited foci, which contain in excess of 96% of optical power delivered by the fibre which, to the best of our knowledge, represents the highest value reported to date. Further, we quantitatively study the impact of various conditions of the experimental procedure including input polarisation settings, influence of ghost diffraction orders, light modulation regimes, bias of the calibration camera and the influence of noise.

New miniaturized sensors for biological and medical applications must be adapted to the measuring environments and they should provide a high measurement resolution to sense small changes. The Vernier effect is an effective way of magnifying the sensitivity of a device, allowing for higher resolution sensing. We applied this concept to the development of a small-size optical fiber Fabry–Perot interferometer probe that presents more than 60-fold higher sensitivity to temperature than the normal Fabry–Perot interferometer without the Vernier effect. This enables the sensor to reach higher temperature resolutions. The silica Fabry–Perot interferometer is created by focused ion beam milling of the end of a tapered multimode fiber. Multiple Fabry–Perot interferometers with shifted frequencies are generated in the cavity due to the presence of multiple modes. The reflection spectrum shows two main components in the Fast Fourier transform that give rise to the Vernier effect. The superposition of these components presents an enhancement of sensitivity to temperature. The same effect is also obtained by monitoring the reflection spectrum node without any filtering. A temperature sensitivity of −654 pm/°C was obtained between 30 °C and 120 °C, with an experimental resolution of 0.14 °C. Stability measurements are also reported.

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.