Libo Yuan

Tapered fiber optical tweezers for microscopic particle trapping: fabrication and application

A novel single tapered fiber optical tweezers is proposed and fabricated by heating and drawing technology. The microscopic particle tapping performance of this special designed tapered fiber probe is demonstrated and investigated. The distribution of the optical field emerging from the tapered fiber tip is numerically calculated based on the beam propagation method. The trapping force FDTD analysis results, both axial and transverse, are also given.

In-fiber integrated Michelson interferometer

A novel fiber-optic in-fiber integrated Michelson interferometer has been proposed and demonstrated. It consists of a segment of two-core fiber with a mirrored fiber end. The sensing characteristics based on the two-core fiber bending, corresponding to the shift of the phase of the two-core in-fiber integrated Michelson interferometer, are investigated.

Twin-core fiber optical tweezers

We present an abruptly tapered twin-core fiber optical tweezers, which is fabricated by fusing and drawing the twin-core fiber. In the twin-core fiber, the two beams are guided by the tapered fiber. At the end of the fiber tip, a larger converge angle between the two beams are made due to the abrupt tapered shape, which is formed a fast divergent optical field. The microscopic particle trapping performance of this special designed tapered twin-core fiber tip is investigated. The functionality of the proposed novel twin-core fiber optical tweezers is extended since an in-fiber integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer has been used to control orientation of the trapped particle. The distribution of the optical field emerging from the tapered fiber tip is simulated based on the beam propagation method (BPM). By using this two-beam combination technique, a strong enough gradient forces well is obtained for microscopic particles trapping in three dimensions. The abruptly tapered twin-core fiber optical tweezers is rigid and easy to handle, especially useful for building up a multi-tweezers system for trapping and manipulating micro-scale particles.

Quasi-distributed strain sensing with white-light interferometry: a novel approach

An optical fiber ring is used to generate multiple reference waves in a multiplexed fiber-optic Michelson-type sensor array. The array consists of N sensing segments connected in series along a single optical fiber path and is interrogated with a white-light interferometric technique. Experimental results with a two-sensor array are presented.

Hybrid structured fiber-optic Fabry–Perot interferometer for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature

We fabricate and experimentally demonstrate a hybrid structured Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) embedded in the middle of a fiber line for simultaneous measurement of axial strain and temperature. The FPI is composed of a silica-cavity cascaded to a spheroidal air-cavity, both of which are formed in a hollow annular core fiber (HACF). The fabrication process of the FPI includes only a fusion splice between a single-mode fiber and a HACF and several electrical arc discharges at the HACF near the splice point. Experimental results show that the strain and temperature sensitivities of the air-cavity can be 5.2 pm/με and 1.3 pm/C°, respectively, and those of the silica-cavity can be 1.1 pm/με and 13 pm/C°, respectively. The different sensitivities of silica-cavity and air-cavity to strain and temperature enable us to implement simultaneous sensing in strain and temperature.

A Compact Fiber-Optic Flow Velocity Sensor Based on a Twin-Core Fiber Michelson Interferometer

A novel fiber-optic flow velocity sensor based on a twin-core fiber Michelson interferometer has been proposed and demonstrated. The sensor only is a segment of twin-core fiber acting as cylinder cantilever beam. The force exerted on the cylinder by the slow flow speeds of order mm/s of the fluid with unknown velocity bends the fiber, which corresponds to the shift of the phase of the twin-core in-fiber integrated Michelson interferometer.

In-fiber integrated accelerometer

A compact in-fiber integrated fiber-optic Michelson interferometer based accelerometer is proposed and investigated. In the system, the sensing element consists of a twin-core fiber acting as a bending simple supported beam. By demodulating the optical phase shift, we obtain that the acceleration is proportional to the force applied on the central position of the twin-core fiber. A simple model has been established to calculate the sensitivity and resonant frequency. The experimental results show that such an accelerometer has a sensitivity of 0.09 rad/g at the resonant frequency of 680 Hz.

Coupling characteristics between single-core fiber and multicore fiber

A simple method for coupling between a single-core single-mode fiber and a multicore single-mode fiber is proposed and demonstrated. An effective coupling approach is based on a process of standard splicing and tapering between the single-core single-mode fiber and the multicore single-mode fiber.

Embedded white light interferometer fibre optic strain sensor for monitoring crack-tip opening in concrete beams

The development of a fibre optic sensor for embedding in cementitious composites and the measurement of displacements associated with the opening of microcracks are described. The sensor can be employed as a transducer for the measurement of crack-tip opening displacements during fracture tests. A white light fibre optic interferometer was used to sense strain in a fibre embedded in a specimen concrete beam. A direct relationship between the fibre deformation and the optical path variation of the fibre sensor has been obtained. A calibration procedure was developed by which the optical signals were converted into displacements. The sensor was employed in a series of fracture tests and the experiments involved embedment of the optical fibre in concrete beams. Specimens were centre-edge-notched and the fibre optic sensor of the gauge length L was embedded at the tip of the notch. This arrangement allowed for the direct measurement of displacements associated with the opening of microcracks at the crack tip. Experimental results are presented and crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD) results are compared with crack-opening displacements (CODs) measured by conventional transducers at the crack mouth.

Bitapered fiber coupling characteristics between single-mode single-core fiber and single-mode multicore fiber

By splicing and tapering at the fusion point of one-core single-mode fiber and three- or four-core single-mode fiber, an effective bitapered fiber coupling technique is implemented. Based on the beam propagation method, the bitapered coupling characteristics between the one-core fiber and the multicore single-mode fiber are simulated and analyzed. The theoretical prediction is confirmed by the experimental results, and the difference between the simulation and the experimental results is also discussed.