Refractometric Properties of a TFBG Sensor Demodulated Using α-Shape Modified Delaunay Triangulation

• Published in: Optics Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 113 - 133
• Main Authors: Fazzi, Luigi, Groves, Roger M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Siegen MDPI AG 01-06-2021
• Subjects: Delaunay triangulation; demodulation; FBG; Investigations; refractive index; refractometer; Sensors; tilted fibre Bragg grating
• ISSN: 2673-3269; 2673-3269
• DOI: 10.3390/opt2020012

In our previous research, a novel demodulation technique based on α-shape Delaunay triangulation (D-T) was developed to obtain the refractive index of the medium surrounding the optical fibre using the envelope of the cladding peaks from the spectrum of the tilted fibre Bragg grating (TFBG) sensor. This technique was demonstrated to be efficient, easy to implement, powerful, faster than the previous ones and applicable for real-time measurements. In this paper, a deep parametric analysis of the resolution, repeatability and accuracy of the D-T demodulation technique for a TFBG refractometer sensor is performed and presented. The spectral properties of the TFBG sensor as a refractometer are explored using the same demodulation technique. Specifically, supposing the use of the TFBG as a two-parameter optical sensor, the influence of the strain on the envelope area is analysed, and the measurement stability regarding the external RI is reported. Then, the cladding resonance peaks in the spectrum are observed experimentally as the TFBG undergoes partial immersion in a defined refractive index liquid. This last experiment allowed a better understanding the evolution of the TFBG transmission spectrum when the Bragg gratings were partially surrounded by a medium with a different RI.