Polarimetric optical fiber sensors based on highly birefringent (HB) polarization-maintaining fibers have focused great interest for last decades. The paper presents a novel modular fiber optic sensing system of potential industrial applications to measure temperature, hydrostatic pressure, and strain that is based on classical HB and photonic crystal fibers and can operate at visible and infrared wavelengths. The main idea of the system is a novel and replaceable fiber-optic head, which allows adjusting the measuring system both to the required range and type (strain, pressure or temperature) of the external measurand. We propose also a new configuration of the fiber optic strain gauge with a free cylinder and an all-fiber built-in analyzer based on the photonic crystal fiber filled with a liquid crystal. Additionally, strain sensitivities of various HB fibers operating at visible and infrared wavelengths range have been measured.

In this paper analyses of mode distribution, confinement and experimental losses of the photonic crystal fibers with different core sizes infiltrated with liquid crystal are presented. Four types of fibers are compared: with single-, seven-, nineteen- and thirty seven solid rods forming the core in the same hexagonal lattice of seven “rings” of unit cells (rods or capillaries). The experimental results confirming the influence of the core diameter on light propagation are also included. The diameter of cores determines not only the number of modes in the photonic liquid crystal fiber but also is correlated with experimentally observed attenuation. For fibers with larger cores confinement losses are expected to be higher, but the measured attenuation is smaller because the impact of liquid crystal material losses and scattering is smaller.