We propose a novel demodulation scheme based on measuring interference fringe visibility and demonstrate it using a typical Michelson interferometer (MI) configuration. The key component to achieve the scheme is a section of highly birefringent fiber (HBF) spliced into the sensing arm to function as the sensing element. The optical path difference (OPD) leads to interference fringes, while the birefringence of the HBF results in a visibility envelop. It is possible to detect measurands associated with birefringence through measuring the visibility, which is attributed to a flexible use of the fundamental principle of interferometry. As one of the potential applications, temperature sensing employing the MI configuration is performed. Moreover, the technique has the advantage of being immune to element instabilities, such as power fluctuation of the light source, phase shift of the reference arm, noise of the photo detector, and wavelength shift of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). This work may provide an alternative method to achieve high precision interferometry with low cost.

中文翻译：

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基于高双折射光纤迈克尔逊干涉仪测量干涉条纹可见度的解调方案


我们提出了一种基于测量干涉条纹可见度的新颖解调方案，并使用典型的迈克尔逊干涉仪（MI）配置进行了演示。实现该方案的关键部件是将一段高双折射光纤（HBF）拼接到传感臂中，充当传感元件。光程差 (OPD) 会产生干涉条纹，而 HBF 的双折射会产生可见度包络。通过测量可见度可以检测与双折射相关的被测量，这归功于干涉测量基本原理的灵活运用。作为潜在应用之一，采用 MI 配置执行温度感测。此外，该技术具有不受元件不稳定性影响的优点，例如光源的功率波动、参考臂的相移、光电探测器的噪声以及光谱分析仪（OSA）的波长偏移。这项工作可能为以低成本实现高精度干涉测量提供一种替代方法。