Temperature-compensated multi-point refractive index sensing based on a cascaded Fabry-Perot cavity and FMCW interferometry.

We proposed a novel temperature-compensated multi-point refractive index (RI) sensing system by the combination of the cascaded Fabry-Perot (FP) sensors and the frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) interferometry. The former is used for simultaneous sensing of RI and temperature, and the latter is used for multiplexing a series of the cascaded FP sensors to realize multi-point sensing. By means of Fourier transform-based algorithms, the interference spectra of each sub-FP sensors can be divided and demodulated independently. Experimentally, three cascaded FP sensors are multiplexed to verify multi-point RI and temperature sensing ability. RI sensitivity up to ∼1200 nm/RIU is obtained within RI range from 1.3330 to 1.3410, and temperature sensitivity up to ∼0.17 nm/°C is obtained within temperature range from 20 °C to 80 °C. The RI precision is as high as 10 RIU and the temperature precision is as high as 0.05 °C. In addition, the prospective multiplexing number could reach about 4000 estimated by the minimum detectable light power. The proposed sensing system has potential advantages in the practical applications that require a large number sensing points.