A whispering gallery mode strain sensor based on microtube resonator

Abstract:

A novel whispering gallery mode (WGM) strain sensor based on microtube has been proposed, where perceiving strain variations are reported via the dynamical regulation of a whispering gallery mode. The WGMs in the microtube resonator were evanescently excited by a micro-nano fiber fabricated by the fusion taper technique. The structural changes of microtubes under axial strain were simulated with finite element software, and the effect of microtube wall thickness on strain sensitivity was systematically studied through experiments. The experimental results show that the strain sensitivity of thin-walled microtube is found to be 1.18 pm/με and the Q-factor in the order of 4.4×104. Due to its simple fabrication and easy manipulation as well as good sensing performance, the microtube strain sensor has potential applications in high-sensitivity optical sensing.