Abstract
This paper presents an overview of optical fiber sensors based on multimode interference with a focus on refractometric applications. A specific configuration is presented to measure the refractive index of the surrounding liquid based on the Fresnel reflection in the fiber tip, combined with a simple interrogation technique that uses two fiber Bragg gratings as discrete optical sources, with the measurand information encoded in the relative intensity variation of the reflected signals. A resolution of 1.75 x 10(-3) RIU is achieved. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Abstract
A fiber optic sensor for liquid refractive index measurement based on a Fabry-Perot interferometer is described. The interferometer is achieved between the reflection of a short fiber Bragg grating and the Fresnel reflection from the cleaved fiber end. This fiber end is then in contact with the liquid sample to provide refractive index measurements. The sensor is characterized by immersing the fiber tip in distilled water with different concentrations of ethylene glycol. A linear relation of the interferometer fringe visibility with refractive index variation is observed, and a resolution of similar to 10(-3) is obtained. It is also shown that the sensor operation is independent of temperature effects, other than the one related to temperature-induced change of the liquid refractive index. (c) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Abstract
A large-core air-clad photonic crystal fiber-based sensing structure is described, which is sensitive to refractive index. The sensing head is based on multimodal interference, and relies on a single-mode/large-core air-clad photonic crystal fiber (PCF)/single-mode fiber configuration. Using two distinct large-core air-clad PCF geometries-one for refractive index measurement and the other for temperature compensation, it was possible to implement a sensing head sensitive to refractive index changes in water as induced by temperature variations. The results indicated the high sensitivity of this sensing head to refractive index variations of water, and a resolution of 3: 4 x 10(-5) refractive index units could be achieved. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Abstract
Fiber optic modal interferometry has been around as a sensing concept since the outcome of fiber optic sensing. Initially supported by the utilization of standard Hi-Bi fibres associated to polarimetric modal interference, later this sensing approach evolved to modal interference based on spatial modes propagating in the core, on spatial modes propagating in the core and in the cladding with coupling performed by fibre devices such as long period gratings and tapers, and more recently on several types of modes propagating in photonic crystal fibers. This paper will address fiber optic sensing based on modal interferometry, and configurations of different type researched in last years will be presented and their performance compared.

Abstract
We describe an all-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometric configuration based on a suspended twin-core fiber. Because of the birefringence of the fiber cores, two interferometers are obtained by illuminating the fiber with polarized light. Applying strain, curvature, and temperature to the sensing head, different sensitivities are observed that permit the use of the matrix method to discriminate these three measurands. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3553482]

Abstract
A sensing head based on two fiber Bragg gratings arranged in a twisted configuration is proposed to measure three parameters simultaneously, namely 1) temperature, 2) strain, and 3) transverse load. One of the gratings is impressed into a high-birefringence fiber that provides two distinct spectral signatures, which, together with the signature of the second grating and the geometric characteristics of the sensing head, enable the degrees of freedom required to achieve the simultaneous measurement functionality. The resolutions achieved with this configuration for the measurement of temperature, strain, and transverse load are +/- 3.1 degrees C, +/- 46 mu epsilon, and +/- 0.01 N/mm, respectively.