A Transflective Nano-Wire Grid Polarizer Based Fiber-Optic Sensor

A transflective nano-wire grid polarizer is fabricated on a single mode fiber tip by focused ion beam machining. In contrast to conventional absorptive in-line polarizers, the wire grids reflect TE-mode, while transmitting TM-mode light so that no light power is discarded. A reflection contrast of 13.7 dB and a transmission contrast of 4.9 dB are achieved in the 1,550 nm telecom band using a 200-nm wire grid fiber polarizer. With the help of an optic circulator, the polarization states of both the transmissive and reflective lights in the fiber may be monitored simultaneously. A kind of robust fiber optic sensor is thus proposed that could withstand light power variations. To verify the idea, a fiber pressure sensor with the sensitivity of 0.24 rad/N is demonstrated. The corresponding stress-optic coefficient of the fiber is measured. In addition to pressure sensing, this technology could be applied in detecting any polarization state change induced by magnetic fields, electric currents and so on.