Strain and Temperature Discrimination by Fourier Analyzing Transmission Spectrum of an In-fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

An approach for strain and temperature discrimination is proposed and demonstrated by Fourier analyzing the transmission spectrum of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) which consists of two peanut tapers and a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF). The high resolution together with the ease-of-fabrication and robustness of the sensor allow the MZI sensor combining with Fourier analysis a competitive approach for simultaneous strain and temperature sensing applications.