A highly sensitive temperature sensor based on hollow microsphere is demonstrated for ocean temperature measurements. The effect of sensor parameters on temperature sensitivity is investigated with the experiments using different parameters hollow microspheres, tapered fibers with different waist diameters and different kinds of solution. A high sensitivity of 396.70 pm/°C is obtained when the hollow microsphere is filled with ethanol. A high temperature resolution 1.75 × 10 −3°C is obtained when the hollow microsphere is filled with cyclohexane. The volatilization process of 2 μL ethanol is detected to demonstrate good dynamical response of the sensor.

We present and verify a residual-pump-based temporal overlap estimation method in soliton self-frequency shift-based coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering system. The residual pump light, output by a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber, acts as a crucial link between the pump and Stokes pulses during the temporal overlap estimation. The wavelength-dependent optical delay is estimated to be 0.141 ps/nm when the Stokes wavelength is 900 nm ∼ 1050 nm according to the temporal overlap estimation method. The actual measurement result is 0.138 ps/nm based on the nonresonant signal from a microscope slide, which is very close to the estimated result. In addition, the Raman resonant signals of liquid cyclohexane at 2853 cm −1 , 2923 cm −1 and 2938 cm −1 have also been successfully detected at the predicted optical delays 427.27 ps and 428.17 ps.