Low cost pressure sensor system based on polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber operating at 850 nm with CCD interrogator

21st International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors, Ottawa, ON, 15-19 May 2011The use of polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber in a Sagnac interferometer configuration operating at 850 nm shows large response to applied pressure. The sensor demonstrates a 300% improvement in sensitivity than when operating at 1550 nm. Using wavelengths at the 850 nm window enable the use of low-cost CCD-interrogator which also provides a much higher spectrum scanning speed than the much more expensive optical spectrum analyzers.Department of Electrical EngineeringRefereed conference pape