Quasi-Distributed Temperature and Strain Sensors Based on Series-Integrated Fiber Bragg Gratings

Two types of series-integrated fiber Bragg gratings (SI-FBGs), i.e., strong and weak SI-FBGs, were inscribed in a standard single-mode fiber (SMF) using the femtosecond laser point-by-point technology. In the SI-FBGs inscribing system, the grating pitch of each FBG and the distance between the two adjacent FBGs in the SI-FBGs can be flexibly controlled by adjusting the inscription parameters. The strong SI-FBGs with different grating pitches and the weak SI-FBGs with an identical grating pitch were employed to successfully measure the temperature distribution in a tube furnace and the strain distribution on a cantilever beam, respectively. A high spatial resolution of less than 1 mm was achieved during the distributed temperature sensing experiment. Moreover, the spatial resolution could be improved by decreasing the distance between the two adjacent FBGs, i.e., decreasing the FBG length and the space between the two adjacent FBGs. Hence, the inscribed high-quality SI-FBGs have great potential to be developed as various quasi-distributed sensors with a high spatial resolution.