Stable phase-modulated fiber-optic sensors for senior electrical engineering laboratory curricula

A set of fiber-optic sensing experiments that can be performed by senior undergraduates in a fiber optics laboratory is presented. The experiments are based on two stable phase-modulated sensors: a miniaturized Michelson-type fiber-optic interferometer that is relatively insensitive to temperature drifts; and a two-mode fiber used in a differential interferometric sensing scheme. Methods of construction are described, and several possible experiments are presented. These experiments introduce or strengthen the ideas of interference, elliptical-core fibers, and electromagnetic field propagation in fibers.<
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