Femtosecond laser microfabricated fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for sensing applications.

We demonstrate a femtosecond laser microfabricated fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer and reveal the dependences of the sensitivities of different environmental parameters on the specifications of the interferometer. A 30-mm-long fiber interferometer at a wavelength of 1593 nm exhibits a temperature sensitivity of 0.103 nm/°C, axial strain sensitivity of -1.35 pm/με, and refractive index sensitivity of -15.294 nm/RIU, respectively. In addition to dependence on interferometer length, the sensitivities are also strongly dependent on the operation wavelength of the selected interference order. When the operation wavelength is selected at 1525 nm, the sensitivities are 0.085 nm/°C, -0.09 pm/με, and -13.824 nm/RIU, respectively.