Abstract
A dual-core fiber in which one of the cores is doped with Germanium and the other with Phosphorus is used as an in-line Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer to perform high sensitivity strain and temperature sensing. Opposite sensitivities for high and low wavelength peaks were demonstrated when strain was applied. To our knowledge this is the first time that such behavior is demonstrated using this type of in-line MZ interferometer based on a dual-core fiber. A sensitivity of (78 +/- 2) pm/mu epsilon, between 0-950 mu epsilon and (1380 +/- 20) pm/degrees C between 45 and 80 degrees C is demonstrated. It was also demonstrated that it is possible to use this configuration for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature and a matrix equation to calculate them was given.

Abstract
A new, fiber-based, cavity ring-down topology is presented which enables the application of the cavity ring-down technique to remote sensing, by the use of a large cavity ring and an optical circulator. For a proof of concept a 1.5 km ring is assembled and a taper is used as a sensing head for measuring displacement. The cavity ring-down technique is seen to hold some potential for remote sensing through its implementation on optical fibers.

Abstract
A combination of focused ion beam milling and chemical etching is proposed for the creation of Fabry-Perot cavities in microwires. Both simple cavities and cantilevers are created on 15 mu m-diameter microwires and characterized in temperature. The cantilever structure shows sensitivity to vibration and is capable of measuring frequencies in the range 1 Hz - 40 kHz.

Abstract
This review is focused on microstructured optical fiber sensors developed in recent years for liquid RI sensing. The review is divided into three parts: the first section introduces a general view of the most relevant refractometric sensors that have been reported over the last thirty years. Section 2 discusses several microstructured optical fiber designs, namely, suspended-core fiber, photonic crystal fiber, large-core air-clad photonic crystal fiber, and others. This part is also divided into two main groups: the interferometric-based and resonance-based configurations. The sensing methods rely either on full/selective filling of the microstructured fiber air holes with a liquid analyte or by simply immersing the sensing fiber into the liquid analyte. The sensitivities and resolutions are tabled at the end of this section followed by a brief discussion of the obtained results. The last section concludes with some remarks about the microstructured fiber-based configurations developed for RI sensing and their potential for future applications. © 2014 by the authors.

Abstract
Acoustic sensing is nowadays a very demanding field which plays an important role in modern society, with applications spanning from structural health monitoring to medical imaging. Fiber-optics can bring many advantages to this field, and fiber-optic acoustic sensors show already performance levels capable of competing with the standard sensors based on piezoelectric transducers. This review presents the recent advances in the field of fiber-optic dynamic strain sensing, particularly for acoustic detection. Three dominant technologies are identified - fiber Bragg gratings, interferometric Mach-Zehnder, and Fabry-Pérot configurations - and their recent developments are summarized. © 2014 The Author(s).

Abstract
A gas pressure sensor based on an all-fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) is reported. The sensing head consists of a small section of silica rod spliced with a large offset between two single-mode fibers. The silica rod is used only as mechanical support so that an air cavity can be formed between both SMF. It is shown that the FFPI sensor is sensitive to gas pressure variation and when submitted to different gaseous environments, namely carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen - sensitivities of 6.2, 4.1 and 3.6 nm/MPa, respectively, were attained. The refractive index change on nitrogen environment by means of gas pressure variation was also determined and a sensitivity of 1526 nm/RIU was obtained. The response of the sensing device to temperature variations in air was also studied and a sensitivity of -14 pm/degrees C was attained.