Bent optical microfibre sensor and its application for nanonewton force measurement (invited talk by Dr. Tongyu Liu)

Optical fibre interferometers are instruments that can make very precise measurements of objects using the interference pattern of two waves of light, which are one of the promising candidates for next generation photonics sensors for applications in military navigation and tactical surveillance, security, environmental and structural health monitoring and life health/medical diagnostics. A bent Singlemode-multimode-singlemode (SMS) microfibre structure is a typical type of fibre interferometer, where a short length of tapered multimode fibre (MMF) is fusion spliced between two singlemode fibres. The bent SMS microfiber sensor is more sensitive than traditional straight SMS fibre structure, which can be used for vibration and biochemical measurement. By properly design the bent SMS microfiber sensor device, it can be used for ultra-low force detection (in the order of nanonewton). This talk will give a review of a bent SMS microfiber sensor for biochemical and nanonewton force detection.