Analysis and Measurement of the Displacement Sensor Based on an Up-tapered Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

A displacement sensor based on an up-tapered Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. For this purpose, a fiber MZI is fabricated by using a commercial fusion splicer. Then the transmission spectra of the sensors with different middle fiber lengths are measured by bending the MZIs with different movements of the moving stage. The maximum sensitivity of 2.457 nm/mm is achieved while the shifting of the moving stage changes from 3 mm to 3.5 mm. Note that this kind of up-taper configuration is strong in strength, easy to fabricate and low in cost.