Fiber optic components for single-mode fiber optic sensors

Abstract

As the market for fiber optic sensors increases, the demand for specialty optical fibers and components also increases. Today there are numerous fibers and components available to the fiber optic sensor developer, many of which have been developed by, and spun-off from, the larger telecommunications industry. This paper is a review of different optical fibers and components that are available to the fiber sensor community, and why some components are better than others for certain applications. Specific items reviewed here are: single-mode fibers, new cost effective polarization maintaining fibers, specialty fiber coatings, erbium doped fibers, bend insensitive single-mode fibers, fiber Bragg gratings and high reliability fiber couplers and taps.