Investigation of a Macro-Bending Tapered Plastic Optical Fiber for Refractive Index Sensing

A plastic optical fiber (POF) probe with a macro-bending tapered structure was proposed and optimized for the refractive index (RI) sensing. The principle of operation is based on the macro-bending loss and evanescent wave, which are introduced by the macro-bending tapered structure on the fiber, and modulated by the environmental RI. A heating and drawing method and thermal setting process were used to fabricate a tapered POF and form a stable macro-bending structure for the probe. The probes with cladding and without cladding were fabricated. By changing the taper waist and curvature radius, the sensing performance of the probe was optimized. The highest sensitivity of the probe with cladding reached 937%/RIU in the RI range of 1.33-1.41. By removing the cladding, the RI sensing range was expanded to 1.33-1.45, and the sensitivity was about 800%/RIU, lower than the ones with cladding. In addition, the temperature dependence of the sensor was investigated. The POF probe is a low cost solution for RI sensing applications, which has the features of simple structure, compact, and intensity modulation at visible wavelength.

[1]  Marcelo Martins Werneck,et al.  Tapered plastic optical fiber-based biosensor--tests and application. , 2011, Biosensors & bioelectronics.

[2]  Feng Dejun,et al.  Refractive index sensor based on plastic optical fiber with tapered structure. , 2014, Applied optics.

[3]  Investigation of a macrobending micro-plastic optical fiber for refractive index sensing. , 2014, Applied optics.

[4]  Bao-xue Chen,et al.  Experimental research of optical fiber sensor for salinity measurement , 2012 .

[5]  Temperature performance of a macrobending single-mode fiber-based refractometer. , 2010, Applied optics.

[6]  H. Arof,et al.  Dumbbell-Shaped Inline Mach–Zehnder Interferometer for Glucose Detection , 2015 .

[7]  Jie Zheng,et al.  Refractive Index Sensing Based on a Side-Polished Macrobending Plastic Optical Fiber , 2014, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[8]  H. Ahmad,et al.  Tapered plastic multimode fiber sensor for salinity detection (SENSORS AND ACTUATORS A-PHYSICAL, 2011, 171(2) :219-222) , 2011 .

[9]  Guanxiu Liu,et al.  D-Shaped Plastic Optical Fiber Sensor for Testing Refractive Index , 2014, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[10]  Soumyo Mukherji,et al.  Evanescent Wave Absorption Based Fiber-Optic Sensor - Cascading of Bend and Tapered Geometry for Enhanced Sensitivity , 2015 .

[11]  Chien-Hsing Chen,et al.  A Multi-D-Shaped Optical Fiber for Refractive Index Sensing , 2010, Sensors.

[12]  Nélia Alberto,et al.  Optical Sensors Based on Plastic Fibers , 2012, Sensors.

[13]  S. Yam,et al.  Refractive index sensor based on an abrupt taper Michelson interferometer in a single-mode fiber. , 2008, Optics letters.

[14]  Chuanxin Teng,et al.  Temperature Dependence of a Refractive Index Sensor Based on Side-Polished Macrobending Plastic Optical Fiber , 2016, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[15]  J Mateo,et al.  Analysis of the use of tapered graded-index polymer optical fibers for refractive-index Sensors. , 2008, Optics express.