Simultaneous Detection of Temperature, Strain, Refractive Index, and pH Based on a Phase-Shifted Long-Period Fiber Grating

A novel p-phase-shifted (PS) long-period fiber-grating (LPFG) sensor operating near the phase-matching turning point (PMTP) was proposed. The PS-LPFG sensor can simultaneously detect temperature, strain, refractive index (RI), and pH. Due to the introduction of pi phase shift, the double resonance peak of the selected cladding mode was divided into four loss peaks, which is convenient for multiparameter measurement. By monitoring the resonant-wavelength shifts of four dips of PS-LPFG, simultaneous detection of temperature, strain, RI, and pH can be achieved. Moreover, using a simple LPFG design on one fiber and a multiparameter matrix algorithm, the crosstalk between multiple signals was eliminated. Graphene oxide/polyvinyl alcohol (GO/PVA) hydrogel was coated onto the grating sensing area to measure the change in pH, and the sensitivity was higher than that of the same type of fiber-grating sensor. Results showed that the maximum sensitivity of temperature, strain, RI, and pH of the fabricated phase-shifted grating sensing structure were 0.2128 nm/degrees C, 0.1225 nm/mu epsilon, 718 nm/RIU, and -1.0166 nm/pH, respectively. Overall, the proposed sensor had great potential applications in monitoring marine environments and biochemistry sensing.