The refractive index of salt water changes corresponding to the variation of salinity. Based on a differential refractometer, the salinity canbe measured due to beam deviation, and the influence of temperature on the measurement results is reduced effectively. Beam deviation caused by salinity change is detected by a fiber-optic array and recorded by a charge-coupled device. According to the Gauss distribution theory, the light-spot center can be determined by fitting a Gauss curve using each received light spot intensity and the position of each receiving fiber. With this method, measurement errors caused by light power fluctuation and ambient light disturbance can be avoided effectively. Variation in transmission power loss of each receiving fiber reduces the measurement accuracy of salinity. Therefore, a method of correction for each fiber transmission power loss in the array can effectively improve the salinity measurement accuracy. Experimental results indicate the feasibility of the developed system, and the measurement repeatability error is better than ±0.25‰.

The last decade has been of great significance for the development of slow light technology. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), coherent population oscillation (CPO), stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), soliton collision, and photonic crystal waveguides have been used to slow down the velocity of light. In this paper, some important theoretical and technical developments of slow light technology that occurred over the last decade are discussed. Novel technologies for slowing down the velocity of light and their primary applications are introduced in detail. In addition, the future developing trends of slow light and its potential applications, especially in optical fiber sensors, are also forecasted and proposed in this paper.

A double-arched-beam-based fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor for displacement measurement is presented. Unlike most FBG sensors that measure the resonance wavelength shifts to detect the measurand, this kind of FBG sensor is proposed to measure the displacement based on the demodulation of the FBG's reflective spectra bandwidth. According to the strain distribution on the novel double-arched beam surface, the positive and negative strain will act on only one FBG, which is stuck on the beam surface. Thus, the positive and negative strain will make the spectra broaden as the displacement increases. What is more, the problem of cross-sensitivity in the FBG sensor is solved because temperature only affects the wavelength shift, but not the spectra bandwidth. Simulation and preliminary experimental results indicate the feasibility of the proposed idea and a fairly good linearity of the measurement characteristic.