hv

photonics

Review
In-Fiber Interferometric-Based Sensors: Overview and
Recent Advances
Amalia Miliou 1,2

1 Department of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece;

[email protected]
2 Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, 10th Km Thessalonikis-Thermis Av,
57001 Thessaloniki, Greece

Featured Application: This article is an extensive overview of the different types of in-fiber
interferometric-based sensors and their technology.

Abstract: In-fiber interferometric-based sensors are a rapidly growing field, as these sensors exhibit
many desirable characteristics compared to their regular fiber-optic counterparts and are being
implemented in many promising devices. These sensors have the capability to make extremely
accurate measurements on a variety of physical or chemical quantities such as refractive index,
temperature, pressure, curvature, concentration, etc. This article is a comprehensive overview of the
different types of in-fiber interferometric sensors that presents and discusses recent developments in
the field. Basic configurations, a brief approach of the operating principle and recent applications are
introduced for each interferometric architecture, making it easy to compare them and select the most
appropriate one for the application at hand.

Keywords: In-fiber-optic sensors; interferometers; Fabry-Perot interferometers; Mach-Zehnder inter-

ferometers; Michelson interferometers; Sagnac interferometers







Citation: Miliou, A. In-Fiber

Interferometric-Based Sensors: 1. Introduction
Overview and Recent Advances.
In-fiber-optic sensors are one of the fastest developing research areas due to their
Photonics 2021, 8, 265. https://
advantages of light weight, small size, immunity to electromagnetic interference, multi-
doi.org/10.3390/photonics8070265
plexing capability, simultaneous sensing ability of two or more measurands, compatibility
with fiber-based systems, and usage in various environments, which can be challenging
Received: 18 May 2021
Accepted: 3 July 2021
for traditional sensors. In a typical fiber optic interferometric sensor, the light is divided
Published: 7 July 2021
in at least two arms of the interferometer and at least one part of the light interacts with
the measurand (a quantity or physical effect that is intended to be measured). However,
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
the current trend in fiber optic interferometers is to miniaturize the sensors for micro-scale
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
applications. Thus, traditional bulk optic components such as beam splitting, beam com-
published maps and institutional affil- bining, etc., have been replaced by small-sized fiber devices that enable the sensors to
iations. operate on fiber scales. These interferometers have two optical paths in one physical line
and one of the optical paths should be arranged to be easily affected by external perturba-
tions. Thus, the in-line structure offers several advantages such as compactness, simplicity,
easy alignment, high coupling efficiency, and high stability [1]. Since the interferometers
Copyright: © 2021 by the author.
provide a lot of temporal and spectral information, the measurand can be quantitatively
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
determined by various means for detecting the changes in the wavelength, phase, intensity,
This article is an open access article
frequency, bandwidth, and so on. With these sensing indicators, they can give remarkable
distributed under the terms and performance with large dynamic range, high accuracy, and high sensitivity.
conditions of the Creative Commons In the sensing process, it is vital to use an appropriate interference technology that will
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// allow accurate measurement of the sensing parameter, whereas at the same time the perfor-
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ mance of a fiber sensor (sensitivity, resolution, etc.) also depends on the sensing elements,
4.0/). i.e., the optical fiber used. Many specialty fibers have been employed, providing attractive

Photonics 2021, 8, 265. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics8070265 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/photonics

Photonics 2021, 8, 265 2 of 23

features and increased performance, while assembly-free sensor schemes supported by

femtosecond laser micromachining and etching technology are directly fabricated on an
optical fiber, achieving more compact structures with high robustness. However, regardless
of which fabrication approach is used, it is necessary to develop in-fiber interferometric sen-
sors with not only high performance but also low fabrication cost and complexity. Several
articles have presented a thorough theoretical background on fiber optic interferometric
sensors and their principles of operation [1–3]
In this article, a thorough survey of recent research on in-fiber interferometric-based
sensors is presented, in which different architectures are discussed, such as Fabry-Perot,
Mach-Zehnder, Michelson, Sagnac, and multiple in-fiber structures comprise multiple
interferometers and attain enhanced sensitivity measurements. Thus, Section 2 will present
a classification of the most commonly used in-fiber interferometers as sensors, their ar-
chitectures, operating principles, application areas in comprehensive tables and signal
processing methods for optical path difference demodulation. In Section 3, concluding
remarks and a discussion are presented, and finally Section 4 offers a conclusion.

2. In-Fiber Interferometric-Based Sensors

Optical fibers have been investigated at various sensor areas owing to many unique
features that greatly improve the performance of interferometric systems, such as small
size, light weight, multiplexing, remote sensing, high flexibility, low propagating loss, high
sensitivity, low fabrication cost, small form factor, high accuracy, immunity to electromag-
netic interference, and robustness to high temperature and irradiation, which make them
attractive for many applications [4,5]. Optical interferometric technology is based on the
interference of two or more light beams launched from the same light source propagating
through air or different mediums with different optical paths and arriving simultaneously
at a point in space or on the surface of an object. The optical path difference (OPD) due to
the perturbation introduced in the sensor influences the phase difference which is directly
encoded into the interference fringe patterns in the acquired spectrum. Therefore, by
measuring the changes in the interference spectrum, one can obtain information about the
changes in optical paths in an optical measurement system. Based on this mechanism, opti-
cal interferometers are widely used for accurate measurements of many physical quantities,
such as refractive index, temperature, pressure, curvature, and displacement, etc.
Fiber optic and in-fiber interferometric sensors have been intensively developed for
the past few decades. As a result, many special data acquisition methods, digital signal
processing algorithms, and demodulation techniques have been developed to recover the
measured phase signals. Amongst the well-known examples are the phase generated
carrier (PGC) demodulation technique [6–8], phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) [9] and
white light interferometry (WLI) [10–12]. However, WLI based on broadband light sources
or tunable lasers can directly measure the interference in spectrum domain Equation (1),
and is widely accepted as the most advanced method due to its absolute cavity length
measurement with sub-nanometer resolution and independence from signal intensity
fluctuation, while it provides the capability to easily realize sensor multiplexing [13].
Multiparameter interferometric sensors have only recently attracted attention due to
increasing demand in industrial processes which often require sensing of more than one
physical or chemical parameter simultaneously [14]. In order to avoid cross sensitivity
among the measurands, for example temperature dependency in RI measurements, the
right solution is the design of an appropriate transducing mechanism that is selective in
nature towards the measurement of a desired perturbation [15–23]. Some designs include
the use of PCF to reduce temperature dependency [24] in combination with short taper
segments for excitation of multiple modes [25], peanut structures [26] etc. The majority of
current research is focused on dual-parameter sensors, while three or more is quite rare due
to the very complex design and the need for advanced algorithms for signal processing,
also posing the question of cost compared to multiplexed individual sensors.
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 3 of 23

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, with optical fiber sensor technology it is very easy
to realize sensor multiplexing, which can reduce the cost of a single point sensor, greatly
improve the cost performance of the sensing system, and give the optical fiber sensor more
advantages than the traditional sensor [27]. The multiplexed system is comprised of an
array of sensor elements connected by fiber. There are several categorizations depending
on the location of the sensors and/or the number of measurands that each sensor can
measure, and the multiplexed sensors can come in various network topologies [28,29]. The
multiplexing technologies used are mainly time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency
division multiplexing (FDM), wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), code division
multiplexing (CDM), and space division multiplexing (SDM) [30]. While multiplexed
sensors are facing challenges such as power requirements and losses that greatly determine
the maximum number of sensors in the network, there is a great demand for such structures
and the research interest in the area continues to grow.
In the following sections, fiber interferometric Fabry-Perot, Mach-Zehnder, Michelson
and Sagnac schemes are discussed in detail, presenting their basic configurations, a brief
approach to the principle of operation and recent applications. Moreover, multiple in-fiber
structures comprise multiple interferometers, and the attainment of enhanced sensitivity
measurements are also considered.

2.1. Fabry-Perot-Based Sensors

In-fiber Fabry–Perot interferometry (FOFPI) is an accurate and well-established sens-
ing technology that is used to monitor a wide range of physical and chemical parameters,
such as strain, temperature, vibration, pressure, concentration, and refractive index. FOFPI
sensors have several attractive characteristics, such as high sensitivity, high resolution, low
cost, small size, and linear response, and can tolerate high pressure and strain, while they
are less affected by corrosion, and the phase of the interference signal (Equation (2)) is
linearly proportional to the optical length [31].
FOFPIs are devices with simple configurations, and they can be classified into two
basic categories, extrinsic and intrinsic, depending on the way reflectors are formed. In
the former case, the reflectors, forming a cavity, are separated by an air gap or any other
material, and a cleaved single-mode (SMF) or multimode (MMF) fiber is used as a means
to guide the light (Figure 1a) [32,33]. Alternatively, two cleaved pieces of fiber at a distance,
supported by an external structure (capillary), create a cavity filled with air or any other
material (Figure 1b) [34,35]. The extrinsic FOFPI sensor, although based on the Fabry-Perot
concept, uses the reflections from an external cavity formed outside the fiber of interest,
thus the optical fiber is simply a transmission medium that guides the light to (and/or back
from) the interaction region. The extrinsic structure has the merit of sensing displacement
since the phase value of the FOFPI signal can be directly affected by the displacement of
the external reflecting surface. In the intrinsic case, the reflectors are formed within the
fiber, creating a more compact structure, as illustrated in Figure 1c, and the cavity material
in this case is glass [36]. In general, the fabrication of extrinsic FOFPI sensors is easier,
although there are several challenging issues, such as the alignment of the fiber pieces and
high coupling losses, while intrinsic FOFPI sensors require high-cost equipment, such as
femtosecond laser micromachining or acid etching technology [36,37].
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 4 of 23

Figure 1. The different FOFPI types: (a) extrinsic type where the cavity is formed outside the fiber
(b) extrinsic type where the cavity is formed between two fibers and (c) intrinsic type where the
cavity is formed by two reflecting components along the fiber.

The FOFPI sensor has a microcavity with parallel reflectors (Figure 1), achieving
multiple interference of the reflected beams. When the cavity is subjected to a change due
to external parameters (temperature, strain, refractive index, etc.) a phase change will be
induced between the reflected beams, resulting in a shift in the reflection spectrum. By
measuring the spectrum shift, one can gage the effect of the parameter under investigation.
The reflective optical intensity can be expressed as [38]
p
I = I1 + I2 + 2 I1 I2 cos ϕ (1)

where I1 and I2 are the intensities of the two reflected beams and ϕ is the phase difference
of the two beams given by
4πnL
ϕ= (2)
λ
where n is the reflective index of the medium in the cavity, L is the length of the Fabry-
Perot cavity defined as the separation of the reflectors, and λ is the light wavelength used.
The period of the FOFPI spectrum at λ (fringe separation) is given by the free spectral
range (FSR)
λ2
FSR = (3)
2nL
while the finesse F, characterizing the sharpness of the fringes, is defined as
√
π R
F= (4)
(1 − R )

where R is the reflectance of the reflectors. In most FOFPI sensor applications, F is low
to allow the interferometer to work in the linear regime over a large detection area of
the measurand.
FOFPI sensors can be used in a variety of applications, primarily for temperature
(Table 1), pressure (Table 2) and refractive index (Table 3), providing stable and compact
solutions. In [39], the proposed sensor was based on a Myral polymer (commercially
available), and MMF presented an easy way to fabricate micro-displacement sensors
exhibiting a sensitivity of 24.1 nm/µm, while [40] proposed a compact reflection-based
modal interferometer consisting of an SMF and a small piece of PCF (photonic crystal fiber)
for nano-displacement with a sensitivity of 32 pm/nm.
A curvature measuring sensor was proposed [41] forming an extrinsic cavity using
two pieces of SMF and a capillary silica tube filled with air, showing a maximum sensitivity
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 5 of 23

of 68.52 pm/m−1 in the linear curvature response, which is a very good candidate for
medical applications.
Acoustic sensors play a very important role in acoustic pressure detection, underwater
acoustic detection, and acoustic monitoring applications. In [42], compact infrasound
was proposed with a sensitivity of 4.32 µm/Pa for a range of frequencies from 1–20 Hz.
A cantilever device was presented in [17] with ultrahigh acoustic pressure sensitivity
equal to 198.3 nm/Pa@1 kHz and a linear response to temperature attaining an 83 nm/◦ C
temperature responsivity. Ni et al. [43] implemented an ultrawide band acoustic sensor
based on a graphene film with a frequency response from 5 Hz-0.8 MHz and a minimum
detectable pressure of 0.77 Pa/Hz1/2 @5 Hz and 33.97 µPa/Hz1/2 @10 kHz. Finally, a
very good review article [44] summarized the state of the art in fiber-optic technologies
applicable for hypersonic wind tunnels on popular FOFPI sensors.
Fiber-optic gas pressure sensors are very attractive for many biomedical, civil en-
gineering and aerospace applications, and they can be used to measure pressure under
high temperature due to schemes that display resistance to harsh environments. The
authors in [45] presented a dual capillary fiber-tip gas sensor exhibiting a high sensitivity
of 4147 pm/MPa within a range of 0–1.52 MPa. A hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber
(HC-PBF) with a side-opened channel was demonstrated in [46], indicating a gas pressure
sensitivity of 4.24 nm/MPa, two orders of magnitude higher than that of a fiber-optic
sensor with a closed cavity. A 3-D printed FPI sensor on a fiber tip was presented in [47],
where a device with a 90 µm cavity length exhibited a sensitivity of 4.097 nm/MPa, while
the same device can be used to measure a temperature sensitivity of 156.8 pm/◦ C within a
range from 20 to 70◦ C. Moreover, an ultracompact fiber-optic differential gas sensor that
employs a metal–organic framework (MOF) based on dual Fabry-Perot (FP) nanocavities
was presented in [48], and although measured thus far only for CO2 , exhibiting an en-
hanced sensitivity of 48.5 mV/CO2 Vol%, it can be used with various gases when different
MOFs are utilized.
A compact hydrogen sensor [34] with a sensitivity of 1.4 nm/H2 Vol% as well as
two sensors measuring relative humidity (RH) [33,49] with a maximum sensitivity of
81.05 pm/(%RH) and a range of 90–95% RH respectively, have been reported. Furthermore,
an FOFPI sensor has been fabricated with the capability of measuring molecular transport
diffusivity [50], allowing us to investigate concentration-dependent diffusivity in zeolitic
materials under harsh conditions.
Magnetic field sensors [35,51] exhibit a magnetic field sensitivity of 1510 nm/MT
within a range from 0.368–3.086 mT for the former and 44 pm/mT for the latter, achieving
a better sensitivity than using fiber Bragg grating (FBG).
A low-cost sensor based on a polyethylene diaphragm was developed for vibration
measurements [32], obtaining a sensitivity of 135 mV/g in a range of 20 Hz–1.5 kHz.
FOFPI sensors targeting biomedical applications have recently attracted much re-
search [52,53]. In [52], a proposed immunosensor could differentiate antibody-containing
sera, while the authors in [53] verified that TiO2 reflective films deposited on the tip of an
SMF are very promising candidates for tuning FOFPI reflectivity, specifically in a range
close to that of silica fiber.
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 6 of 23

Table 1. Temperature sensitivity of FOFPI.

Sensitivity
Sensor Design Range (◦ C) Applications Ref.
(pm/◦ C)
Biochemical reaction, food
Microfiber taper/SMF 11,800 43–50 [54]
storage
SMF/air/SMF 1
RT-700 Various applications [55]
SMF/air/SMF wax embedded 60
SMF/Endless single-mode PCF 10 up to 1200 Wide-range of applications [56]
SMF/side hole fiber/SMF 1.1 20–100 Biochemical [57]
MMF/sapphire wafer 29.9 up to 800 Extremely harsh environment [5]
SMF/solid film 200 20–100 Various applications [58]
Multiparameter
Fiber-optic cantilever sensor 83,000 0–80 [17]
measurements
SMF/curved polymer tip 249 —- Harsh environment [16]
Multiparameter
SMF/Hollow Core Fiber/SMF 0.82 19–600 [15]
measurements
3D printed 160.2 20–70 Various applications [47]
SMF/air/SMF 260,700 25.2–28.2 Enhanced sensitivity [40]
SMF/silicon 84.8 0–100 Various applications [9]
SMF-a solid-core PCF 12 —- Various applications [59]
Introduction of nanograting 11,100 <300 Extreme environmental
[60]
inside the core of SMF 14,400 >300 conditions

Table 2. Pressure sensitivity of FOFPI.

Sensitivity
Sensor Design Range (MPa) Applications Ref.
(nm/MPa)
Embedded SMF/diaphragm —- ±0.1 Harsh environment [4]
MEMS-based FOFPI 1598 0–1 Atmospheric [61]
SMF/Silica diaphragm 70.8 0–10 High-temperature [62]
Diaphragm-based all-silica 12,400 6900–48,300 Medical [63]
Buckled beam-based sensor 169,000 0–2 Environmental [64]
Polymer microbubble-based sensor 310 0–0.1 Biomedical and microfluidic [65]
SMF/curved polymer tip 1,130,000 0.1–2.5 Harsh environment [16]

Table 3. Refractive index sensitivity of FOFPI.

Sensitivity Range
Sensor Design Applications Ref.
(nm/RIU) (RIU)
SMF/Microcavity SMF 1160 0.0058 Biochemical & environmental [66]
SMF/Microcavity/SMF 979.7 0.042 Pollution & density [67]
SMF/concave-core photonic
1635.62 0.0529 Chemical and biological [68]
crystal fiber
SMF/Medium/Si plate —- 0.41 Liquid concentration [18]
SMF/side-hole fiber/SMF 1250 0.007 Biochemical [57]
SMF-a solid-core PCF 30 —- Various [59]

Furthermore, multiparameter monitoring FOFPI has been presented for the evaluation
of mechanical vibrations and magnetic fields [19], thicknesses of liquid layers and refractive
indexes (RI) [18], strains and magnetic fields [35], temperature and RI [58,59], pressure and
temperature [16,17,47,69], and strain and temperature [15].

2.2. Mach-Zehnder-Based Sensors

Fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometers (FOMZIs) are the majority of sensors uti-
lized; however, they exhibit inherent complexity due to their structure. In an MZI sensor,
a laser beam is injected into the fiber, which splits equally into the upper arm (called the
sensing arm) and the lower arm (called the reference arm). At the exit of the MZI, the two
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 7 of 23

beams recombine to create an interference pattern. Changes in the length of the sensing
arm, and perhaps changes in the surrounding material, disturb the output (interference
pattern) and hence generate a phase difference, which can be further analyzed to determine
the effect on the parameter under investigation. To achieve high sensitivity, the sensing
segment, and therefore the whole device, must be long [70].
Figure 2 shows various structures for FOMZI sensors. As shown in Figure 2a, part of
the core mode in the second segment, due to a thinner fiber, is guided in the core of the
SMF fiber, and part is guided in the cladding of a thin core fiber (TCF), while at the third
segment, they couple back at the core modes of the SMF [71,72]. Another way of splitting
the beam into core and cladding modes is by creating a core misalignment, as shown in
Figure 2b [73,74]. Due to fiber misalignment, part of the core mode is coupled to several
cladding modes, where the number of cladding modes can be adjusted depending on the
misalignment of the fibers. The same effect as before shows the insertion of MMF segments
between pieces of SMF, as in Figure 2c [75,76], where the beam is guided not only in the
core but also in the cladding. One more FOMZI scheme is shown in Figure 2d [22,77,78],
Photonics 2021, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 25
where the insertion of two tapered pieces of fiber will force the core mode, due to the
change in diameter, to couple into cladding modes and again back to core modes.

fiber fiber
fiber fiber fiber

(a) (c)

fiber fiber

(b) (d)
Figure 2. Various
Figure 2. Various types of FOMZI
types of FOMZI sensor:
sensor:(a)
(a)core
corediameter
diametermismatch
mismatchwithwithsmaller
smallercore
corefiber,
fiber,(b)
(b) core
diameter offset, (c) core diameter mismatch with larger core fiber, and (d) core diameter
core diameter offset, (c) core diameter mismatch with larger core fiber, and (d) core diameter mis- mismatch
using
matchtapering segments
using tapering of fiber.
segments of fiber.

In
The alloptical
of the above
intensitycases, theoutput
at the creation of the
of the cladding
FOMZI modes
can be and their
expressed coupling
by Eq. with
(1) where I1 the
core
and Imode produces
2 are the interference,
intensities which under
of light propagating predefined
in the core and inconditions provides
the cladding, a compact
respectively,
yet very
while φ effective
is the phase FOMZI. The interferometric
difference of the core andsensor has the propagating
the cladding same physical lengths
modes andinisboth
the
givenreference
by and sensing arms; however, they have different optical path lengths due to
the modal dispersion, i.e., the cladding mode has a lower effective index than the core
2πΔneff L
mode, and the smaller the fiber diameter, ϕ = the stronger the evanescent field. In general,
(5)
FOMZIs are usually more tolerant and versatile λ structures that can be used in different
designs, thus providing high sensitivity values.
where Δneff is the difference between the effective indices of the core mode and cladding
modes, Loptical
The intensity
is the fiber lengthatbetween
the output of the FOMZI
the splitter and thecan be expressed
combiner by Equation
part of the structure (1)
where I and
and λ is1the light I are the intensities of light propagating in the core and in
2 wavelength used [79]. The intensity of the interference signal is minimal the cladding,
respectively, while ϕ is the phase difference of the core and the cladding
(i.e., a dip) when the phase difference is an odd multiple of π and the wavelength of the propagating
modes
minimum andlight
is given by is
intensity
2π∆ne f f L
2Δϕneff=L (5)
λm = λ
m = 1, 2,3,... (6)
where ∆neff is the difference between (2mthe+ 1)effective indices of the core mode and cladding
modes, L is the fiber length between the splitter and the combiner part of the structure
Thus, the free spectral range (FSR) of the optical interference spectrum can be expressed
and λ is the light wavelength used [79]. The intensity of the interference signal is minimal
as

λm2
FSR = Δλ = λm−1 − λm ≅ (7)
Δneff L
FOMZI sensor technologies are routinely used to measure physical parameters such
as temperature (Table 4), curvature (Table 5) and refractive index (Table 6), providing
stable and compact solutions.
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 8 of 23

(i.e., a dip) when the phase difference is an odd multiple of π and the wavelength of the
minimum light intensity is

2∆ne f f L
λm = m = 1, 2, 3, . . . (6)
(2m + 1)

Thus, the free spectral range (FSR) of the optical interference spectrum can be ex-
pressed as
2
FSR = ∆λ = λm−1 − λm = ∼ λm (7)
∆ne f f L
FOMZI sensor technologies are routinely used to measure physical parameters such
as temperature (Table 4), curvature (Table 5) and refractive index (Table 6), providing stable
and compact solutions.
Furthermore, a FOMZI can be used as a relative humidity (RH) sensor, which is very
useful in the medical storage and biochemical fields [75,80–82]. In [75], a simple structure
alternating SMF with two segments of MMF achieved a sensitivity of 0.48346 dB/%RH
for a humidity range from 15% to 80%. A dumbbell-shaped FOMZI was proposed in [80],
where the sensitivity was improved from 0.0002 to 0.020 nm/% RH with a ZnO coating.
In [81], a FOMZI is made by splicing a segment of a few-mode fiber (FMF) between two
segments of a no-core fiber (NCF) and two segments of SMFs located outside the two
NCFs, attaining a sensitivity of 0.191 and 0.061 nm/% RH in the corresponding 30–55%
and 55–95% ranges. Finally, the authors in [82] used a tapering section of polarization
maintaining and elliptic core fiber fixed as a U-shape with a sensitivity of 114.7 pm/RHU
in a range from 30% to 90% RH.
A number of FOMZI-based sensors for strain sensing have been proposed and demon-
strated using different types of configurations, such as segments of four-core fiber spliced
between two SMFs exhibiting a sensitivity of 1.78 pm/µε [21], a fiber-optic sensor using
fiber ring cavity laser [83] with a sensitivity of 2.21 pm/µε, a five-core fiber sandwiched be-
tween two SMFs [84] with a corresponding sensitivity of 0.8 pm/µε, and finally a grapefruit
micro-structured fiber with 1.97 pm/µε strain sensitivity [85].
A sensor head using an SMF–MMF–PCF–SMF structure with a fusion splicing
method [86] was used for liquid level monitoring, reporting sensitivities of −1.032 µw/cm,
−1.197 µw/cm, and −1.489 µw/cm for three different mediums. A simpler structure with
two fibers with different diameters in an axial offset was reported in [87] with a value of
6 pm/mm for the liquid level sensitivity.
Many biochemical and biomedical processes require real-time monitoring of the pH
level. In [71], a sensor based on a biocompatible pH-sensitive material was proposed using
a structure composed of a thin core fiber covered with a polymer material inserted between
two segments of SMFs. The sensor emerged in different materials, providing promising re-
sults for pH in a broad measurement range. Furthermore, a microfiber taper interferometer
coated by highly ordered pore array-conjugated polymer membranes exhibited a DNA con-
centration sensitivity of 2.393 nm/log M (M is the molar concentration) [88]. The proposed
interferometer is suitable for medical, environmental, and biochemical process monitoring.
A FOMZI was constructed using a small stub of hollow-core PCF between SMFs
with air gaps at both interfaces [89]. The sensor exhibited a sensitivity of 4.3 pm/% CO2 ,
providing a simple and compact method for the environmental monitoring of CO2 . A
Fe2 O3 -coated tapered microfiber structure was presented in [90], which can be used for the
detection of harmful gas ammonia in an environment with a sensitivity of 1.30 pm/ppm in
the range from 0 ppm to 11.640 ppm ammonia gas at room temperature.
Different FOMZI designs have also been proposed for the measurement of physical
parameters such as torsion [91], lateral stress [92] and gas pressure [93]. All devices used
a segment of specialty fiber, i.e., a two-core nonzero dispersion shifted fiber (NZ–DSF),
erbium-doped fiber (EDF) and a twin-core fiber, respectively, in an offset between two
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 9 of 23

pieces of SMFs with corresponding sensitivities of 0.070 nm/o of fiber twist for torsion,
0.00455/µm for lateral stress and 9.6 nm/MPa for the gas pressure sensor.
Magnetic fluid (MF) has attracted much attention recently as a sensing material due
to a variety of magneto-optical properties. A compact and low-cost magnetic field sensor
was developed by [94] using a microfiber mode interferometer coated with MF with a high
sensitivity up to −293 pm/Oe, detecting the transmission spectrum.

Table 4. Temperature sensitivity of FOMZI.

Sensitivity
Sensor Design Range (◦ C) Applications Ref.
(pm/◦ C)
FOMZI cascading two hump-shaped tapers Machinery processing &
49 20–80 [20]
in SMF Health monitoring
Hetero-structured cladding solid-core
90 25–1000 High temperature [95]
photonic bandgap fiber
Chemical Industry &
Four-core fiber spliced between two SMFs 209 0–50 [21]
Health monitoring
Asymmetrical FOMZI with a peanut-like
Curvature sensing
section and an abrupt taper with PCF 11.7 25–95 [22]
applications
segment
Security, Industrial &
SMF-Quartz capillary-SMF (core offset) 21200 20–27 [96]
Biomedical
FOMZI with two-core PCF selectively filled
1595 25–100 Wide range [97]
with polymer material
FOMZI with inscription of a secondary
High 450–650 High temperature [98]
waveguide
MMF-seven-core fiber-MMF 55.81 25–175 Wide range [99]
Nondestructive structural
Abrupt tapered fiber FOMZI 0.0833 dBm/◦ C —- [100]
monitoring
SMF-offset fiber with reduced core-MMF 39.2 22–55 Wide range [87]
FOMZI based on the grapefruit
37 30–180 Wide range [85]
micro-structured fiber
SMF-No Core Fiber -SMF embedded in a
5150 10–30 Various [101]
liquid-sealed capillary
Microfiber mode interferometer embedded
3101.8 20–48 Various [102]
in PDMS polymer
SMF-No Core Fiber-SMF with a PDMS layer 200.2 40–80 Health monitoring [103]
Multiparameter
SMF- Thin Core Fiber- SMF 9.42–4.93 20–90 [104]
measurements
Tapered Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) with
51.6 40–90 Various [25]
up-tapered collapsed region

Table 5. Curvature sensitivity of FOMZI.

Sensor Design Sensitivity (nm/m−1 ) Range (m−1 ) Applications Ref.

FOMZI cascading two Machinery processing &
10.224 and −4.973 0–1.2 [20]
hump-shaped tapers in SMF Health monitoring
Four-core fiber spliced between two Chemical Industry &
20.18 0.08–0.22 [21]
SMFs Health monitoring
Asymmetrical FOMZI with a
peanut-like section and an abrupt 50.5 0–2.8 Wide range [22]
taper with PCF segment
Four-core fiber spliced between two
2.25 1.2316–1.4599 —- [83]
SMFs
Eccentric core fiber in between two
13.49 and −18.4 0–1.11 Wide range [105]
SMFs with a small core-offset
SMF- five-core fiber-SMF 10.37 0–2 Wide range [84]
MMF-seven-core fiber-MMF 31.57 0.5–1 Wide range [76]
Nondestructive structural
Abrupt tapered fiber FOMZI 12.4885 dBm/m−1 —- [100]
monitoring
SMF-Few mode fiber-SMF 8.53 dB/m−1 —- Biomedical [106]
Two tapered SMF separated by a
11.92 dB/m−1 0–1 Various [107]
small distance
Tapered Photonic Crystal Fiber
(PCF) with up-tapered collapsed 7.56 0–0.55 Various [25]
region
MMF-Hollow Core Fiber-MMF −11.80 ± 1.30 dB/m−1 0.95–2.68 Various [76]
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 10 of 23

Table 6. Refractive index sensitivity of FOMZI.

Sensitivity
Sensor Design Range (RIU) Applications Ref.
(nm/RIU)
SMF-SMF-tapered fiber with core
78.7 1.33–1.374 Measure environmental RI [73]
offset- SMF
Four-core fiber spliced between Chemical Industry &
20.18 0.08–0.22 [21]
two SMFs Health monitoring
SMF-1st tapered microfiber
MMF-2nd taped microfiber MMF- 10,777.8 around 1.3334 Ultra-high RI sensitivity [108]
SMF
SMF–MMF–PCF–SMF 440.32 µw/RIU 1.33–1.42 Chemical & Biological [86]
SMF-bend core offset region-SMF 358.039 1.33–1.37 High sensitivity [74]
Glucose solution of various
FOMZI double tapered SMFs 380 1.33–1.349 [77]
concentrations
Four-core fiber spliced between
113.27 1.3353 to 1.3549 —- [83]
two SMFs
SMF-1st tapered PCF-2nd taped
224.2 1.3333–1.3737 —- [109]
microfiber PCF- SMF
SMF-Hollow core PCF-SMF 4629 1.0000347–1.000436 Gas detection [110]
SMF-core offset SMF-SMF 200 1.33–1.37 Temperature insensitive [111]
Two cascades peanut shape
67.355 1.33–1.37 —- [112]
structures
SMF-offset fiber with reduced
8.8 1.35–1.42 Wide range [87]
core-MMF
SMF-1st tapered SMF-2nd taped
158.4 1.33 to 1.3792 Wide range [113]
microfiber SMF- SMF
Low temperature
SMF-PCF with core offset -SMF 252 1.333– 1.379 [114]
sensitivity
A peanut-based shape FOMZI 67.953 1.33–1.36 —- [115]
1.332
415
to 1.384 1.384
Sharp tapered SMF FOMZI 1103 chemical and biochemical [72]
to 1.4204 1.4204
4234
to 1.4408
Monitoring corrosion and
Mismatched fused FOMZI 10,372 —- small compositional [116]
changes in NaCl solutions
SMF-tapered multicore fiber-SMF
12,617.6 1.4144 to 1.4159 Various [117]
covered by monolayer graphene
SMF-bend Photonic Crystal
258 —- Various [118]
Fiber-SMF
SMF-TCF-MMF-TCF-SMF fiber Biochemical, medical
433.60 1.3333 to 1.4182 [119]
structure industry

Many of the above presented sensors are multiparameter sensors, i.e., temperature
and displacement [104], bending and temperature [20], strain, refractive index (RI) and
curvature [21], RI and liquid level [86], strain, temperature and curvature [22,25], strain,
temperature, RI and curvature [83], temperature and curvature [99,100], strain and bend-
ing [84], RI, and temperature and liquid level [87], having the advantage of monitoring
multiple parameters with the same device.

2.3. Michelson-Based Sensor

The fiber-optic Michelson interferometer (FOMI) is quite similar to a FOMZI since the
FOMI uses reflection modes instead of transmission and analogous fabrication methods
and operation principles.
Figure 3 presents typical configurations of a FOMI. Figure 3a presents a FOMI com-
prised of two segments of fibers with different core diameters [120,121], while in Figure 3b,
the pieces of the same fiber are offset [122,123]. Finally, in Figure 3c, a taper segment is sand-
wiched between two pieces of single-mode fibers (SMFs) [124,125]. The second piece of
fiber, in all cases, has a reflector at its end. The effective refractive index difference between
the core mode and dominant high-order cladding modes gives rise to the phase difference.
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 11 of 23

Figure 3. Various types of FOMI sensors: (a) core diameter mismatch with larger core fiber, (b) core
diameter offset, (c) core diameter mismatch using a tapering segments of fiber.

The optical intensity at the output of the FOMI can be expressed by Equation (1)
where I1 and I2 are the intensities of the core and higher-order dominant cladding modes,
respectively, R is the reflectivity of the end face of the last piece of fiber, and ϕ is the
accumulated phase difference of the core and the cladding modes [126], which is given by

4π∆ne f f L
ϕ= (8)
λ
where ∆neff is the effective difference between the refractive index of the core and the
dominant cladding modes and L is the length between the contact of the two fibers and
the reflector. The intensity of the interference signal is minimal (i.e., a dip) when the phase
difference ϕ = π (2m + 1) and m = 0, 1, 2 . . . ; thus, the free spectral range (FSR) of the
optical interference spectrum can be expressed as

λ2m
FSR = ∆λ = λm−1 − λm ∼
= (9)
2∆ne f f L

FOMI sensors are mainly used to measure physical parameters such as temperature
(Table 8) and refractive index (Table 7), providing compact solutions.

Table 7. Refractive index sensitivity of FOMI.

Sensor Design Sensitivity (dB/RIU) Range (RIU) Applications Ref.

For applications
SMF-Thin Core Fiber with lateral offset −202.46 1.42 insensitive to [123]
temperature
SMF-MMF-Dispersion Compensating
−22 to −5 1.30–1.38 Wide range [23]
Fiber
SMF-Multimode microfiber-SMF −17 —- Various [124]

Additionally, a FOMI can be used as a relative humidity sensor [122,127] presenting

a sensitivity of −0.166 dB/% RH and −0.083 dB/% RH, while the second structure is
relatively more cost effective than the first one.
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 12 of 23

Table 8. Temperature sensitivity of FOMI.

Sensor Design Sensitivity (pm/◦ C) Range (◦ C) Applications Ref.

SMF structure with a 45◦ angle
13.32 19–950 Extremely harsh environment [121]
reflector
SMF -seven-core fiber and a
165 250–900 Extremely harsh environment [128]
spherical reflective structure
Bi-taper at the splicing point of
140 30–800 Extremely harsh environment [129]
SMF and Thin Core Fiber
Oil/gas
SMF-SMF with a lateral offset 5.4 39.3–96.9 exploration and high-voltage [130]
power systems
SMF-MMF-Dispersion
47.4 30–70 Wide range [23]
Compensating Fiber
SMF-2 Suspended Core
11 20–1100 High temperature [120]
Fiber-SMF
SMF-Multimode
68.122 —- Various [124]
microfiber-SMF

Furthermore, an adiabatic biconical fused fiber taper spliced to an SMF [125] can be
used as a displacement and curvature sensor for high-resolution optical instrumentation
processes where mechanical bending is an important physical parameter to determine
deformations, displacements, and curvature radiuses.
Moreover, multiparameter monitoring FOMIs have been implemented for simultane-
ous measurement, such as temperature and refractive index [23,124].

2.4. Sagnac-Based Sensors

The fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer (FOSI) is a very simple structure consisting
of a loop of fibers along which two beams travel in opposite directions with different
polarization states. A FOSI is very attractive due to its insensitivity to the environment. A
schematic in Figure 4 presents the incoming beam, which is split by a 3 dB coupler, and the
two beams propagate in the fiber loop in counter-directions (clockwise and counterclock-
wise) recombined on the same coupler after a complete loop in the fiber. The optical path
difference is defined by the polarization-dependent propagating speed of the mode guided
along the loop. The state of polarization is controlled by a polarization controller (PC),
and to maximize the polarization dependency of the interferometer, the sensing part of
the FOSI is usually a specialty fabricated fiber, i.e., a highly birefringent fiber, polarization
maintaining fiber, [131–133], etc.

Figure 4. Schematic of FOSI based on Sagnac interferometer indicating the sensing part which is
usually a specialty fabricated fiber.

At the output of the FOSI, an interference pattern is created between the two beams
polarized along the fast and slow axes, and the phase difference is expressed by

2π
ϕ= BL (10)
λ
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 13 of 23

where L is the length of the fiber loop and B is the birefringence of the fiber, defined as (nf-
ns), and nf and ns are the effective refractive indices of the fast and slow modes, respectively.
A Sagnac interferometer has the advantages of a compact structure, i.e., high sta-
bility, ease of fabrication, and self-balancing characteristics, so it is widely used in the
design of optical fiber sensors, such as temperature (Table 9), strain [132,134] and pressure
sensors [135,136].
Li et al. [132] presented a FOSI structure, with a polarization maintaining only few
mode fibers as a sensing element, where interference occurs between both the polarization
and spatial modes, known as polarimetric and intermodal interference. The results reveal
that the temperature coefficient is 0.123 nm/◦ C for the LP01x-LP11x mode and 0.091 nm/◦ C
for the LP01y-LP11y mode, while the strain coefficient is 1.97 pm/µε for intermodal
interference between the LP01x and LP11x modes and 0.98 pm/µε for the intermodal
interference between the LP01y and LP11y modes. A two semicircular-hole fiber with a
germanium (Ge)-doped elliptical core in the center and two large semicircular holes in
the cladding was reported in [134], introducing a highest twist sensitivity of 5.01 nm/◦
for twist angles ranging from 370◦ –400◦ , and the sensor can also be used to discriminate
the torsion direction, providing a sensitivity of 1.15 nm/◦ over a twist angle range from
270◦ –350◦ .
A pressure vector sensor based on a short section of polarization maintaining fiber
was introduced in [135] demonstrating a sensitivity of 2330 pm/(Nm) in its free form and
780 pm/(Nm) after being in aluminum in a range of 0-100 N. Moreover, a pore water
pressure FOSI with a six-hole suspended-core polarization-maintaining photonic crystal
fiber (SC-PM-PCF) and a commercial polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-
PCF) was presented in [136] exhibiting a sensitivity of 304.41 kPa/nm of PM-PCF and
254.75 kPa/nm for the SC-PM-PCF, respectively.
Magnetic field sensing is very important in military and industrial applications and
electric power transmission. A ferrofluid-filled high birefringence photonic crystal fiber
(HB-PCF) was introduced in [137], while in [138], a single-mode microfiber was used in
a Sagnac loop, and the twist area of the FOSI was a fiber with ferrofluid cladding. The
corresponding sensitivities were 0.073 nm/mT for the former and ~5 pm/mT for the latter.

Table 9. Temperature sensitivity of FOSI.

Sensor Design Sensitivity (nm/◦ C) Range (◦ C) Applications Ref.

FOSI based on the square-lattice
7.54 25–85 Wide range [139]
photonic crystal fiber
FOSI based on a two semicircular-hole
fiber (TSHF) with a germanium 0.16 40–160 —– [134]
(Ge)-doped elliptical core
FOSI based on two sections of
17.99 40–41 —– [140]
high-birefringence (HiBi) fiber

A FOSI can also be used to measure humidity, and in [133], a high-birefringence

elliptical microfiber was spliced in a Sagnac loop without any humidity-sensitive coating.
The achieved sensitivity was 201.25 pm/% RH, while if a segment of Panda fiber was
inserted in the loop as a reference, the sensitivity could reach 422.2 pm/% RH in a range
from 30% RH to 90% RH.
Multiparameter monitoring FOSIs have been implemented with the ability to measure,
for example, temperature and strain [132], torsion, strain and temperature [134], and
temperature and torsion [140].

2.5. Multiple In-Fiber Interferometric Sensors

Improving the sensor sensitivity is an efficient method to attain high-resolution sensors.
Many recent research articles are in pursuit of new mechanisms to increase the sensitivity
of the developed structures, and one effective way is by implementing two or more
interferometric schemes to produce a superimposed interference spectrum. In multiple
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 14 of 23

in-fiber interferometric sensors, even the smallest disturbance in the sensing spectrum
will cause a more pronounced overall change in the superimposed spectrum due to the
second interferometer.
Multiple interferometric structures can be classified into two categories [134,135]:
(a) compact and (b) separate architectures, both with their pros and cons.
The compact architectures can be divided further into two types: (i) cascaded, where
the sensor consists of cascaded interferometers [141–149] and (ii) parallel, with the interfer-
ometers in a parallel architecture [141,150,151].
The separate architectures can be further classified as (i) common, where the sensor
consists of two interferometers of the same type, either (ia) in a cascaded manner, such
as two Sagnac [152], two Fabry-Perot [153] or two MZIs [154], or (ib) in parallel, such as
two MZIs [155,156], and (ii) different, where the sensor consists of two different types of
interferometer, such as [157,158].
Tables 10 and 11 present selected in-fiber interferometric sensors of the compact
(cascaded and parallel) and separate (common and different) types, the sensitivity of
the measured parameter and the amplification factor of the sensitivity compared to the
simple structure.

Table 10. Compact type of multiple in-fiber interferometric sensors.

Sensor Design Type Sensitivity Amplification Factor Ref.

Two Fabry-Perot (Relative Humidity) Cascaded 78.86% RH 4.8 [148]
Two MZIs (Refractive IndeX) Cascaded 44,000 nm/RIU 3.1 [149]
Two MZIs (Pressure) Parallel −60 nm/MPa 7 [150]
Two Michelson (Curvature) Parallel 38.53 nm/m−1 —- [151]
Two MZIs (Temperature) Parallel 528.5 pm/o C 17.5 [155]

Table 11. Separate type of multiple in-fiber interferometric sensors.

Sensor Design Type Sensitivity Amplification factor Ref.

Common
Two Sagnac (Temperature) 13.36 nm/◦ C 9 [152]
Cascaded
Common 397.36pm/◦ C
Two MZIs (Temperature & Curvature) 9 [154]
Cascaded −36.26 nm/m−1
Two MZIs (Temperature) Common Parallel −3.348 nm/◦ C 11.3 [156]
Sagnac and Fabry-Perot (Temperature) Different −29.0 nm/◦ C 20.7 [158]
Sagnac and Fabry-Perot (Pressure) Different 37.1 nm/Pa 10 [157]

The separate types of in-fiber interferometric sensors are the easiest to fabricate with
relatively low cost, where usually one of the interferometers is the sensing interferometer
and the other is the reference interferometer, and it is easy to isolate the sensing from the
reference; however, they limit the overall length of the sensor, especially the cascaded type.
In the compact type of in-fiber interferometric sensors, the fabrication procedure is more
elaborate using the fusion splicing, acid-etching, and the femtosecond laser micromachin-
ing technique, providing very precise and compact structures, while in many cases the
proposed architectures use segments of specialty fiber, i.e., colorless, hollow core, photonic
crystal, or dual-core fibers.
Recently, Vernier-effect has been employed to fiber-optic sensing for the magnification
of spectrum shift. The sensors consist of two cascaded two-beam interferometers or multi-
beam interferometers with small FSR differences. The total output spectrum is a superposi-
tion of the spectrums of individual interferometers. The peak appears at the wavelength
where the interference peaks of individual interferometers overlap, and the intensity of each
peak is determined by the amount of the overlap. The envelope of the interference spectrum
is usually obtained by the curve fitting method [148,150–152,156,157,159,160] in the imple-
mentation based on the Vernier effect while in the case of modified Vernier effect coverings
interferometers with larger FSRs the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) is used [154].
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 15 of 23

Moreover, in [143] an enhancement of 6.6 times in ultrasound sensitivity has been achieved
using single mode fiber with core-offset fused unequal-length fiber segments.

2.6. Signal Processing Methods for Optical Path Difference Demodulation

Optical path difference (OPD) demodulation is a subject of fundamental importance in
spectral interferometry applications. In interferometric sensing applications, the change of
the optical path difference, defined as the difference between the sensing and the reference
paths, is related to the physical parameters being measured (measurand); as a result, the
key to signal processing is to make an accurate measurement of the OPD [161].
There are several methods proposed in the literature, mainly falling into two categories:
intensity demodulation in which the intensity of a guided beam is modulated in response
to the measurand at the sensing path [162,163] and usually uses a laser as a light source;
and wavelength tracking that involves a broadband source and a spectrometer [162,164].
Although intensity demodulation provides fast response, the outcome is influenced by
power source stability and optical losses, while on the other hand the wavelength tracking
provides higher resolution and accuracy. However, both methods suffer from fringe
direction ambiguity which limits the dynamic range to only one free spectrum range (FSR)
thus preventing the sensor being used over a large dynamic range [10,162,163].
To overcome the aforementioned drawback there are many methods proposed such as
the two-point interrogation [10], and the fast Fourier transformed (FFT)
interrogation [9,10,161,164]. Nevertheless, the former is very sensitive to noise and further-
more often leads to unreliable determination of the peak order due to the measurement
error of the peak wavelengths and drift of the system, resulting in abrupt discontinu-
ities (jumps) in phase in the demodulation process [13,161] while the resolution of the
FFT method is usually limited by the spectral width of the broadband light source and
sampling resolution of the OSA (Optical Signal Analyzer). Additionally, more complex
signal processing methods have been demonstrated providing more accurate phase es-
timations, better accuracy, and resolution such as cross correlation (CC) algorithm [165],
minimum mean square error algorithm (MMSE) [166], maximum likelihood estimation
(MLE) [162,167,168], and the least square fitting algorithm (LSFA) [169]; however, the com-
putational complexity of these types of algorithms make real-time measurement difficult.
A number of summarizing contributions in the literature report on the advantages and
drawbacks of each one depending on the specific practical application [8,10,161,164,170].
In the case of multiple in-fiber interferometric sensors and for the compact multi-
parameter interferometric sensors there are several approaches that can be applied to
extract individual interferometers’ path length variations from the acquired spectrum.
Amongst these are the matrix method [14,171,172], the most commonly used, although it
assumes linear relationships among sensed optical and measured output parameters, and
a highly efficient method that can yield very low crosstalk among measured parameters
and high-measurement resolution which is based on inverse discrete Fourier transform
(IDFT) [14,173].

3. Concluding Remarks and Discussion

In this article, a comprehensive survey of recent research on in-fiber interferometric-
based sensors is presented, where different architectures are discussed, such as Fabry-Perot,
Mach-Zehnder, Michelson, Sagnac and combinations in multiple in-fiber structures. In
the sensing process, it is vital to use the appropriate interference technology that will
allow accurate measurement of the sensing parameter. Furthermore, the performance
of the fiber sensor (sensitivity, resolution, etc.) depends not only on the sensing tech-
nology but also on the sensing elements, i.e., the optical fiber used. Thus, in many
cases, specialty fibers such as photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) and hollow core PCFs (HC-
PCFs) [25,56,86,89,109,110,127,139] have several advantages, such as an increase in the
sensing capability of the devices, controllable birefringence and dispersion [174] and tem-
perature insensitivity, by taking advantage of the presence of air holes [68,114,118,127],
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 16 of 23

while in the Sagnac case they are adjusted to display high birefringence [136,137]. Material-
filled PCFs are also very attractive since air holes can be filled with functional materi-
als [68,110,139], providing excellent properties. Another type of fiber that is used specifi-
cally for the MZI and Michelson [21,74,83,84,97,99,128] interferometric sensors is multicore
fiber (MCF), which acts as a multipath MZI (m-MZI), and it has been demonstrated that
higher sensitivity to phase change along with a more elaborate interference pattern output
can be obtained compared to single interferometers [175]. Recently, optical microfibers
and thin core fibers have attracted the attention of researchers [54,71,79,93,104,108,123,129]
as suitable platforms for in-fiber interferometric sensors, providing very good values re-
garding the sensitivity of the measured parameters, large evanescent fields, strong optical
confinement, flexibility, configurability, and robustness [176]. Moreover, there are other
types of fiber used, such as nonzero dispersion shifted fiber (NZ-DSF) for the arms of
the FOMZI [121], a novel hetero-structured cladding solid-core photonic bandgap fiber
(HCSC-PBGF) [95], an erbium-doped fiber (EDF) chosen because of the higher refractive
index contrast between the core and cladding [92], an eccentric core fiber suitable for
directional bending measurement [105], a noncore fiber acting as splitting and recombining
light due to a mismatch of mode field diameters [81,101], and polarization maintaining
fibers [131,135].
Another fabrication approach is an assembly-free sensor scheme supported by fem-
tosecond laser micromachining and etching technology, where interferometric sensors
are directly fabricated on an optical fiber, achieving more compact structures with high
robustness. Several examples can demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, such as
the rapid fabrication of embedded 3D channels with flexible orientations inside an optical
fiber [37], a microchannel inscription to vertically cross the cavity to allow liquid to flow
in [38], an intrinsic FOFPI force sensor fabrication [36], a three-dimensional (3D)-printed
FOFPI pressure sensor based on direct laser writing [47], a side-opened channel drilled
through the hollow core of an HC-PBF in a FOFPI [46], cutting off part of the MMF and
drilling openings on one air hole of the dual side-hole fiber (DSHF) in a FOMZI [150], a
FOMZI formation [98], a microchannel inscription in the form of an interferometer arm in
a FOMZI [93], and microchannel drilling through one core of a twin core fiber (TCF) [177].
The drawback of this approach is the high cost of the necessary equipment and the elaborate
fabrication methods, which makes batches difficult to manufacture. Thus, it is necessary to
develop in-fiber interferometric sensors not only with high performance but also keeping
the fabrication cost at a low level, such as in [121], where the proposed interferometer was
an assembly free-based structure with excellent robustness and was fabricated by using a
fiber lensing machine rather than an expensive femtosecond laser.
In general, regarding the stability and robustness of the structure, the core-offset
schemes are more robust than tapering or peanut structures and, compared to other
interferometers, the MZI structure, which works in the transmission direction, is the only
one that is unsuitable for probe sensors.
Finally, optical fibers offer many unique characteristics, and interferometric sensor per-
formance can be greatly improved; however, optical fiber properties, such as birefringence,
dispersion, temperature dependence and nonlinear effects, can influence the ultimate
performance of a system and must be considered in the design of new sensor applications.

4. Conclusions
In conclusion, in-fiber interferometric based sensors are rapidly growing in use, since
they exhibit many desirable characteristics that can benefit the fabrication of many in-
teresting devices. The resulting sensors hold numerous advantages over regular optical
fiber-based counterparts, including small size, light weight, robustness, fast response, high
sensitivity, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. With sensing areas spanning re-
fractive index, biochemical, temperature, current, displacement, bend, surface, acceleration,
force, rotation, acoustic, electric field and magnetic field, in-fiber interferometric-based
sensors are very promising devices.
Photonics 2021, 8, 265 17 of 23

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.

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