Inertial force sensor using optical Mach-Zehnder Interferometer and multi mode interferometer

In this paper, a novel inertial force sensor which uses a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) type optical waveguide made of crystal silicon is proposed. In this sensor, one branched waveguide of the MZI have floating beam structure, and it is intersected with a cantilever for supporting a proof mass in same plane. To prevent optical loss at the intersection, only the intersectional point of floating waveguide has multi-mode interference (MMI) structure. Efficacy of the MMI waveguide is confirmed by simulation and experimental results. Conclusively, it has succeeded in changing in output of the fabricated initial force sensor by applied force.