Fiber laser cascaded with an MZ interferometer for simultaneous measurement of temperature and refractive index

A fiber laser with strong spontaneous emission and high signal-to-noise ratio is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of temperature and refractive index (RI). By cascading a single MZ interferometer, the power and the emission spectrum of the fiber laser are modulated by surrounding temperature and RI. The dual parameters are determined from the measured power change and interference dip shift. A temperature sensitivity of 0.146 dB/°C (-0.06 / ) in the range from 20°C to 90°C at an RI of 1.3910 and an RI sensitivity of -156.07 / (153.70 nm/RIU) in the range from 1.3333 to 1.3910 at 20°C are achieved.