V-groove all-fiber core-cladding intermodal interferometer for high-temperature sensing.

Novel V-groove all-fiber core-cladding intermodal interferometers fabricated by CO2 laser irradiation on a standard single-mode fiber are described. The high-order cladding modes are excited due to the special V-groove structure. The interferometers are classified as Mach-Zehnder and Michelson type based on the way they are structured. Benefiting from the large difference of thermal coefficients of the core and high-order cladding modes, both types receive high temperature sensitivity by monitoring the wavelength shift of the interference spectrum, and their responses to temperature are similar. Compared with the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the Michelson interferometer is more compact and more flexible in application.