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Review
. 2021 Dec 23;22(1):81.
doi: 10.3390/s22010081.

Intensity-Modulated Polymer Optical Fiber-Based Refractive Index Sensor: A Review

Chuanxin Teng  1 , Rui Min  2 , Jie Zheng  3 , Shijie Deng  1 , Maosen Li  1 , Li Hou  4 , Libo Yuan  1
Affiliations
Review

Intensity-Modulated Polymer Optical Fiber-Based Refractive Index Sensor: A Review

Chuanxin Teng et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

The simple and highly sensitive measurement of the refractive index (RI) of liquids is critical for designing the optical instruments and important in biochemical sensing applications. Intensity modulation-based polymer optical fiber (POF) RI sensors have a lot of advantages including low cost, easy fabrication and operation, good flexibility, and working in the visible wavelength. In this review, recent developments of the intensity modulation POF-based RI sensors are summarized. The materials of the POF and the working principle of intensity modulation are introduced briefly. Moreover, the RI sensing performance of POF sensors with different structures including tapered, bent, and side-polished structures, among others, are presented in detail. Finally, the sensing performance for different structures of POF-based RI sensors are compared and discussed.

Keywords: different structures; intensity modulation; polymer optical fiber; refractive index sensing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The typical transmission loss spectra of PMMA-based POFs from ESKATM [65].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The common structures of POFs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The schematic diagram of tapered POF.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The photos of the tapered POFs (a), and the transmission behaviors of light for the OM-Giga/POF and the Lucina fibers with a different narrowing ratio in liquid with different RIs (b) [77].
Figure 5
Figure 5
The schematic diagram of the double-tapered POF.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The schematic illustration of the micro-bending (a) and macro-bending POFs (b).
Figure 7
Figure 7
The schematic diagram of the permanent micro-bending POF.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The schematic illustration of the macro-bending tapered POF probes with (a) and without (b) cladding, and the RI sensing performance for the probes with (c) and without (d) cladding [87].
Figure 9
Figure 9
The schematic diagram of the side-polished macro-bending POF (a), and the effect of polished depth on the RI sensing performance (b) [90].
Figure 10
Figure 10
The schematic diagram of the directly drawing process of micro-POF from commercial POF (a), and the photo of the micro-POF (b) [94].
Figure 11
Figure 11
The schematic diagram of the side-polished POF.
Figure 12
Figure 12
The schematic diagrams of the fabrication process of multi-notched structure on POF, and the structure of multi-notched POF [107].
Figure 13
Figure 13
The schemes diagram of fabrication pross of LPG structure on POF (a), and (b) is the comparison of the experiment data for the D-shape POF probe with and without LPG structure [108].
Figure 14
Figure 14
The schematic diagram of the screw-shaped POF [110].
Figure 15
Figure 15
The schematic diagram of the side-polished POF coupler (a), and the variations of K for the probe with different bending radius in different liquids (b) [111].
Figure 16
Figure 16
The schematic diagram of the twisted tapered POFs (a) and the RI sensing performances for the sensors with different twisted region length (b) [112].
Figure 17
Figure 17
The schematic diagram of the side-hole structure POFs.
Figure 18
Figure 18
The schematic diagram of the narrow grooves structure, POF-based surface plasmon resonance sensor [118].
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