Micromachined low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer for the measurement of low DC electrical currents

Abstract

An optical fiber current sensor based on a permanent magnet fixed on the center of a micromachined Si membrane has been presented. The transducing operation principle is magneto-mechanical and has a linear response. A great improvement of the sensitivity of the microcavities was achieved by the use of a planar coil. Interrogation of the transducer has been carried out using a Fabry-Perot interferometer with an all-fiber detection system to avoid the influence of electromagnetic noise. The effectiveness of a fiber scheme based on the utilization of two fibre Bragg gratings to generate two quadrature phase-shifted interferometric signals has also been reported.